Yum! These lovely, fluffy, decadent twice baked potatoes are a favorite of mine. They take some work, but if you plan ahead, you will make a couple extra for the freezer to have for another meal. Bacon, cheese, scallions, they are deliciously decadent, and they make a wonderful addition to any holiday meal. Bonus, you can make these weeks ahead of your big holiday meal and freeze them, pull them out the day before and bake them off to wonderful perfection. Believe me, I am ALL about making the cooking of holiday meals easy and fast, without resorting to boxed foods and less then stellar store bought items.
Yummy cheesy goodness, these twice baked potatoes bake up into creamy perfection.
I do not have a whole ingredient photo. BUT I have step by steps, so come along with me!
First, decide how many potatoes you want. Remember you will have double the twice baked potatoes that you have of potatoes. (However, you can create your potatoes to be extra full and have leftover potato skins- we’ll cover that tomorrow!)
Wash them, poke them and bake them for an hour at 400 degrees, or until your fork goes through them without resistance.
Let them cool enough to handle without burning your hands.Cut them in half lengthwise.
Use a large spoon to empty the insides of the potato. Leave just a little room around the edge to have a sturdy container.
Using a spoon makes it easier to remove the ‘meat’ of the potato will leaving a ‘boat’ to fill. Place your potatoes on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
Add your potato insides to your mixer with a flat paddle.
Add milk to the potatoes, I add about 3/4 cup to about 8 potatoes.
Add half a stick of butter.
Mix until your potatoes are fluffy mashed potatoes. Add some salt and pepper, or just pepper, since the cheese and bacon are salty, this is your preference.
Add about 2 cups of cheese for 8 potatoes.
Add about 1/2 cup chopped scallions.
Add about 5 pieces of crisped bacon.
Blend this in the mixer until you see it combined.
Take a spoon, scoop the mix and add it to the potato skin, I like to make mine overfilled to be extra good. I also like to add a bit of cheese and scallion to pretty it up.
Now, from this step. I like to ‘flash’ freeze my potatoes. I leave them on the sheet pan and put them in the freezer for about 1.5 hours. Once the outside is solid, I place them into gallon Ziploc bags. I put four per bag ,one for each family member, they are a little big, so smaller appetites could have half servings. Honestly, one of these comfort food goodies fills me up. They will freeze well for 6-8 weeks in a sealed Ziploc in the freezer.
To cook them off, I have thrown them right in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes and they come out great. You can defrost them, or cook them right away for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
After it’s baked, you can see how yummy it looks. That bite’s mine, you’ll want to make your own!
Twice Baked Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4-8 potatoes depending on the number of servings desired
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 stick of butter 4 tablespoons
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups shredded cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions
- 5 pieces of crisped bacon chopped
Instructions
- Wash potatoes and poke them with a fork.
- Bake the potatoes for an hour at 400 degrees or until a fork goes through without resistance.
- Let potatoes cool enough to handle.
- Cut potatoes in half lengthwise.
- Use a spoon to empty the insides of the potato and leave a little room around the edge.
- Add the potato insides to a mixer with a flat paddle.
- Add milk and half a stick of butter to the potatoes in the mixer.
- Mix until the potatoes are fluffy mashed potatoes.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add cheese, scallions, and crisped bacon to the mixer and blend until combined.
- Scoop the mix and add it to the potato skin, overfilling them.
Notes
To cook, bake the potatoes at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes if frozen, or 20 minutes if not frozen.
