Here you go…another “comfort food” recipe; my favorite kind of food to make and eat!
Twice Baked Potatoes are a dish most everyone has had at one time or another. The difference between one recipe and another is the filling.
The skin of the potato is the container with a filling of just about anything you want to include. Most of us have enjoyed a filling of creamy mashed potatoes with cheddar cheese and bacon.
With some creativity, there are so many other delicious ingredients you can add to the mashed potatoes to enjoy a delicious side dish or a meal.
Pair this potato with our Grilled Lamb Chops for a Gr8 supper!
For Anna and Vince’s “Las Vegas” themed Great 8 Dinner, I brought twice baked potatoes. I decided to change it up a bit and bring boats of creamy mashed potatoes with goat cheese and scallions and topped with parmesan cheese.
These potatoes can be made ahead of time and baked the second time, hence “twice baked,” right before serving. The second baking crisps the potato shell, warms the insides, and melts the cheese on top.
This recipe is for 8 potatoes but you could easily cut it in half or double it for a crowd.
So enjoy this super simple, super yummy, make-ahead, feed a crowd recipe!
Recipe has been revised since last published date of May 4, 2017.
Twice Baked Potatoes with Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 russet potatoes, approximately 9 - 11 ounces each
- 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided and melted
- ¾ cup half and half, or milk or buttermilk
- salt & pepper to taste
- ½ cup chopped scallions , or chives
- 4 Tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375℉. Adjust the oven rack to the middle of the oven.
- Wash the potatoes and dry them.
- Rub each potato with the olive oil and pierce each potato two or three times with a fork.
- Place the potatoes each directly on the rack in the preheated oven.
- Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Before removing the potatoes from the oven, check the potatoes by piercing with a knife to make sure the potatoes are soft and completely cooked.
- Carefully remove the potatoes from the oven and let them cool long enough to be able to handle - about 10 minutes.
- Turn the oven up to 400℉. (If you are making the potatoes a day ahead, then you can turn the oven off.)
- Horizontally cut the top off of each potato (about ¼ inch off the top). Cut just enough to end up with an opening just large enough to remove the cooked potato.
- With a small spoon, gently remove the potato from inside each potato shell leaving about ¼ inch of a potato wall. Try not to break or tear the shell. Place the potato insides into the bowl of a standing mixer or another large bowl. Place each potato shell on a baking sheet.
- Add the goat cheese, cream cheese, 6 Tablespoons of butter, half and half, salt and pepper to the warm potato.
- Using a stand mixer, hand mixer or a potato masher, mash (or whip) the potatoes and other ingredients until combined and fairly smooth.
- Remove about 2 ½ cups of the potato mixture and set aside. (Proceed with this step only if you are using a decorative tip to add potato to the top of the filled potato skins. Otherwise proceed to the next step and fill each shell.)
- To the remaining potato in the larger mixing bowl, add the scallions and mix with a spoon to combine.
- Add about ½ cup of the scallion potato mixture to each potato shell until the bowl is empty.
- Fill a pastry bag with the potato mixture in the medium bowl. Add a large decorative tip and top the potatoes.
- Lightly drizzle the last 2 Tablespoons of butter onto the tops of each potato and sprinkle each with the parmesan cheese.
- Bake at 400℉ for 20 minutes until tops of the potatoes are lightly golden and the potatoes are completely heated through.
Notes
Gr8 Make Ahead Tip:
The potatoes can be made up to a day ahead. After step 16, cover the potatoes loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate. When ready to serve, continue with step 17. The potatoes might need to cook longer than 20 minutes if they are cold when put into the oven. Gr8 Tip: If you prefer not to use the pastry bag for a decorative presentation, there is no need to divide the potato mixture. The scallions can be mixed into the potato mixture and spooned into the shells until all are filled.Just to let you know, some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means that Great Eight Friends will earn a small commission from purchases made through these links (this does not change your cost). These earnings help to support the cost of this website. Thank you so much for your Gr8 support!
This is the nifty cake decorating tool that I used to add the potato mixture to the top of the potatoes to make them look more decorative.
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