• Rub each washed potato with olive oil - put some oil on a paper towel to rub on the potato
  
• Sprinkle the potato with sea salt
• Bake the potatoes, on a baking sheet, in a 400-degree oven for an hour or more - until the potatoes are soft when squeezed or pricked with a fork
• Lower the oven temp to 300 degrees
• You can wait for the potatoes to cool or use oven mitts while you slice an opening in each potato
  
• Scoop out the baked potato, leaving the shell intact
• Transfer the scooped out potato to a large bowl for mashing
  
• Add salt, pepper, butter, and sour cream
• Mash the potato mixture until it is smooth
• optional - For Ultimate Loaded potatoes - add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and about 1/2 cup of crumbled bacon to the potato mixture before stuffing the potato
• Fill the shell of the potatoes with the mashed potatoes
  
• Pop the potatoes back into the oven to warm through - about 30 minutes

Loading your potato...

• Immediately after taking them out of the oven, while the potatoes are still hot...
• add toppings like shredded cheese, bacon bits, and chives
• or, set bowls of toppings out for your guests to load their own with their favorite toppings
• Making these Twice Baked Potatoes Ahead...
• If you want to, you can stuff the potatoes, and freeze them for a later date. Do this before the reheating step. Wrap them in foil and freeze for months. Just reheat them for about an hour, or until they are thawed and warm enough to eat. Now, that's a nice time saver
• Only need a few hours or a few days? Then, just after stuffing the potatoes, transfer them to your baking sheet, place clear wrap over the potatoes and place them in the refrigerator.  Give yourself an additional 14 minutes of baking time per the recipe to allow the potatoes to warm through. (45 min. total)