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A melt-in-the-mouth mashed-potato core wrapped in a thin, crispy, golden shell, these homemade pommes noisettes are the perfect accompaniment to Christmas festivities. Guaranteed to be a delicious success!
If you like potatoes, you'll love my Air Fryer Smashed potatoes, my roasted garlic Parmesan potatoes or my easy and crispy accordion potatoes.
💙 Why you'll love them
- They're super-easy to make and really delicious.
- They are much healthier than the frozen version.
- They are vegetarian. They can easily be made gluten-free and dairy-free.
🥔 Ingredients
These are the main ingredients, and the quantities can be found in the recipe card below.
- Potatoes: I recommend fingerling potatoes, baby Dutch yellow potatoes or new potatoes.
- Semi-salted butter : it should be soft, to blend well with the purée.
- For the breadcrumbs: flour, beaten egg yolks and breadcrumbs.
✅ Gluten-free and dairy-free version
- To make this recipe gluten-free, replace the wheat flour with cornstarch or another flour. Use classic gluten-free breadcrumbs (often found in organic stores).
- To make this recipe dairy-free, replace the semi-salted butter with salted vegetable margarine.
🥰 Chef's tips
- Make sure your frying oil is hot (around 330°F/165°C) before putting in your pommes noisettes. You can use a kitchen thermometer, as I do, or drop a drop of water into the pan. If it sizzles, you can use it now.
- Make sure that the frying oil is not too hot either: if it is, your oil will first darken before turning black. And your pommes noisettes may burst.
💡 Frequently Asked Questions
It's the size. Pommes noisettes are much smaller than Dauphine apples, which are larger and less crisp.
It all depends on your appetite and what you serve them with. I recommend about 20 to 30 pommes noisettes per person.
If your oil hasn't turned black, you can wait for it to cool down, then put it back in the bottle for repeated use.
Otherwise, don't pour your frying oil down the drain, as you risk clogging it. The best thing to do is to put it back in the bottle once it's cooled down (very important, otherwise it'll have holes in it), then take it to a waste disposal site with hazardous waste or special household waste. And if that's impossible, at least put it in the non-recyclable waste garbage can.
❄️Storage / freezing
Once fried, they can be stored for 2-3 days in an airtight container in the fridge. To warm them up, just pop them in the oven.
You can also freeze them: write the date and name of the recipe on your freezer bag, fill it with pommes noisettes and place them in the freezer. You can keep them for about 2 months. Put them in the oven to thaw.
😋 Other potato gems
- Oven-baked patatas bravas with aioli and salsa brava
- Potato cheese balls (another French classic called Cromesquis)
- The best homemade potatoes
If you make these pommes noisettes, it would be so nice to leave me a comment and rate the recipe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. You can also tag me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook or Tik Tok, or even send me a photo, I love seeing my little dishes in your homes!
📖 Recette
French Pommes noisettes (potatoes)
Ingredients
- 9 oz potatoes fingerling potatoes, baby Dutch yellow potatoes or new potatoes
- 1 oz semi-salted butter
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
For the breading:
- Flour
- 3 egg yolks
- Fine breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 355°F/180°C in natural convection/static heat mode, high and low. Place your potatoes on a baking sheet and poke a hole in each one with a fork, without opening them.
- Bake for 50 minutes, then leave to cool before removing the skin.
- Using a potato masher (or fork), mash them well to form a smooth, creamy purée. Add the soft semi-salted butter and pepper, mash again and taste to check that you like it (add more salt if necessary).
- Using your hands, form small balls the size of hazelnuts.
- Heat the frying oil and, while the oil is heating, roll the balls in flour, beaten egg yolks, then flour again, then beaten eggs, and finally breadcrumbs.
- Cook for a few seconds until golden brown, then enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.
Sandy
Lovely recipe and very simple. Can you tell me if I can freeze the mash balls and later take out to fry? Thanking you
Marie
Hi Sandy, sorry for the late reply! I've never tried but I'm sure you can freeze the balls (before rolling them in flour, beaten egg yolks and breadcrumbs though). Let me know how it turns out 🙂