Baked Egg & Sausage & Cheese & Buttermilk Biscuit Breakfast Cupcakes

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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OK – I have tried these several times in different ways with different levels of success.  These are still imperfect but I am going to post them because, if I don’t, I am gonna keep trying to perfect them & I just don’t want to be eating so many eggs & biscuits.

These could be made with any variety of these bready roll things.  You can scramble the eggs before putting them into the cupcake pan or just carefully break an egg in there in tact.  I used vegetarian sausage patties which look so tasty here all hard & freezer burned, don’t they?

I also used this Tillamook cheese but any cheese you like will do.

I also used these eggs here –

and while it is hard to make out – they are not just free range – they are PASTURED – which means they really are free range and not just in a huge hanger with a million other desperate chickens.    Watch this video of some rescued free range chickens & see if you do not agree that – if you are gonna use eggs – it is worth finding & paying for pastured ones.

 

That said – these are really just omelettes in a cupcake pan with a little biscuit underneath.   I would suggest – however – that if you have a cupcake pan that makes 12 or 18 cupcakes – use one like that and space these bad boys out in the pan so they do not bleed together like this:

Baked Egg & Sausage & Cheese & Buttermilk Biscuit Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

Buttermilk biscuit dough (or other variety)

Pastured eggs

Cheese

Sausage (I used veggie ones) – cooked

S&P

Parsley – as garnish

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 350.

Cook the sausage & chop it up.

Grease a cupcake pan.   Press some biscuit dough into each – spacing them apart from each other, if you can.   Press the dough in so it reached up the sides of the cupcake pan.  I haven’t tried this with cupcake liners but I cannot imagine they would be a bad idea.

Add crumbled sausage & grated or chopped cheese & then either carefully crack an egg in each or scramble some eggs & pour a bit in each.  Cook for about 25 minutes (which should cook the scrambled egg & cook a whole egg while still leaving the yolk runny) – or cook it until the eggs are done to your satisfaction.

Let rest a few minutes & then carefully run a knife around each cupcake & remove them.  Add S&P & some chopped parsley & eat’m up!

Vegan Meatloaf Cupcakes with Sriracha Mashed Potatoes

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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These are pretty yummy and can be made with any sort of meatloaf – whether meat or vegetarian or vegan.  I made this up from things I thought would be in real meatloaf – without the meat – even though I have never made meatloaf before. I know real meatloaf recipes usually require eggs but I was determined to make this vegan WITHOUT making a run to the store for special ingredients.  I whipped the resulting “meat” into a puree in my food processor – because I wanted it to be as authentic seeming as possible.  So many vegan meatloaf recipes result in evident rolled oats & other visible ingredients that would tip off to a meat eater that they were getting something “healthy.”

My only warning about these is that they were a tad hard to get out of the cupcake pan because they were very soft & moist.  That is a good thing for eating but a bad thing for presentation so – simply remedy!  Use paper or foil cupcake liners.  Or maybe let them cool a bit before trying to move them but the paper liners seem foolproof – so I recommend very highly that you use them.

This recipe made 7 cupcakes and two of them filled me to capacity for dinner.  So – I would guess this recipe safely feeds three as a main course – with maybe a side veggie.  Use my Vegan Sriracha Mashed Potatoes recipe HERE or whatever mashed potato recipe you prefer – or try mashed cauliflower!

 Vegan Meatloaf Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

1 lb meatless ground beef

1-2 TBS olive oil

5 celery stalks – diced

1 onion – diced

1 jalapeno – seeded & diced (optional)

4 garlic cloves – chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley – chopped

2 tsp dry oregano

1 tsp pepper

Salt to taste

1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce or tamari

1 TBS sriracha

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 BBQ sauce

2 TBS Dijon mustard

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dry sage

Extra ketchup or BBQ sauce as a glaze

Cupcake liners

Scallions & sriracha as garnish

 

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Make your MASHED POTATOES.  Set aside.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat & saute the onions & celery until soft.  Then – pretty much add all the other ingredients & blend together.

If you are using cupcake liners – you can just start shoving this meatloaf into the cupcake pan.  Either way – you might choose to do what I did – which was puree this shit in a food processor.

 

I really recommend using cupcake lines but, if you do not, grease the cupcake pan with cooking spray & put the meatloaf in the pan.  Top each with a little ketchup or BBQ sauce & bake for about 30 minutes.  When they have cooled a bit – pop those bad boys out & top with mashed potatoes.  I left mine like this & reheated them for about 20 minutes at 350 when I was ready to eat.  If you are rearing to go – top those potatoes with sriracha & some chopped scallions.  Settle in & eat them all if you want.  Then – in a food coma – navigate your ass to www.BathingBook.com and buy my book!  Read the reviews!  IT IS A HILARIOUS book – I promise!

Grown-up Fireball Whiskey Cupcakes

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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My debut novel is out!  Check it out!  I think it is HILARIOUS!  I hope you will, too!

www.BathingBook.com

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These guys are as easy as can be.  You could make them with your favorite “from scratch” cupcake recipe or just buy a box of cake mix.  Same with the frosting.  I had to make a dinner for 12 the other day and, as it was a dual birthday celebration – desserts were a must.  I just didn’t have time to get all fancified with these.  Or even to photograph them properly – so – pardon the bare bones effort here.

