Roasted Garlic Twice Baked Potatoes

I'm working on finding recipes that I can freeze, so that when I get home from a 12 hour shift at the hospital this year, I don't have to stress so much about what I'm gonna make for dinner. One of the websites I found suggested twice baked potatoes, but then refused to provide a recipe. Well, that wouldn't do, would it? While browsing through my cookbooks, I found a recipe for smashed potatoes--essentially mashed potatoes, but with a little more texture. As the filling for twice baked potatoes is typically just some variation of mashed potatoes, I decided to give it a try.



Roasted Garlic Twice Baked Potatoes
Modified from Southern Living 2007 Annual Recipes, Roasted Garlic Smashed Potatoes

1 large garlic bulb
1 tsp olive oil
2 lbs potatoes, washed well
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Cut off pointed end of garlic bulb. Place on a piece of aluminum foil, then drizzle with olive oil and fold foil over top. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30-45 minutes. Cool. Remove roasted garlic.

Prick potatoes with fork, then place on oven rack (or foil covering the rack). Cook at 375 for about an hour, until done when pierced with fork. Allow to cool, then slice in half and spoon out inside of potato, leaving about 1/4 inch in the skin all the way around. Set aside skins.

Beat potato filling with cream cheese and sour cream. Add milk until the consistency is slightly stiffer than mashed potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon filling back into the skins. At this point, you can opt to freeze the potatoes.

If cooking without freezing, drizzle tops with olive oil and bake at 375 for 15 minutes, until tops are light brown and filling is heated through.

If cooking from frozen, place on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes, until heated through.

My Notes:
Overall, not bad. I think I could use a little more creaminess. I reheated them from frozen and they were just a bit dry, but should be fine if you make them straight through. I'd probably up the cream cheese if I made them again.