Place all four potatoes on a baking sheet and poke a fork a few times. Cook the potatoes for 45 minutes.
Allow the potatoes to cool for about 15 minutes out of the oven.
Cut each potato in half and use a spoon to scoop out the inside, creating a sturdy shell (leave about a 1/4 inch of potato next to the skin. Place these potato shells in a baking dish.
Melt the butter and combine it with the pepper and garlic powder. Use a pastry brush to coat the potato skins with the melted butter mixture and cook for another 20 minutes.
Top the skins with cheese and cook for 7-10 more minutes.
Top your potato skins with sour cream, green onion, and crumbled bacon.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes
These potato skins are best served fresh. However, you can prep the potatoes until they are brushed with butter and store all of the ingredients in the fridge for up to 2 days in airtight containers.
Other toppings that go great on these potato skins include chili powder, red pepper flakes, cottage cheese, and chives.
I use microwaved bacon to cut down on prep time, but freshly cooked bacon works great as well. As long as it is crispy enough to crumble it will work. You can also use bacon bits if you would like.
Poking your potatoes with a fork helps the moisture inside escape, allowing the potatoes to cook and become tender.
The last seven minutes of cooking time is really just to melt the cheese. If you’d like you can also do this using the broiler on high heat.