Preheat oven to 375°F (oven temps vary so you may need to preheat to a higher/lower setting).

Wash the potatoes and pierce them with a fork (to prevent exploding in the microwave). If you have a setting on your microwave for baked potato use that and restart cycle 2-3 times or until your potatoes are soft but not too soft. Otherwise, 5-10 minutes will do depending on how large your potatoes are. If you don't have a potato setting on your microwave, keep a close eye on them.

Let potatoes cool down enough so you can handle them to slice and shell.

Slice potatoes lengthwise and then scrape the middle of the potato out leaving some attached to the skin, keep the filling. You can omit the filling if you like - they are still delicious.

Heat the oil in a pot. Place the shelled potatoes in the oil (shelled side up) and cook until potato center is lightly brown; if you like a crispier skin let the potato cook a little longer and flip over to prevent burning the center.

Season the center of the potato with salt, pepper, garlic powder or you can season the filling.

If you are using your filling, place a small amount in the potato shell, top with bacon bits, then cheese. Place potatoes in the oven until cheese is melted.

Remove from oven and ENJOY!!!!

If using turkey bacon and it doesn't already come in bits, you will have to fry the bacon then crumble it up or use half slices on your potato. I like using Hormel Real Bacon Pieces because I have bacon in every bite and the bacon is already done.

Submitted by: Kaneadsha