The Wimpy Vegetarian

Whole Foods + Vegetarian + Meal Plans

Twice Baked Potatoes (Mummy-Style)

35 Comments

#Sunday Supper post! Twice baked potatoes topped with cheese, and decorated as mummies for some Halloween fun.

twice baked potatoes for Halloween 

When I was young, my mom used to make twice-baked potatoes as a treat for my dad and me. She’d whip some cream, butter, salt and pepper into the potatoes, fold them gently back into the skins, and top them with cheddar cheese before sliding them back into the oven for a quick melt.

Problem was, when they were on the menu, I didn’t want to eat anything else she’d prepared. There was always a little drama at the dinner table.

Many years later, they’re still a favorite of mine. To make them, you’ve got to use the best potatoes you can find, and for me that means Idaho® potatoes. You may wonder if it really makes that big a difference, whether the potatoes were grown in Idaho or somewhere else. The answer is a resounding yes. Idaho's growing season of warm days and cool nights, ample mountain-fed irrigation and rich volcanic soil, give Idaho Potatoes their unique texture, taste and dependable performance. Look for their GROWN IN IDAHO® or IDAHO® POTATOES, both of which are federally registered certification marks by the Idaho Potato Commission.

FINAL TM LOGO

If you’re looking for more great recipes with the best potatoes money can buy, go visit their Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram pages. You’ll be surprised at all the wonderful ways to cook with them.

In honor of upcoming Halloween, a group of us here at #SundaySupper took Idaho potatoes to create some spooky potato dishes you can make with your kids, or for a party. I had a few ideas for this that just didn’t pan out for one reason or another. And then I realized I was completely overcomplicating it (as usual). I didn’t need to be an arts and crafts major in college to come up with something. Sometimes the simplest things that just taste great work even better.

So I made roach (one of my not-so-private phobias) infested twice-baked potatoes with roaches made from dates. My husband, Carnivorous Maximus, and I tried raisins at first – and after trying to make roaches out of them, trust me, dates are the way to go.

Print Recipe
0 from 0 votes

Twice Baked Potato Mummies

Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time45 mins
Course: Side Dish
Servings: 4 twice-baked potato halves
Author: Susan Pridmore

Ingredients

  • 2 Idaho® russet potatoes
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 Tbsp sour cream
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
  • 3 slices of cheddar cheese
  • 8 currants
  • 5 dates

Instructions

  • Poke a few holes in the potatoes using a sharp knife and microwave the potatoes until softened. In my microwave oven, it takes about 10 minutes, but this will depend upon the strength of your microwave, the size of the potatoes, and your altitude. All baking takes longer at higher altitudes.
  • Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise, and carefully scoop out the potato into a small bowl, leaving only the skin. Place the scooped out potato, a bit at a time into a potato ricer and press the potato into a medium-large bowl. Alternatively, you can scoop the potato out of the skins directly into a medium-large bowl and mash using a masher.
  • Add the butter, sour cream, salt and pepper and stir until the butter is completely melted.
  • Preheat the oven to 300˚F and place the skins on a baking sheet. Fold the mashed potatoes into the potato skins. Slice the cheddar cheese into 1/2" wide strips and lay them across the mashed potatoes, leaving one end of the potato open so that the mashed potatoes are visible. Tuck the cheese ends around the potatoes just inside the skins, mummy-style. Bake for 2 minutes or until the cheese slightly melts.
  • Add the currants to the revealed mashed potatoes for the 'eyes'.
  • Make roaches out of dates by slicing the dates in half lengthwise. This is the roach back, but it's much larger than what you need. Using a sharp knife, slice thin slivers from the sides. These will be the legs that you press onto the bottoms of the roach back. Slice the point off one end of the roach back and gently round the edges using your fingers. This is the head of the roach. Because dates are so sticky, I just press the legs and head onto the body. For roaches sticking into the potatoes, I just used a couple of legs instead of all six. If you have trouble attaching the head or legs, spoon a little cream cheese into the hollowed 'belly' of the 'roach' and attach them to the cream cheese.
  • Insert the roaches into the potatoes by cut a slit through the cheese and sliding in a 'roach' back. Attach one 'leg' on either side.
  • Disclaimer: I am not the artist I want to be in my imagination.

Notes

Most of the time for making this recipe is spent making 'roaches'.

And now go check out all the other Halloween ideas, and have fun trying them out.

Fun and Spooky Potato Savory Bites:

Fun and Spooky Potato Sweet Treats:

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.
This post is sponsored by the Idaho Potato Commission. All opinions are my own.

SIGN UP!

Want to add more vegetarian dishes to your dinners but need it to be easy? Subscribe here and get my 5 SECRETS TO FUSS-FREE VEGETARIAN DINNERS!

Comments

  6. Shaina says

    These potatoes not only sound delicious (all that gooey cheese, yum!) but they make pretty awesome mummies too! The roaches are my favorite though, I don’t know if I’d have the patience to do that!

    Reply

  8. apuginthekitchen says

    I haven’t had twice baked potatoes in years, I love your potato mummies and roaches out of dates, gotta love that too. I agree about Idaho potatoes. They are the best. Cheese and creamy potatoes, now you have me craving it.Just bought some potatoes YUM!!

    Reply

    • The Wimpy Vegetarian says

      This was the first time I’d made them in ages! And our step-son put his order in for some when he saw them on Facebook earlier today :-). Yes, yes, yes, Idaho potatoes really are the best. I think there’s a big difference in the texture.

      Reply

  13. Family Foodie says

    Susan, I love twice baked potatoes with all of that creamy goodness and cheese, so turning them into mummies is perfect. Living in FL has given me the creepy crawlies about roaches … so those dates really “creeped” me out!

    Reply

  15. Amy Kim (@kimchi_mom) says

    If there’s one thing that creeps me out, that’s ROACHES! If you’ve ever lived in NYC, it is inevitable that you will encounter roaches!

    Your “roaches” are pretty creepy..the color and shine of those dates come pretty close to the real thing. I will have to make these potatoes without them! 😉

    Reply

    • The Wimpy Vegetarian says

      If you ever live in the south, it’s the same thing. I lived in Atlanta for several years and traveled the whole southwest for my work. They were just a fact of life there – Mississippi was the worst though. They just freaked me out!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Sign Up For My Newsletter!

Want to add more vegetarian dishes to your dinners but need it to be easy? Subscribe here and get my 5 SECRETS TO FUSS-FREE VEGETARIAN DINNERS!

Archives

Categories

shares