make ahead twice baked potatoes

🥘 Ingredients

• • baking potatoes
• • butter
• • skim milk
• • fat free cream cheese
• • salt
• • ground black pepper
• • sharp cheddar cheese

📝 Instructions

1. 1 preheat oven to 350f
2. 2 wash potatoes and pat dry
3. 3 place potatoes , not touching , on a large baking sheet
4. 4 you may need two baking sheets
5. 5 spray potatoes generously with non-stick cooking spray
6. 6 sprinkle outside of potatoes with a little salt
7. 7 bake 1 to 1-1 / 2 hours or until potatoes "give" when gently squeezed , indicating they are done
8. 8 in large mixing bowl , add butter , cream cheese , salt and pepper and mix well
9. 9 with a serrated knife , cut baked potatoes in half lengthwise , being careful to leave skins unbroken
10. 10 with large spoon , scoop out the inside of potatoes , leaving a thin layer of potato attached to the inside of the skin
11. 11 place potato skin shells , skin side down , on the baking sheet used to bake the potatoes
12. 12 put scooped out potato in mixing bowl as you remove it and mix to combine with butter mixture , adding skim milk as needed to make potatoes the consistency of slightly stiff mashed potatoes
13. 13 you may need a little more or less milk to get the final desired consistency
14. 14 using the palm of your hand to support the potato shell while filling , spoon and press potato mixture into each half potato shell
15. 15 return filled shell to baking sheet
16. 16 sprinkle with shredded cheese and pat cheese to make it adhere to the potatoes
17. 17 to serve immediately: return baking pan of potatoes to oven and bake about 15-25 minutes until potatoes are hot and cheese is melted
18. 18 to freeze for later use: cover potatoes with plastic wrap and place baking sheet in freezer , leaving several hours until potatoes are completely frozen
19. 19 remove potatoes from freezer and wrap each potato in a resealable plastic sandwich bag
20. 20 place wrapped potatoes into one or more gallon resealable freezer bags
21. 21 store in freezer for up to 3 months
22. 22 to cook frozen potatoes: preheat oven to 350f
23. 23 place potatoes on baking sheet and loosely cover with aluminum foil
24. 24 bake about 45 minutes
25. 25 uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or more until potatoes are hot
26. 26 do not over bake
27. 27 this method keeps the potato skins firm and crisp
28. 28 if time is short , place potatoes in microwave and cook on high about 10 minutes
29. 29 remove and then place in 350f oven to finish cooking
30. 30 in a big hurry: these potatoes can be completely heated from frozen state in the microwave , heating them just until they are hot
31. 31 potato skins will be softer than if cooked in the oven
32. 32 or , they can be defrosted in the microwave and reheated , uncovered , in a 350f oven for 15-20 minutes or until hot