Sweet and Spicy Oven Fries

Submitted by blancpage

"I made this recipe up myself. A restaurant I'd gone to recently had served french fries that were both sweet and spicy in flavor. While I didn't come anywhere close to imitating the taste of those fries, I think I did a pretty good job. My husband liked them, also. I take after my mom in experimenting, I kind of estimate ingredients. I didn't measure any of these so I'll have to make an estimate. It's kind of hard because I'm legally blind and have no depth perceptions so please understand these amounts are guesses. Here's an update; I have been making these lately with sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper, again adust amounts of seasonings to your taste."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Serves: 2

ingredients

• 2 large baking potatoes
• 3 -4 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1⁄3 teaspoon salt
• 1 -2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 -2 teaspoon extra-spicy chili powder
• Pam cooking spray (not butter flavor) or other nonstick cooking spray (not butter flavor)

directions

1. Note: These ingredient amounts are to taste.
2. You may use more or less of the seasonings to fit your tastebuds.
3. Adjust the recipe to fit how many people you'll be serving.
4. 2 large potatoes should be enough to serve two people as a side dish or snack.
5. I also used non-stick cooking spray instead of oil because I have IBS and have to watch my fat intake.
6. My IBS tolerated the potato skin too, although normally I stay away from potato skin (which I love).
7. Scrub the baking potatoes and leave the skin on.
8. You can peel these if you want, I didn't have a vegetable peeler and I can't peel skin well with a paring knife, and I like the taste of the skin for these fries.
9. Cut potatoes lengthwise.
10. Then lay the halves flat side down and cut into 1/4 inch slices.
11. Then cut the slices so they are about 1/2 inch wide.
12. Place the potato pieces in a bowl with lid (I used a large Gladware bowl).
13. Mix in a separate small bowl all the spices.
14. Spray the potatoes in the bowl generously with nonstick cooking spray.
15. Sprinkle the spices over the Pam-coated potatoes and cover bowl with lid.
16. Shake bowl vigorously to distribute spices.
17. (It's probably even easier to use a large ziplock bag, but I didn't have one at the time I made this recipe up.).
18. Spray a foil-lined baking sheet with more nonstick cooking spray.
19. Spread french fries in one layer on baking sheet.
20. Place in a 425-450 degree oven and bake for 15-25 minutes. If you want crispier fries, try the 450 degree and the longer time, and/or cut the fries a bit thinner, just watch so they don't burn. That's why the times are kind of approximate so you can watch them and turn them when they are browned/crisped to your liking.
21. Turn fries over with a spatula and return to the oven for another 15-25 minutes until fries are browned and crisped to your likeness.
22. You can probably add other spices, but I used what I had onhand since I couldn't get to the store.
23. If you substitute with regular chili powder, increase the amount you use if you like spicier fries.
24. You may need to adjust oven times based on size/shape/thickness of fries, altitude, and how well-done you like your fries.
25. I like mine crispy so I cooked mine about 25-30 minutes each side.
26. These tasted great served alone, but feel free to dip them in your choice of sauce.

Reviews

[Michelle_My_Belle]

The taste of these was superb, but I had a little bit of trouble with them sticking/burning before they were crisp. Next time I will pay closer attention to them and cook them at a lower temp, and leave the skins on - some of my potatoes were iffy so I wanted to peel them to check them. I used garlic powder, onion powder, sugar, dark chili powder and some cayenne pepper.

 

[MarthaStewartWanabe]

Hello Recipe Swap #15 buddy! These fries are delicious! My hubby and I really enjoy sweet & spicy flavor combinations. I prepared the recipe as written except for a few heart-healthy modifications: I used garlic powder instead of garlic salt and olive oil instead of cooking spray. I plan to try this recipe with sweet potatoes using brown sugar instead of granulated and a pinch of ginger. Thank you for an excellent, inspiring recipe!

 

[Chef floWer]

Yum! Little Miss (DD) and I ate this as a snack and we both enjoyed the fries. I had to add a little chilli powder because Little Miss does not like spicy foods so I added sweet paprika just for the colour. I also had to rotate the fries quite a bit because the sugar wanted to stick to the baking sheet. However we both enjoyed these with BBQ sauce. Thank you blancpage

 

[Sydney Mike]

OUTSTANDING fries! I much prefer fries baked rather than deep-fried, so these were just right for me! I like the peelings, too, & left the potatoes as is, but I did opt for the regular chili powder in the smaller amount ~ the 2 teaspoons of garlic, however, were just right! Thanks for this great recipe! [Tagged, made & reviewed for my teammate in AUS/NZ Recipe Swap, Mar 08]

 

[Bergy]

You said to vary to our liking so I did. I used 1 tbsp splenda (sugar substitute)2 tsp garlic powder & 2 tsp chili flakes - Wonderful. I did not use any oil, baked them on a pizza stone for40 minutes at 375F I did not flip them as I had the skin side down on the stone. Thanks blancpage for a very good Oven Fry recipe