Baked Potatoes with Broccoli Cheese Sauce

I have really enjoyed cooking for the past while, mostly because the recipes have all turned out so well! I credit this to Cooking Classy. I spent a good hour pinning her recipes and this is another one I made from her blog that was delicious. I doubled the recipe and changed a few minor things. Rating: 9/10

Ingredients

3 medium Russet potatoes, scrubbed and rinsed
2 tablespoons butter, diced into 4 pieces
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar (4 oz)
1 cup chopped steamed broccoli florets (they should be chopped up into very small pieces and then measured)*

Directions

Heat to 400 degrees. Pierce each potato several times with a fork. Place potatoes in oven and bake until potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. (Note: Because I doubled the recipe, meaning six potatoes, I added another half hour or so to the bake time. I knew the potatoes were done when I pierced one with a fork and the fork slid into the potato easily.)

For the broccoli cheese sauce:

In a small or medium pan melt butter over medium heat. Add onion powder, garlic powder and flour and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. While whisking pour in milk. Season with salt, pepper and add additional onion or garlic powder for taste. Allow mixture to cook, stirring constantly, until it boils and mixture has thickened. Reduce to warm heat and stir in cheddar cheese. Once the cheese has melted then stir in steamed broccoli. (Note: my sauce turned out a little thicker than I preferred, so I slowly added milk until it was my desired consistency). Serve warm over potatoes.

*You can cook the broccoli any way you prefer. I used frozen steam-in-bag broccoli florets (cut and measured as mentioned in the ingredients) and it worked well.