American potato casserole with twice-baked potatoes

Ingredients for 12 servings:

• 1.8 kg potatoes, large (baked potatoes)
• 225 g cream cheese, room temperature
• 110 g butter, soft
• 480 ml sour cream
• 225 g Cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 clove(s) garlic, chopped
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 6 slice(s) bacon, cut slightly thicker
• 12 g chives, for garnishing

Instructions

Working time approx. 50 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 10 minutes; Total time approx. 3 hours

Twice-Baked Potato Casserole – oh, so good!

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (top/bottom heat). Wash and brush the potatoes, pierce them several times with a fork, and place them on a baking sheet. Place the sheet in the center of the oven and bake the potatoes for 1 hour and 15 minutes; they should be very tender. Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a pan over medium heat on the stovetop. When the slices are crispy but not too crunchy, remove them from the pan and drain on kitchen paper and let them cool. Then crumble them into smaller pieces and set aside. Remove the potatoes from the oven (do not turn off the oven!) and let them cool slightly. Peel them and mash them finely in a large bowl with a potato masher. Add the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and half of the cheddar cheese and mix everything well. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper and mix well again. Lightly grease a baking dish (approx. 22 x 33 cm) and pour in the potato mixture. Place the casserole in the center of the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Then sprinkle the second half of the cheddar cheese on top and bake for another 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Remove the potato casserole from the oven, garnish with crumbled bacon and chives, and serve.