Baked Potato Soup

• Soup:
• 2.5 lbs potatoes, such as red potatoes, whites, yellow or russets
• 1/3 cup brown rice or all-purpose flour
• 5 cups milk, plus more as needed
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, plus more to taste
• 3/4 cups sour cream
• Toppings:
• slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
• thinly sliced chives or green onions, or both
• cheddar cheese, shredded
• sour cream

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pierce each potato with a fork and then place on a baking sheet. Bake for approximately 1 hour, until the potatoes are tender. Cool them completely. When the potatoes are cool, slice them in half and use a spoon to scoop out as much of the flesh as possible. You can also peel them fairly easily, but I'm usually not that motivated. Discard the skins and roughly mash the potatoes a few times, leaving plenty of large bite size chunks.
2. In the bottom of a large soup pot or dutch oven, combine the flour and about 2 cups of milk. Whisk to thoroughly combine and then slowly stir in the rest of the milk. Cook over medium heat, for about 5 - 10 minutes, until the mixture thickens slightly. Add the potatoes, salt and pepper and turn the heat to low. Cook the soup without boiling at all, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes. Stir in the sour cream and cook about 3 more minutes. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve immediately or transfer to a crockpot set to WARM. This will keep well at the lowest crockpot setting for up to 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Add milk if it is too thick before serving and heat just enough to make sure the soup is warm. Ladle soup into bowls and top with bacon, cheese, chives and sour cream.

potatoes, brown rice, milk, salt, freshly cracked black pepper, sour cream, toppings, bacon, chives, cheddar cheese, sour cream

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/baked-potato-soup-51521601 (may not work)