Preheat oven to 400F°. At this point you have two options for going forward. You can bake both your bacon and potatoes or you can bake just your potatoes and fry your bacon.
You can do them at the same time by using one cookie sheet and a smaller pan that will fit next to it, for the potatoes. After cooking bacon in the oven, it is now the only way I will cook it. It's practically fool proof. I kid you not. You can get it crispy or floppy or nicely in the middle. 20 minutes at 400F° will give you bacon that is perfectly cooked and a tad wiggly.
Place a cooling rack on a cookie sheet and then lay 2 pieces of bacon per potato you will be cooking. It's always better to have too much bacon than not enough. Set aside. Scrub your potatoes and lightly coat with oil. You can drizzle or spray. Place potatoes in your smaller pan. I used a rectangular cake pan because I knew that would fit nicely next to my cookie sheet. Put both pans in the oven. Cook bacon for 20 minutes and potatoes for an hour.
Remove bacon from oven, cool and drain on paper towels. Chop into pieces, as small as you wish. Set aside.
Remove potatoes from the oven. Using a serrated knife, cut your potatoes in half length wise. Using a spoon or small cookie scoop, remove potato centers leaving 1/4" around the outside and bottom. Save your potato centers for another use.
Turn up your oven to 450F°. Prepare a cookie sheet with foil and top off with a cooling rack. Place potatoes on cooling rack. Spray or drizzle all sides of potatoes with oil. Sprinkle both sides with salt. This not only helps with the crispness you'll get but it gives a wonderful taste especially to the potato skin. Cook for 10 minutes. Flip potatoes and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Remove potatoes from oven. Arrange the potatoes bottom side down. Sprinkle pepper into each potato cup. Fill potato with cheese. Top off with bacon. Broil for 2 minutes. This is where I'll change things in the future. Again, fill with cheese and top off with more bacon. Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Transfer to a serving platter or plate. Top off with sour cream and onions if you wish.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. Nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For the most accurate data, use your preferred nutrition calculator with the actual ingredients you used to make this recipe.
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