Good recipe for twice baked potatoes?

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Looking for an amazing recipe for twice baked potatoes. Anyone have one? I see a lot of the recipes out there have bacon in them. I'm hesitant to do bacon because I'm not very good at cooking it.

Suggestions?

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

There's one in the Fanny Farmer cookbook that I use all the time. Basically bake your potato, let it cool just enough for you to handle, then scoop out the insides and make mashed potatoes with it (smoosh it up with milk, butter, salt, pepper), then re-stuff the potatoes. Then you can put whatever you want on the top, like bacon and shredded cheddar. Then you put it back in the oven to warm up/melt the toppings, and brown the top. YUM!

 

[SandrA9810]

It's like making a fully loaded baked potato on top of mash potatoes, with the skin as a bowl.

You could make garlic mashed potatoes, or make it with some pesto. Rosemary is a good combination too.
Cheesy mash potatoes. either a cream cheese/sour cream mix or just good ol cheddar.
A bit of chives chopped on the top would go well with any.

I love using allrecipes.com just search for some yummy mash potato ideas, minus the bacon. There's an ingredient search feature that allows you to omit items you don't want.

And bacon doesn't need to be added if you don't want it. It's not like a key ingredient for flavoring.

 

[cybrkitn]

I've been putting bacon in when I make twice-baked. However, I use Hormel's real bacon bits instead of cooking sliced bacon.

Sorry if it sounded like a commercial, LOL

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Thanks for the ideas guys! Sounds like I can just wing it. Yea!

 

[kt_mom]

I bake my potatoes, then let them cool just enough to handle. Scoop out the insides into a large mixing bowl. Then I add butter, cream cheese and sour cream to taste. I like alot of each. Then I mix all that together and put back into the potatoes and bake for another 20 or 30 minutes. Yummy! My DH loves these.

 

[AshleyW]

There's one in the Fanny Farmer cookbook that I use all the time. Basically bake your potato, let it cool just enough for you to handle, then scoop out the insides and make mashed potatoes with it (smoosh it up with milk, butter, salt, pepper), then re-stuff the potatoes. Then you can put whatever you want on the top, like bacon and shredded cheddar. Then you put it back in the oven to warm up/melt the toppings, and brown the top. YUM!

I love that cookbook! I use the same recipe, but I use sour cream instead of milk to make the filling a little creamier. I also put bacon bits & cheddar cheese mixed in with the potato when I stuff it back into the skin, and then sprinkle a little more cheese on the top. When I put them back into the oven, I broil them instead of bake, to get the cheese on top nice & crispy.

 

[cirquelovers]

I bake my potatoes, then let them cool just enough to handle. Scoop out the insides into a large mixing bowl. Then I add butter, cream cheese and sour cream to taste. I like alot of each. Then I mix all that together and put back into the potatoes and bake for another 20 or 30 minutes. Yummy! My DH loves these.

I do like the above poster except I also add cheese, bacon and green onions into the mixing bowl. After they are back in the skins I add additional cheese on top.

When potatoes are cheap I will make up an oven full, process them all and freeze them for later. I usually do that every Fall but I haven't yet this year.

 

[sbsteel]

I've used microwave bacon in my potatoes before. So much easier and a less mess!

 

[cybrkitn]

Man, these posts are making me hungry for twice baked with all the fixin's!

 

[SpecialK]

I bake my potatoes, then let them cool just enough to handle. Scoop out the insides into a large mixing bowl. Then I add butter, cream cheese and sour cream to taste. I like alot of each. Then I mix all that together and put back into the potatoes and bake for another 20 or 30 minutes. Yummy! My DH loves these.

That's what I do,too, but I sometimes add shredded cheddar and green onions. I'm not a fan of bacon in potatoes.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Yup, I don't use a recipe and I do similar to the above posters.

Bake potatoes. Cut in half, holding them with a hot mitt! LOL Use a spoon to scoop the flesh into a bowl. Put the empty shells on a baking sheet.

*For every 3 whole potatoes (6 halves) I discard 2 potato shells. That allows for extra 'filling'. So if I bake 4 whole potatoes, I make 6 twice-baked halves. Hope that made sense!

Into the bowl with the potato flesh goes butter, sour cream, salt, pepper. Sometimes a little cream cheese. Mash until creamy then I add sharp cheddar cheese. Sometimes I change up the cheese, or add some green onion or roasted garlic. But never bacon, although if I were going to do it I'd use the Oscar Meyer 'ready bacon' and make sure it was crispy before adding. Or use the soft bacon bits in a jar.

Then I spoon the mashed mix into the shells on a cookie sheet. I just fill and smooth. Then I add more cheddar to the top to make it nice and crispy.

If you want to be very fancy, you can get a large pastry bag and large tip and pipe the potatoes in...but that's a pain and they're just as nice with the spoon/top with cheese method!

If you want to make ahead, skip the cheese on top, allow to cool and put in the fridge BEFORE baking again. They'll keep for several days. Then remove from fridge, put on a baking sheet, add the cheese to the top and bake. They will take longer cold than they would if you twice baked the same day.

Good luck!

 

[Jestocost]

My favorite, except that I typically add some horseradish to the mix:

Ingredients
4 large baking potatoes
8 slices bacon
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
8 green onions, sliced, divided

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.
Bake for another 15 minutes.

 

[cybrkitn]

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour. Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.
Bake for another 15 minutes.

Potatoes cook at that temp for 1 hour in your oven? I've never had potatoes cook in an hour at 350 degrees (or 450). We have an electric stove and I put it up to the hightest temp of 550 and put the potatoes directly on the rack for 45 minutes. Comes out with a crispy shell which helps when scooping out the potato and not worrying about the shell breaking.