As much as I love both baked potatoes and mashed potatoes, I love twice baked potatoes even more. How could I not? They are baked potatoes stuffed with mashed potatoes. Perfection. I like to use a bit of paprika (for spice and color), sour cream (for tang and creaminess), and grated cheese (for melty goodness) in my twice baked potatoes, but you should feel free to play around with the flavors as much as you like.
This recipe is for 2 whole, 4 half twice baked potatoes, but is easy enough to double, triple, or whatever you need to feed the number at your table.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 Russett, Yukon Gold, or other large baking potatoes
- 1/2 cup sour cream or buttermilk (plus more to taste)
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. hot, smoked, or bittersweet paprika
- 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
- 1/2 - 1 cup freshly shredded cheese (I like to use cheddar)
- 1/3 cup chopped green onions or chives (optional)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Scrub the potatoes clean, pat them dry, and put them in the oven. Bake until tender when pierced with a skewer, about an hour.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the sour cream, butter, and paprika. Stir in garlic, if using. Set aside.
- When the potatoes are done, cut them in half the long way, and scoop out the tender, fluffy insides, being careful to leave an intact potato skin that can be stuffed. For supremely smooth twice baked potatoes, run the baked potato insides through a ricer and into the sour cream mixture. Simply mashing the potatoes with the sour cream, butter, and paprika with a masher or a large fork works too. Stir in about 3/4 of the cheese. If using green onions, stir those in too. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Stuff the potato back into the potato skins. Set on a baking sheet or in a pan and sprinkle the potatoes with the remaining cheese. At this point, the potatoes can be covered and chilled for up to 2 days if you want to make them ahead.
- Bake until the cheese is melted and browning, about 15 minutes or up to 30 minutes to get them heated through if they're chilled. Serve hot.
