Loaded Potato Skins

This is something that I have been craving for a while now so I am adding them to our menu this week. Potatoes are a huge weakness of mine. I could eat them nonstop.  Just thought I would share the recipe!!

Ingredients:

• 6 small to medium sized russet potatoes, rinsed clean
• 8 oz of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 8 slices of smoked, thick cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
• 6 tbsp sour cream, optional
• 2 tbsp of chopped chives, optional
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Poke the top of each potato with a fork and place on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 1 hour. Once cooked, remove from the baking sheet, and place on a plate to let cool for about 15 minutes.
In the meantime, if you are a fan of sour cream, add the sour cream to a small bowl, toss in half of the chives, mix, and let this sit in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Cook your bacon, low and slow on the stove, for about 15-20 minutes. Remove the bacon and let any additional fat drain on some paper towel, before you crumble it down.
Once your potatoes are cooled, use a sharp bread knife and you will cut lengthwise, into three segments of one potato, long slices. So each potato will yield two skins, right? Discard the middle slice and reuse for breakfast the following morning, or heck for that matter, add some butter, salt, and cream, and make some rustic mashed potatoes.
Continue this cutting process with the rest of the potatoes. You should then have 12 skins. With a small spoon, being careful, scoop out about 70 percent of the potato, as you still want some potato in your boat.
Next, melt your butter in the microwave. Get your broiler heated to high. Brush the butter on the inside and outside of each potato skin and place them back onto the baking sheet. Season the inside of each skin with salt and pepper.
Place them under the broiler for 8-10 minutes until the insides get a bit crispy from the melted butter. Remove, and place generous amounts of cheddar cheese into each skin, topping with bacon pieces. Place these back under the broiler for about 3-4 minutes until the cheese is nice and bubbly. Carefully remove from the oven, and get ready.

I got this recipe off of Simple Comfort Food! There are so many good recipes on there!! I'm going to be trying lots of them!