Potatoes: The Secret Ingredient to Holiday Desserts

Who doesn’t enjoy a sweet treat to wrap up a delicious holiday meal? Desserts are a key feature of the holidays—some would even say the treats are their favorite part!

While potatoes may seem like a mainstay of the dinner table, they can take your desserts to the next level this holiday season. From classic desserts such as cheesecake, brownies, and cookies to more unique treats like churros, donuts, and truffles, potatoes add surprising benefits.

Mashed potatoes, dehydrated potato flakes, tots, and chips all have dessert applications that are sure to please.

Want to know how potatoes enhance desserts and grab some recipes for delicious holiday desserts? Read on.

Benefits of Using Potatoes in Desserts

Incorporating potatoes into your desserts will provide a wide range of benefits. Most importantly, your potato-based desserts will taste great.

Some of the key benefits from using potatoes in your desserts include:

• Improved nutritional value
• Unique texture and moisture
• Gluten-free alternative
• Versatility
• Feel Full, Longer

Improved Nutritional Value

Using potatoes as an ingredient in your desserts will help you boost nutrition in your sweet treats:

• Potatoes are a nutrient-dense vegetable. Add them to a dessert to have your cake and veggies, too!
• Potatoes are lower in calories than some traditional baking ingredients.

Unique Texture and Moisture

Potatoes can improve the quality of your desserts in several ways:

• Moisture Retention – Potatoes have a high moisture content, making them ideal for adding structure and preventing dryness in cakes and other desserts.
• Creamy Consistency – When mashed, potatoes can provide a creamy texture that enhances a variety of desserts, including cakes, brownies, and puddings. In many recipes, they can also replace dairy ingredients such as buttermilk or sour cream.
• Improved Texture – Incorporating mashed potatoes into the dough will help baked goods retain moisture, achieve a good mouthfeel, brown more evenly, and maintain a light and fluffy texture.
• Crunch and Flavor Contrast—Using potato chips as a crust or topping gives your dessert crunch and a nice salty/sweet flavor combination.

Gluten-Free Alternative

If you have guests at your holiday meal who have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, they can still enjoy dessert! Potatoes are naturally gluten-free, so dehydrated potato flakes and potato starch are a great alternative to flour. Additionally, mashed potatoes can enhance the flavor and texture of baked goods that call for gluten-free flour.

Versatility

Because potatoes come in a variety of forms, they can enhance a wide range of desserts, including:

• Cakes
• Truffles
• Brownies
• Cookies
• Cheesecake
• Lemon bars
• Cinnamon rolls

Feel Full, Longer

Potatoes also provide some important satiety benefits. They help you feel full longer, so incorporating them into desserts may help you eat a smaller portion of your favorite sweet treat.

Browse Our Potato Dessert Recipes

Browse our delicious dessert recipes—all sure to dazzle your guests this holiday season:

• Potato Sugar Cookies
• Potato Churros with Mexican Hot Chocolate Sauce
• Tres Leches Potato Poundcake
• Potato Chip Magic Bars
• Strawberry Cheesecake with Tot Crust
• Caramel Apple Cheesecake with Potato Chip Shortbread Crust
• Potato Donuts