What is the secret to get these to not fall apart??? I havent made them in forever, but I know that the last time I did, they fell apart. Also, do you add anything to them?? I have just plain mashed potatoes (salt, pepper, & butter) that we had the other night and I wanted to make patties with them to use up for tonights dinner. TIA!!

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eggs

Dh requested potato cakes for supper tonight.

The main thing is to make sure your poatotoes are cold and the skillet is hot.

I make mine with pam and his with a little crisco.

Take your potatoes, add 1 egg and enough flour to hold it all together. And I always add onion. Then I droped them by heaping spoonful into the hot pan/oil. Let one side complety brown before flipping and flating out a little bit.

On the flour I don't measure but start out with 1/4 to 1/2 cup.

you can add anything to them since they're plain....cheese,green onions whatever....and you do wanna add an egg...to help form a crust some people sprinkle(then pat it in) them lightly with bread crumbs right before frying in butter.

Ruthies right too.......cold potatoes HOT skillet(helps form the quick crust that will help to hold em)

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I also agree with Ruthie, make sure your potatoes are cold and skillet is hot. Also, don't try to handle them too much if you are trying to form them by hand into a pattie shape. I usually add salt & pepper, minced onion, an egg(or 2 eggs if you have a large amount of potatoes left), and enough flour to hold it together. I usually use at least 1/2 cup of flour, sometimes more. I add enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet, get it good and hot, then drop the potatoes in by the spoonful, press down with the spoon to flatten it some. Let them brown on the first side really good before you flip it over.
***Something else that really makes them delicious is to add some crumbled up bacon in your potato mixture****