Baked Mashed Potatoes

 If you've ever cooked a big holiday dinner, you know that one of the most important things to consider is time management. So how do you get everything done and hot and on the table at the same time??? You do as much as possible in advance! And this is the perfect recipe to do a day or two ahead of the big meal. You can literally make and assemble this entire dish and then bake it in time for dinner, or you can even do everything, baking included, and then just heat it up when the time comes.
 I literally can't even remember where I got this recipe. I think it may have been something that I just threw together one night and then jotted down for a later date, and now here we are! This is absolutely one of my very favorite mashed potato recipes of all time, like in the history of ever, so you should definitely give this one a try!

5lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup (or more) french fried onion rings

Peel and quarter your potatoes. Place potatoes in a giant bowl of cold water. Swish them around to rinse away most of the starch, then drain. Do this two or three times. Boil potatoes until fork tender and then drain very well.
Use a potato ricer or food mill to mash the potatoes into a big bowl. In a small pot, melt together the cream cheese, butter, and cream. Stir into mashed potatoes. Season well with salt and pepper. Place potatoes in a 9x13 casserole pan. Sprinkle with onion rings. Bake at 350ºF for 45 minutes to an hour or until golden on top.

Tips:
-My best tip for making mashed potatoes is to use a ricer. It gets out all of the lumps! (if you're not familiar with a potato ricer, it basically looks like a great big oversized garlic press!) If you just use a regular hand masher, you may not get all of the lumps, which is fine, but I prefer a smoother mash. Definitely do NOT use a big mixer to mash your potatoes. The texture will become like glue!
-Be sure to rinse the peeled potatoes a few times before you boil them. Getting rid of that extra starch will give you a fluffier potato. Otherwise all of that starch will turn your potatoes into spackle.
-When you melt the butter and cream and cream cheese, it may seem like there's far too much liquid for that amount of potatoes, but just go with me on this. It will all stir in, and you'll have beautifully rich and creamy potatoes!
Be sure to season well! The potatoes will take more salt and pepper than you think they will!
For a little extra flavor, add some fresh garlic to the pot when you melt the butter and cream mixture!