Slow Cooker Baked (and Twice Baked) Potatoes

It came to my attention this week that you can bake potatoes in your slow cooker!  I was so excited that I did a jig – why?  Slow cookers may take longer, but they’re much more energy efficient than traditional ovens which makes your cooking (and electric bill) a little greener. : )

To bake potatoes in your slow cooker:

1. Rinse potatoes to clean them, allow them to dry, then pierce with a fork.
2. Wrap potatoes in foil.
3. Place just the wrapped potatoes in your slow cooker.
4. Cook on High until softened. (I did three large potatoes and it took about 5 hours, but it may need to be longer if you really fill your slow cooker).

So, with this new info at my disposal I got to thinking – if I can BAKE potatoes in my slow cooker, certainly I can bake them twice in my slow cooker.  I did:

Oh baby these were tasty.  Slow cooking potatoes makes them extra potato-y somehow, but I will also say that doing this method makes for softer twice baked potatoes instead of crisp ones like in the oven.  Here’s what I did:

1. Bake potatoes in slow cooker.
2. Remove potatoes from foil wrappings, cut lengthwise.
3. Remove insides with a spoon into a large bowl, reserve skins.
4. Once all of the potato skins have been emptied, mash the potatoes with non-fat sour cream, skim milk, chopped green onions, and bacon (crumbled or bacon bits).
5. Stuff potato skins with mashed potatoes.
6. Place stuffed potatoes back in the slow cooker (now set to low), and top with shredded cheese.
7. Cook, with the lid slightly cracked, until cheese melts and all is heated through (about 20-30 minutes).