Good ‘Ol Twice Baked Potatoes – Gluten Free

Twice-baked potatoes will forever remind me of my sister-in-law and my first visit to her house. She had made probably two dozen of these and had them waiting for us when we arrived. They are one of the best left over items you might find in your ‘fridge and it certainly doesn’t hurt that also travel and heat up well!

This is a more decadent version than I usually go for and it was so worth it! I was inspired by one of the www.tastykitchen.com cooks, daxphillips. He cooks comfort food and I cook gluten free comfort food – so you could say we are birds of a feather. His website is http://www.simplecomfortfood.com/ for more of his recipes.

I only altered this one slightly – mostly because I didn’t have mushrooms and a like a little more spice!

These took about two hours to make if you actually bake them in the oven instead of microwave them. I do find they come out a lot better when you spend the time baking them in the oven. Serves 8.

Ingredients:

8 large Russet Potatoes (scrubbed)
8 Tbsp butter, divided use
3/4 cups of milk
2 tsp Kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
3/4 cups of caramelized onions (saute until nice and light brown)
3/4 cups of shredded Colby Jack cheese
2 tsp dried rosemary
4 whole strips of bacon, crumbled
1 Tbsp paprika

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 deg F.
Fork the potatoes and place on a baking sheet. Bake for one hour. Prepare the rest of the ingredients while they’re cooking. (check after about 30 minutes and rotate the potatoes for even cooking)
Cool potatoes completely (about 30 minutes)
With a bread knife, cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, and then carefully scoop out the potato “meat” with a spoon. Leave about 1/4″ edge around the sides and bottom to make the “boat.”
Preheat your broiler.
Melt 2 Tbsp of butter and brush the potato boats with melted butter.
Broil for 4-5 minutes until the edges are slightly crispy.
Mix potato meat with all other ingredients (except paprika) in a pan on the stove top over medium heat. Use a potato masher to get the potatoes to the desired consistency. (not mashed potatoes…just chunky)
Preheat the oven to 425 deg F
Load each of the potato boats with stove top mixture
Sprinkle with paprika
Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown
Let cool at least 5 minutes before eating