Pimento Cheese Patty Melts with Bacon

Ingredients

8 slices of smoky bacon
1½ lb. ground beef
Coarse salt and pepper
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
2 tbsp. grated onion
1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼ pound sharp cheddar, grated
4-oz. chopped pimientos, drained
3-ounce package cream cheese
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons hot sauce, such as Frank’s® RedHot®
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
Softened butter, for buttering bread
8 slices good-quality white bread

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Arrange bacon on a slotted broiler pan and bake until crisp, about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, season the beef with salt and pepper. Mix in the Worcestershire, parsley and onion. Form 4 large patties (thinner in the middle for even cooking.)

In a large skillet or cast-iron griddle, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the patties and grill, turning once, for about 8 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer to a plate.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cheddar, pimientos, cream cheese, mayo, hot sauce, paprika and garlic until well mixed, 1-2 minutes.

Reheat the skillet or griddle over medium heat. Butter 1 side of each bread slice, placing buttered side down on a work surface. Spread each bread slice with some cheese mixture, top with a burger, 2 pieces of bacon and another bread slice. Griddle until golden and the cheese is melted.

Mini Muffin Corn Dog Poppers

Ingredients

2 ounces cream cheese
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
2 hot dogs, diced
1 jalapeño, diced
Nonstick cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Put the cream cheese into the freezer for about 5 minutes to chill. Cut into cubes.

In a mixing bowl, combine the cornbread mix, milk and eggs. Fold in hot dogs, jalapeño and cream cheese.

Spray a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray then divide the cornbread mixture equally into the muffin cups. Bake 15-20 minutes.

Mini Muffin Jelly Doughnut Bites

Ingredients

 2 tubes store-bought biscuits from refrigerator section
1 egg
1 1/2 cups strawberry jelly
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Nonstick spray

Directions

Preheat oven 350ºF.

On a lightly floured work surface, pop the 2 canisters of biscuit dough and separate each biscuit from one another, there should 16 total biscuits. Gently separate each biscuit in two so there are a total of 32 each thin biscuits.

In a small bowl, whisk up the egg with a splash of water to make an egg wash and reserve.

Place about a teaspoon of jelly into the center of each biscuit, then lightly brush the outer edge with egg wash. Pinch the edges of the biscuits together so that the dough completely incapsules the jelly. Give the seams a good pinch to make sure they’re really nice and secure.

Spray a 24-cup mini muffin tin with nonstick spray then pop each mini biscuit/ jelly doughnut into the tin with the seam side facing up. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Bake off the remaining 8 doughnuts after you have baked and cooled the mini muffin tin from the first batch.

While doughnuts are baking, put powdered sugar in large mixing bowl. Once doughnuts are done and still a bit warm, toss them gently in the powdered sugar.

Mini Muffin Philly Cheesesteak Bites

Ingredients

2 lbs ground sirloin (1 lb per muffin tin)
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups all-purpose biscuit mix
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded provolone cheese, divided
Salt and pepper
Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Put 2 mini muffin pans into the hot oven for a few minutes until hot. While mini muffin pan is preheating, prepare the Philly cheesesteak mixture.

In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, brown the meat. Once brown, add the onion, peppers and Worcestershire, and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

In a medium bowl, mix the biscuit mix, milk, cooled meat mixture and 1 1/2 cups of cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Pull the hot pan out of the oven and spray muffin cups with cooking spray. Use a small scoop to evenly scoop heaping scoopfuls of the biscuit mixture into all of the mini muffin cups. Top each scoop of mixture with a little sprinkle of cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden on top.

Mini Muffin Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

2 tubes store-bought crescent rolls from refrigerator section
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Nonstick spray
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

On a lightly floured work surface, pop the 2 tubes of crescent rolls and gently unroll them being careful not to break any of the perforated lines. Gently roll out both rectangles separately with a rolling pin to 12x6” rectangle. Cut both rectangles into 2 equal halves, so there is a total of 4 squares measuring about 6x6” each.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans and maple syrup. Divide the mixture equally onto each crescent dough square, leaving a 1/4-inch border.

In a small bowl, whisk up the egg and a splash of water to make an egg wash. Using a pastry brush, brush the border of all 4 crescent squares. Roll each square up into a log, and then cut each log into 6 mini rolls.

Spray a 24-cup mini muffin tin with nonstick spray then pop each mini cinnamon roll into the cup making sure the cut spiral side is facing up. Bake for 10 minutes.

While muffins are baking, mix up the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle over the hot mini cinnamon buns and serve.

Mini Muffin Spinach & Artichoke Bites

Ingredients

1 10-ounce box frozen spinach, thawed
4 ounces cream cheese
2 14-ounce cans artichokes, drained and chopped
1 1/2 cups biscuit mix
1 cup milk
1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
Nonstick spray

Directions

Preheat oven 350ºF.

Put cream cheese into the freezer for about 5 minutes to chill before chopping into a small dice.

Wring out the thawed spinach in a dishtowel to remove excess liquid. Place spinach into a large mixing bowl along with the artichokes, Parmigiano, biscuit mix and milk. Combine all the ingredients then fold in the chopped chilled cream cheese.

Spray the mini muffin tin with nonstick spray then divide the spinach-artichoke mixture equally in the muffin cups. Bake for 12-15 minutes till puffed and golden in color.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Herb Ricotta

Ingredients

½ cup ricotta
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 small clove garlic, grated or chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
A few leaves basil, chopped
A couple sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped
4 small pieces skinless, boneless chicken breast, butterflied
EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling
4 thin slices prosciutto di Parma
A splash of white wine
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a bowl, season the ricotta with salt and pepper. Stir in the Parmigiano-Reggiano, garlic, parsley, basil and thyme. Place some of the ricotta mixture on each butterflied piece of chicken and fold the breast over. Drizzle with EVOO and wrap with prosciutto.

Heat an ovenproof skillet with a drizzle of EVOO. Add the chicken bundles and brown over medium-high heat, turning once, for 4-6 minutes. Transfer to the oven to cook through, 12-15 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan and deglaze the pan with wine. Swirl in the butter. Spoon the sauce over the chicken to serve.