Twice Baked Potato Casserole

I don't know about you, but when it comes to dinner, I love potatoes as a side. Potatoes can be done in so many ways and I have experimented with a good handful of them. This week I came across a recipe in a Paula Deen cookbook for Twice-Baked Potato Casserole. I have made twice baked potatoes before, but they can be so time consuming! This sounded great because it had all the ingredients of twice baked potatoes, but you just threw everything together in one dish! It turned out great and other than the time consuming part of baking the potatoes, it was really quick and easy! Paula Deen even recommends making this the day before, refrigerating, and then baking it right before dinner the next day. Hope you like it too!

Ingredients:

8 medium potatoes

1(8-ounce) package cream cheese (room temp)

½ cup butter (softened)

1 pint sour cream

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 cloves garlic

1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup chopped chives

6 slices bacon-cooked crisp

Baking Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Pierce each potato and place on baking pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until very soft. Mash potatoes in large bowl. Add cream cheese, butter, sour cream and 1 cup of cheddar. Stir well. Add garlic, salt and pepper, and stir again. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 F and bake casserole 30 to 35 minutes until hot. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheddar over casserole and return to oven for about 5 minutes, until cheese melts. Garnish with chopped chives and crumbled bacon before serving. YUM!