Food : 10 Minute Baked Potato

So a few days ago I had a hankering for a baked potato.  I remembered that beautiful sweet potato I bought over the weekend and thought I'd make myself a sweet savory treat for lunch.  In about 10 minutes I had a glorious Maple Glazed Sweet Potato sitting on my plate!  

How did I do that?  Let me show you....

My mom shared this handy trick with me a few years ago and I haven't baked a "traditional" baked tater since!  

1. Grab a potato. {I use russet or sweet potatoes for this method.  "Baking" time may vary according to the size of your potato.  We'll get there in a minute.}
2. Wash it well.
3. Poke {carefully} a few times with a knife or fork.
4. Pop it in the microwave on high for 5 minutes.  {I do 6 or 7 minutes for a large potato...the one below was considered large.}
5. Carefully {its hot!} and snugly wrap it in foil and let sit for another 5 minutes {again, I let it sit another minute or two if it's large}
6. Unwrap & voila!  You have a baked potato in about 10 minutes!  :) 

For a regular russet potato, I like to drizzle olive oil and a dash of salt over the skin before I wrap it in foil.

Maple Glazed Sweet Potato

1. Bake a large sweet potato.
2. Slice into 1/2 in slices and stack.
3. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg and a dash of salt.
4. Drizzle warm maple syrup over top.

Happy "baking"!  

- images via danya collyer