Original Recipe - Twice Baked Potatoes

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Twice baked potatoes! Twice the fun, twice the servings, twice the carb overload!

um, yea .... well.... anyway.

Twice baked potatoes are essentially just a mound of loaded mashed potatoes presented in a potato shell.

It's all about presentation.

For the shell part, you will want to find the big, jumbo baking potatoes that you'd see in steakhouses. The bigger they are, the more impressive they are to company.... plus, if they are big, they make a perfectly lovely meal on their own!

If you are serving these to kids, cut them in half or allow time for a serious nap afterwards.

Just a note... the photo shows an uncooked potato. These were for a friend of mine so she'll be doing the twice baked part on her end when she gets ready to serve them up!

First off, you'll want to make a batch of my tempeh bacon because you'll need some of it for this recipe.

If you'd rather not make it, you can sub in something like Bac-o's but.. I'll be disappointed and the potatoes will be less fabulous. Just sayin'

Feel free to add other yummy stuff into the potato mixture like chopped green onions, vegan cheese or vegan sour cream. You can also use fresh chives and parsley instead of the dried.

Shelly's Twice Baked Potatoes

Makes 6 large potatoes

3 very large baking potatoes
5 medium russet potatoes
2 tbsp Earth Balance
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp dried chives
1 tbsp dried parsely
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp onion granules or powder
1/2 tsp garlic granules or powder
1/8 tsp citric acid (you can sub in 1/2 tsp lemon juice)
6 slices tempeh bacon, cooked crispy and chopped

1. Place the 3 very large potatoes into a crockpot and bake on high for 2 to 3 hours until fork tender (or bake them however you want)

2. Peel the 5 potatoes, wash and chop into small pieces and boil until fork tender like you're making mashed potatoes (because you are!) Drain and place in a large bowl.

3. When the 3 large potatoes are done, slice them in half and let cool until they can be handled.. still warm tho. It's easier to remove the middle if they are warm.

4. Carefully scoop out the middle of each potato half , leaving a small layer of the potato behind and set aside. Place the scooped out potato middles into the bowl with the boiled potatoes.

5. Melt the Earth Balance and pour into the potatoes and mash them until smooth.

6. Add the other ingredients (except the tempeh bacon) into the mashed potatoes and mix well.

7. Carefully fill in potato shell with the mashed potato mixture, leveling it off and then mound more of the mixture on top, smoothing out the sides. You may not use all of the filling. If not, you have leftover loaded mashed potatoes!

8. Once you are finished, press the chopped pieces of the temeph bacon into the top.

9. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes until the potato is heated thru and slightly toasted on the top.

10. I like to serve them with a little pat of earth balance on top.