Twice Baked Potatoes

These are an American classic and a personal childhood favorite. The basic twice-baked potato is just a baked potato hollowed out, and then stuffed with mashed potatoes made from its own innards prepared in the usual way (butter, milk or cream, salt and pepper) and baked until the top is brown and crusty. This version is an easy and delicious. But from this simple beginning, one can arrive at a nearly infinite number of rich and delicious variations, suitable for the most festive occasions. The simplest embellishment is handful of grated cheese. From there, consider scallions…crisp crumbled bacon…minced pickled jalapeños. You get the idea.

As a bonus, twice-baked potatoes can be made the day before, and need only be popped in the oven for 30-40 minutes on the day.

Ingredients #

Instructions #

Cut into the potatoes as soon as possible after they come out of the oven — this prevents the interior from getting gummy. Use a dry kitchen towel to handle them, because they’ll be too hot to touch. If the potatoes are very large, you can cut a slice off the “top”, but for more typical potatoes you’ll want to split them lengthwise down the center. Use a large spoon to scoop the inside into a mixing bowl. Be careful — you want to leave a little layer of potato, rather than scraping down to the skin.

Once you’ve scooped them all out, lightly salt and pepper the insides of the shells and arrange them on a baking sheet. Set aside.

Mash the potato “insides” as for mashed potatoes — I like mine kind of chunky, but this is a matter of taste. What’s important is to add the milk or cream and butter slowly — there’s an egg going in, and you don’t want this filling to get soupy. It should be able to stand up on its own. So, mix in as much butter and milk as you think you can, mix in the egg, and and stir in whatever else you want to add. Season well with salt and pepper.

Spoon the filling back into the potato shells. You can sprinkle some grated cheese over the top if you like. At this point you can bake them, or you can let them cool to room temp before coving and refrigerating overnight.

Bake for 20-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. When they’re hot throughout and browning on top, they’re done. You can serve them immediately, but they’re molten hot inside, so I usually let mine sit on the pan for 5 minutes or so.