Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes

I made these little beauties last night for Brad and I. We had marinated striploins grillin' on the BBQ (hopefully making the neighbours drool) and paired with the Orange Glazed Asparagus it was divine. You know it's a keeper when Brad repeatedly says "Oh, that was good!" and eats the remainder of MY potato. The fact that I didn't slap him right then and there shows the love I feel for the guy. Normally, no one gets between me and my spud (especially when there's sour cream, bacon and two kinds of cheese involved!). These spuds had a wonderful mixture of flavours and I love the tang that the Garlic & Chive cream cheese brought to the dish.

The possibilities are endless with the twice baked potato. You could change up what type of cheese you use, add more garlic or red onion. Even some red pepper flakes would spice it up a bit. I love the fact that you can prep this side dish ahead of time and yet it still looks like you slaved away in the kitchen.

2 large baking potatoes ** See Note #1 below
5 slices of bacon
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated & divided
4 tbsp garlic and chive cream cheese spread
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F. Wash potatoes well. Prick with a fork several times. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until flesh of potato is very soft.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until evenly browned. Drain, chop and set aside.

When potatoes are done, let them sit for 10 minutes. Slice each potato lengthwise and carefully scoop out potato from skins making sure you leave about 1/4-inch of potato in the skins. If you take out too much potato from the skins you'll have floppy skins. They should look like the picture on the right.

Put potato into a large bowl; add milk and butter; mash well. Add chives, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, garlic & chive cream cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Spoon potato mixture back into potato skins. Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Bake for another 15 minutes.

Note #1: Make sure you use baking potatoes. They have thicker skins and seem to hold up better when you're scooping out the potato.

Note #2: The potato mixture and be prepped a few hours ahead of time and kept in the fridge until needed. Make sure you bake the potato mixture in the skins for about 35 minutes, or until heated through.