Muffin Tin Chronicles

Welcome to the first blog post about my muffin tin recipes, which I will now deem the Muffin Tin Chronicles! I've recently become obsessed with baking everything and anything possible from a muffin tin. What made me oooo and ahhhh over such a simplistic, no-brainer idea? Well, it began with Pinterest, of course! I went to a Pinterest party and we all had to create a dish we had found on the website. I chose the first recipe below, and it was a great success! Along the way, I found more online and then purchased The Muffin Tin Chef book. I'm outta control now! I love it because it makes individual, little, easy-to-grab and eat bite size servings in a short amount of time. I haven't found one recipe I'd label a failure, and so I'll continue to post about my muffin tin experiments. Here's a few to get your mouths watering...


The Holy Grail of muffin tin recipes

The first recipe I attempted was Lasagna cupcakes. To simplify the preperation and ingredients list making it an easy-to-throw-together type meal, I have changed the directions somewhat. I like meals that are quick and easy without alot of prep time, so if you feel the need and have the time use fresh products.

LASAGNA CUPCAKES

Prep time: 15 minutes, Bake time: 18-20 minutes, Serving Size: ALOT

Ingredients:

1lb of ground beef, Wonton wrappers (round or square), jar of Emeril's roasted gaaarlic sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzarella shredded cheese, grated three cheese mixture (includes Romano, Parmesan and asiago) and fresh basil.

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brown meat in saucepan, adding Emeril's sauce once cooked. Spray muffin to keep from sticking. Line cups with wonton wrappers. Spoon in meat/sauce mix on top of wonton, and sprinkle with mozzarella, three cheese mix, and spoon in ricotta. Put another wonton over this, trapping the mixture in between two wonton layers. Repeat step with meat, sauce and all cheeses on top. Continue doing this till all cups are filled or desired number is created. Bake 18-20 minutes at 375 degrees. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, and garnish with fresh basil.

The wontons soften to a pasta-like texture while it bakes, and the final product tastes just like lasagna without having the huge portion sizes. Viola!

Yummy lasagna cupcakes are always a hit!!

The next muffin tin recipe I attempted was a brunch tailgate for a football game. Everyone was in charge of bringing some kind of breakfast food to share, and I decided on a side hashbrown type dish. 

CHEESY POTATO BACON CUPS
Prep time: 20 minutes, Bake time: 25 minutes, Serving Size: 12-14
Ingredients:
1 pack of bacon (flavor doesn't matter), package of frozen shredded hashbrowns, shredded cheddar cheese, Emeril's Four Cheese Alfredo sauce, one egg, real bacon bits, salt, pepper.
Directions:
Lightly cook all of bacon in saucepan. Line sides of muffin tin with strips of lightly cooked bacon. Cut small pieces of bacon to line the bottom. It will be semi-difficult for it to stay, but it all comes out looking and tasting great. In bowl, combine 2.5 cups of hashbrowns, one beaten egg, 1/2 cup of alfredo sauce, 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, real bacon bits (as much as you'd like), and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon in portions of hashbrown mix into bacon cups. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

These cheesy potato bacon cups are perfect for breakfast or dinner, and are sure to catch some noses! For vegetarian version, substitute bacon for Morningstar Soy Bacon. YUM!

Best made muffin tin recipe yet!

I attempted this most recent muffin tin recipe last night for a sorority Thanksgiving potluck. I was the host of last nights party, so I wanted to be the person providing the "main dish" of Thanksgiving, which is turkey. I actually mixed two different recipes, one I found online for chicken pot pies (I substituted with turkey) and the other from my muffin tin cookbook. 

MINI TURKEY POT PIES

Prep Time: 20 minutes, Bake Time, 20 minutes, Serving size: 16

Ingredients:

1 can of Grand's Flaky biscuits, 1 slice of oven roasted turkey 1/4 inch thick (3/4lb), 1 package of frozen veggies (with corn, peas, carrots and green beans), 1 can of cream of chicken, 1 can of chicken broth, 1 stalk of diced celery, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Directions:

Cut up turkey into small cubes. Coat tin with non-stick spray. Cut flaky buscuits horizontally in half. Flatten out on cutting board. Line each cup with biscuit. In bowl, mix frozen veggies, diced celery, cubed turkey, 1 can of cream of chicken, 3/4 can of chicken broth, and all seasonings to taste. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

The mini turkey pot pies were alittle messy, but tasted wonderful. Keep in mind that biscuits rise as they bake, and don't overfill the cups with too much of the filling.

I may try using more biscuits to cover the top of the pies next time

Thanks for reading all about my muffin tin ventures. I know I'll have more recipes to share in the future, including mini fish tacos and bruscetta. Do you have any muffin tin recipes to share? I'd love to hear all about it!