Fully Loaded Mashed Potato Pancakes

So, you've gotten through Thanksgiving, and you're slowly working your way through a mountain of leftovers.  And they're awesome leftovers!  Until about the second or third day of turkey and stuffing.  Then you start wishing you could eat something else.  But you don't want to waste food, right?  So re-purpose those leftover mashed potatoes into something delicious.  Like a fried loaded potato pancake.  I promise you don't even have to eat them with turkey if you don't want to.

Fully Loaded Mashed Potato Pancakes

3 cups leftover mashed potatoes
2 large eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dredging
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, for frying
Sour cream, for serving

Combine first seven ingredients and mix well, adding salt and pepper to taste.  Form into 12 pancakes, about 3 inches across.  Dredge in flour and gently shake off excess.

Heat a frying pan over medium to medium-high heat.  Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the pan and add four pancakes.  Fry for about 3 to 4 minutes per side, until golden brown.  Set pancakes aside on a paper towel while frying the remaining batches, using a tablespoon of butter to fry each batch.

Serve hot with sour cream.

Makes 6 servings