Twice Baked Potatoes

When I was a kid, my mother would make us these delicious potatoes as a special dinner treat. As I got older, she would include these in the homemade dinners she would deliver to me when I was babysitting down the street. Yes, I was spoiled by my mother (still am), but as sweet as those kids were they only ate breakfasts foods and I could only handle waffles for dinner so many nights in a row. I think their mother bought them in bulk.

Anyhoo…these potatoes look and taste like the gourmet ones you get in steakhouses, but you would be surprised how easy they are to make at home. I have sour cream, cheddar, bacon and green onion in these ones, but you can add in whatever you like (more variations at the bottom). I made a double batch of these for a few guys who were over for dinner and these were gone in minutes. There was only one left for me to take a picture with my bowl of chili the next day!

What you’ll need:
4 large Baking Potatoes
Olive Oil
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2 tbsp Butter, softened

All Dressed Mixin’s:
1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup chopped Green Onions
4 strips of Bacon, cooked and crumbled

First bake the potatoes. Preheat the oven to 400°F and scrub the potatoes clean under running water. Poke each potato with a fork several times, to prevent them from exploding while they cook. Rub the potatoes all over with a little olive oil and place directly in the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until they are cooked through. When you press them they should give a little.

Allow the potatoes to cool to the touch. Slice the potato lengthwise, taking off the top third. Scoop out the insides, leaving about 1/4 inch of potato around on the skin, forming a little potato boat.

In large bowl mash together the potato insides, milk, sour cream and butter until there are no big chunks left. Add in your mixin’s being sure to leave out some to sprinkle on the tops.

Spoon the filling into the potato boats and sprinkle with the leftover mixin’s on the top. Heat oven to 350°F.

Place potatoes in a baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes or until heated through and all the cheese has melted.

We had ours with steaks and grilled veggies the first night, but I liked it even better the next day when I had a leftover potato with some chili. It was the perfect comfort food lunch for a windy winter day.

There are plenty of variations that you can do on this recipe using different mixin’s!

Mixin’s Variations:
BBQ: Stir in chopped parsley, a couple drops of hot sauce and some sauteed thin strips of onions and green pepper. Fill the shells and then top with barbecue sauce and shredded cheese before you bake.

Tex Mex: In a food processor, mix corn, chives and half a can of green chilies. Pulse until it is small chunks. Add the scooped out potato to the processor and combine with 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese and 1/4 cup of milk until all mixed. Scoop back into skins and bake.

Ranch: Replace the sour cream with cottage cheese, green onion and a splash of lemon juice. Top with chopped tomatoes and more green onion, and bake.


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