Place chopped potatoes in a medium pot, add water and cook on high heat on the stove. When they start boiling, cook for 5 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for another 15 - 20 minutes until they are soft when pierced with a fork.
Remove pot from the stove and discard the water. Add butter, milk, salt and black pepper to the potatoes and mash with a potato masher until potatoes are creamy.
Serve warm.
Notes
There is a fine line between creamy and gluey mashed potatoes. I have tried several different ways, and here are my tips for the perfect creamy mashed potatoes.
Use Yukon Gold potatoes - I found that Yukon gold potatoes were perfect. They are naturally creamier than Russet potatoes and have a slight buttery flavor.
Cut potatoes in large cubes to reduce the cooking time
Rinse the potatoes - rinsing the potatoes before boiling them helps to intensify their creamy texture without making them gluey.
Use lots of butter - I used 3/4 cup of butter (1 1/2 sticks). Soften the butter or add it directly to the hot potatoes, but don't use melted butter.
Don't overmix them - mixing or mashing the potatoes for too long will make them gluey.
I prefer to use potato masher to make creamy potatoes.
If you use a mixer to whip the potatoes, mix on low speed so you don't overmix them.