Welcome to Day 1 of Halloween Treats Week, 2019! Today I’m bringing you this hauntingly delicious Halloween Potato Eyes, or smashed creamer potatoes dressed up with goat cheese, olive slices, and Sriracha eyes.
Serve them with (as?) eyes for Halloween, or simply sprinkle crumbled goat cheese over warm smashed and fried creamer potatoes for a delicious potato appetizer any time of year.
If you’re a fan of spooky, savory treats, you may also like my Halloween Devilish Deviled Eggs.
For ease of browsing, here are all of my appetizer recipes in one place.
This is a sponsored post written in support of Halloween Treats Week and all the brands who have contributed treats for us and prizes for you. All opinions are my own. You’ll find a listing of all brand sponsors at the end of the post.
Smashed Creamer Potatoes
I love to make smashed creamer potatoes when I want a little something different in a Potato Treat.
It’s a three step process, but they are really easy to make.
- Boil the potatoes until tender. I find with baby or new potatoes, this only takes 12-13 minutes.
- Smash them gently with a spatula, the bottom of a glass, or some other flat object.
- Either roast them in the oven or pan fry them until crisp.
Boil them in salted water to ensure the potato flavor really shines. You can even add pepper to the water as well, if you like a little bite.
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Once they’re boiled and smashed, you can add whatever seasonings you’d like. Sprinkle them with your favorite herbs and/or spices before roasting or pan frying.
Why Boil, Smash, and Then Roast?
It does sound like a lot, doesn’t it? Each step is easy to do, though.
When you smash the cooked potatoes, you are increasing the surface area that gets crispy in the oven (or in a pan), and brown crispiness equals more flavor.
So if you need a reason other than “it’s fun to smash things,” you’re upping the flavor quotient without having to use a ton of ingredients.
How to Make Halloween Potato Eyes
Once you have your creamer potatoes smashed and crisp, let them cool to warm or even room temperature. Then you can build your eyes.
I chose to make discs of goat cheese for the whites of the eyes, and I used a sliced olive that happened to be stuffed with garlic and jalapeno as the iris. Then, I made a dot of Sriracha for the pupils.
You can use whatever you’d like for your decorations.
For the whites of the eyes, consider
- Slices of hard boiled egg
- fresh mozzarella
- white bean dip
- hummus (for not quite whites of the eyes!)
Really, anything you think would be tasty and looks like eyes would work.
For irises, black or green olives are the obvious choice, and then for the pupil, a caper would work, or use a drop of Sriracha or other hot sauce like I did.
It’s Halloween, so have fun!
Let’s Make Some Smashed Creamer Potato Eyes!
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Smashed Creamer Potatoes (Halloween Potato Eyes)
Ingredients
For the Potatoes
- 24 new red skinned potatoes washed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper optional
- water to cover
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
For Decoration
- 4 oz goat cheese
- 4-5 large olives
- Sriracha or other hot sauce in a squeeze bottle
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Place the washed potatoes in a pan along with the salt, pepper (if using), and enough water to cover by about an inch.
- Bring to a boil, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes and put them back in the pan over low heat to dry them for 3-5 minutes.
- Put the potatoes on a cutting board and gently smash each one until it is about 1/4"-1/3" thick.
- Brush the oil over a half sheet pan.
- Place the smashed potatoes on the pan in one layer. Sprinkle on any additional spices or herbs you like.
- Roast on the middle rack for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are as crisp as you’d like them.
- Remove to a cooling rack to cool until warm.
- For each "eye" you’ll need about 1 teaspoon of goat cheese rolled into a ball and then pressed into a disc, 1 slice of olive, and a drop of Sriracha.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Video
Notes
Directions for Pan Frying
- Preheat a cast iron skillet until hot. Drizzle in the oil and then gently fry potatoes in batches, flipping as necessary, until the potatoes take on a nice golden brown color.
- Cool, and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
Nutrition
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Halloween Treats Week Giveaway
Disclaimer: These posts and recipes are part of the week-long event, #HalloweenTreatsWeek but all opinions are 100% mine! We would like to Thank our amazing sponsors: Dixie Crystals, Adam’s Extract, , Sweets and Treats Shop, Treat Street USA and Litehouse! These wonderful sponsors provided the prize packs for our giveaways and also sent samples and products to the #HalloweenTreatsWeek bloggers to use in their recipes.
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Winifred Sanders!!!
My favorite Halloween dessert is brownies with Halloween Reese’s Cup Pumkins or Halloween M&M’s! Yummy!
Sounds great! Good luck in the giveaway, Kesha! xo
Smashed potatoes are the BEST!!
Agree! And so easy. Plus: eyeballs, so that’s a win! lol
Aren’t these so fun!! Love smashed potatoes, and love what you did with them even more!
Aw thanks, Karen! I felt like I needed a savory start before the full on sugar rush! lol
My favorite Halloween dessert is candy corn balls.
I love candy corn! Good luck in the giveaway, Jeffrey!
These are perfect to eat before going trick-or-treating! What fun!! My favorite dessert for Halloween are tombstone brownies or witches fingers.
Ooh, fun! I’m so glad you stopped in, Sara! Good luck in the giveaway!
My favorite Halloween character is the Bride of Frankenstein! She never has to cover her grays cause they add character to her hair. Plus, how easy is it to just stick your finger in a light socket and have your “do” be done? My favorite Halloween dessert has to be ghouls in the graveyard. Chocolate pudding covered with Oreo crumb diet. Meringue ghosts and Milano cookie headstones…frighteningly yummy!
Hooray for Bride of Frankenstein AND ghouls in the graveyard! Next time you make it, make a meringue bride of Frankenstein! =) Good luck in the giveaway, Lisa!
My favorite Halloween character is a vampire! You can make them scary or fun if you’re doing crafts with the kids! My favorite Halloween desert will always be a pumpkin cheesecake! It’s so good!
Very important to be able to tone down the Scary for little ones, and yes please to the pumpkin cheesecake! Good luck in the giveaway, Angela!