What the heck is a hasselback potato, you ask? I have no clue how it got its name. I have been making these for years, but have always called them fanned potatoes. I do them with all kinds of potatoes. They just look so pretty. The slices are all open and fanned out and you can drizzle on some melted butter, cheese, brown sugar…..anything you want. It’s an impressive way of serving potatoes to guests.

I love sweet potatoes and yams. It’s a common breakfast for me. I just roast or microwave them, split em open and scoop em out with a spoon. I don’t put anything on them. I just love them that way! The only time I dress them up is at Thanksgiving. That’s when the brown sugar, butter, marshmallows get added. Ohhhhhh, yum.

Today I was craving a yam. It’s a cold, rainy day and having the oven on, with the aroma of the potato roasting was warming and comforting. Since I decided to do the fanned thing, I did add a wee bit of melted butter and sprinkled on some brown sugar.

Just a suggestion if  you make these with plain potatoes.  Sprinkle in some parmesan cheese and garlic in between the slices, once the potato has cooked for a while and starts to open up. It’s delicious. There are so many things you can do with these. Enjoy!

Hasselback (fanned) Sweet Potato

Potatoes of your choice (sweet, russet, white, etc)
olive oil to brush on the potato

Wash your potatoes really well. Scrub, Scrub.
Place potato on cutting board. It’s best to lay a dish towel down so your potato wont slip when you are cutting it. Make slices 1/4″ apart. DON’T cut all the way through. I lay a wooden spoon down on each side of the potato, so that I can’t cut all the way through. The wooden spoon handle stops the knife blade from cutting all the way through. Cool, right?

Carefully lift the potato by both ends and place on an oiled baking sheet. I use cast iron, but you don’t have to. Carefully brush the potatoes with olive oil or veggie oil. Bake at 400 for 45 – 50 minutes, until potatoes are tender. During the last 10 minutes, here are some tasty options depending on what kind of potato you use:

– Drizzle melted butter in between the slices. Then sprinkle parmesan cheese and garlic.
– Drizzle with melted and sprinkle with brown sugar and/or cinnamon.
– Drizzle with honey and red pepper flakes.
– Place a thin slice of cheese in each opened slice. YUM!
– Place tiny marshmallow in the  slices.
– Drizzle melted butter and sprinkle bacon pieces in between the slices.

See there? There are so many things you can do.