Best Twice-Baked Potatoes

Submitted by LorenLou

"Family favorite - tried and true - the only recipe we use."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 4 medium potatoes
• 1⁄2 cup sour cream (I use fat-free and no one knows the difference!)
• 1⁄4 cup milk
• 1⁄4 cup margarine
• 1⁄2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 slices bacon, crisp and crumbled (or 1 c. real bacon bits)

directions

1. Microwave (or bake in oven at 400 for 1hr) the potatoes until done.
2. Allow to cool a bit.
3. Slice about a 1" strip of the skin off the top of each potato.
4. Carefully scoop out the pulp, placing in a large bowl, and leaving potato shells intact.
5. Mash the potato pulp along with the margarine.
6. Add milk, sour cream, cheese, salt and pepper; combining well.
7. Spoon the mixture back into the potato shells, piling high.
8. Top with the crumbled bacon or bacon bits.
9. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Reviews

[becky716]

Super Good! However, please bake the potatoes initially, rather than microwave. It will make them sturdy enough to contain the goodness without falling apart! Rub with olive oil and kosher salt and bake at 375 for an hour or more until done. Don't overbake or they'll wrinkle. I also used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and topped them with chives, which makes them healthy, right? :-)

 

[Jodi7]

Yummy! I made these the day before christmas, stuffed them, and put them in the fridge. The next day I put them back in the oven for about 30-45 minutes while the ham finished cooking. Perfect!

 

[luv2cookinNC]

I made this along with rib eye steaks for my husband%u2019s church board Christmas party. I received so many compliments. I was told more than once that "this was the best twice baked potato I have ever eaten". I did do a couple of things different, I didn't cook potato in microwave because I think the taste is better in oven I also didn't cook potato all the way through i.e. instead of 1 hr cooking time I only cooked for 45 min. this makes sure the potato skin does not fall apart while digging pulp out. I also used sea salt instead of table salt and I added cheese and bacon to potato instead of putting on top. But I did put cheese on top of potato after cooking through. These are wonderful. These also have a wonderful presentation.

 

[Tina K.]

Did someone try it with Butter? Isn't it better this way? I don't like Margarine that much!

 

[AshleyMiranda]

I've made a recipe similar to this for years but decided to try something a little different and I'm so glad I did. These are so good! The only things I did differently was to use seasoning salt in place of the salt and pepper and I didn't have sharp cheese so I used mild cheddar. I also mixed part of the bacon into the mix and put the rest on top with some extra cheese.