If you haven’t tried Fireball whiskey but you like a cocktail & you like to pretend you aren’t really having one – this Fireball is for you.  I cannot stomach any brown liquors or whiskey, in general, but this stuff is candy in a bottle & I promise you will NOT taste whiskey.  At all.  My badass boyfriend Miles is in town for our anniversary (today!) and he has a weakness for this Fireball elixir and I thought I’d experiment with it in cupcakes.  It worked & they were colorful & tasty & reminiscent of those fireball jawbreakers.  Try them!

Grown-up Fireball Whiskey Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

1 box of white cake mix (and the ingredients – eggs & oil – that the box outlines)

Fireball whiskey

Sprinkles of your choice

Red food coloring

Cupcake liners

For the icing

White frosting

DIRECTIONS

See?  EASY!

Make the cake mix as directed but replace the water required with Fireball whiskey & then add a tablespoon or two of red food coloring.

Bake as directed.  Cool the cupcakes.

Add a TBS or two (or more if you like) of Fireball whiskey to the frosting.

Frost & decorate as you like.  Voila!

Reese’s Brownie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting & Salted Caramel and Brownie Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache, Raspberries & Cream

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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OK, kiddies, it was my friend Alyse’s birthday this week & I hosted a little dinner for her.  And I made CUPCAKES!  I seldom eat dessert foods myself – mainly because I prefer to get my sugar from a wine glass – so I have posted precious few dessert recipes.   But a birthday certainly called for a dessert item so I seized the opportunity.  Please know, I am not part of this whole cupcake craze but cupcakes really are a superior choice for birthdays (in my opinion) as they are a reasonable serving size & you can kinda mix up the flavors a bit more than one can with a cake.  And they travel easily.

For these guys, I had a huge, industrial-sized box of brownie mix:

Then I went to store & bought everything I could think of that I might want to use for brownies including eggs & powdered sugar & cream cheese & pudding & jimmies & sprinkles & raspberries & marshmallows & marshmallow fluff & Reese’s Cups & two kinds of frosting etc etc.   Then I realized I was only feeding four people so there was no need to make 4372 cupcakes.  After some consideration, I elected to make the cupcakes from the brownie mix – and chose to top some with peanut butter frosting & drizzle caramel sauce on them & salt them.  Others – I filled with a marshmallow fluff center & a raspberry inside & atop the chocolate ganache frosting.   Unfortunately – the one cupcake I cut into for the photos had an anemic amount of cream – or maybe the cream was inserted off-center so it is hiding in the photo.

But know – I sent the bulk of these cupcakes home with my friend Rose for her teenage sons & I saw a photo she took of one & the center was creamy, indeed.   Here is that photo:

All I know is, I injected a bunch of cream in them & then they settled – leaving a gap in their volcano openings – so I rammed a raspberry inside each of them.  Indelicate but delicious!

Reese’s Brownie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting & Salted Caramel

INGREDIENTS

Brownie mix (be sure to have the eggs & oil you need as per the box)

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (I used full-sized)

Caramel sauce (from the ice cream aisle)

Course salt

Peanuts – for garnish

For the peanut butter frosting

1/2 cup peanut butter (I used chunky)

1/2 cup butter (or lard or shortening)

2 TBS milk

1 tsp vanilla

2-3 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

Make the brownie mix as per box.

For the frosting – blend all but the powdered sugar ( I did this in my food processor).  Then I added the sugar.  Start with 2 cups & test for sweetness.  Add more – if you think it should be sweeter.

To assemble, I lined a cupcake pan with liners, put a tiny dollop of brownie batter to just cover the bottoms, put a Reese’s Cup in each & then topped with more brownie batter.  Bake them according to box instructions.  Then, frost them with the peanut butter frosting.  Drizzle the caramel on them, lightly salt them & top with a peanut.  Put them on the ground and roll around on them naked.

Or serve them to your friends.  Your call.

Brownie Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache, Raspberries & Cream

INGREDIENTS

Brownie mix (be sure to have the eggs & oil you need as per the box)

Raspberries

7 ounce jar of marshmallow fluff

4 TBS butter

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp water

1/4 tsp salt

For the ganache

1 cup chocolate chips (dark chocolate is nicer but I used semi-sweet milk chocolate)

3/4 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

Make the brownie mix as per box.  Bake them as directed.

To make the cream filling, dissolve the salt in 1 tsp hot water.  Blend the fluff, butter, powdered sugar, salted water, and vanilla.  I did this in my food processor.  I then put this in a Ziplock bag & cut a corner out.  I used this as a make-shift pastry bag.  A real pastry bag would be great, too.

When the brownies are done & cooled a bit, use a paring knife & create little cavities in their centers.

Squeeze some cream filling into each.  Fill to the top & let rest a bit.  If the cream settles – either add more cream or shove a raspberry in there like the killer on Twin Peaks used to shove a tiny letter under the fingernail of his/her victims (remember that?).

Over low heat, melt the chocolate chips.  A double boiler is best for this but I was lazy.  I melted them a bit & then just added the heavy cream & whisked it all together.

Dip the cupcakes into the ganache & then top with another raspberry.  Voila!

These are also good to roll around on nude but that can get awkward at a birthday party.  Maybe just stick them all on a tray & serve them the traditional way.

Vegan Buffalo Mac & Pepper Jack Cheese Cupcakes

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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I woke up dizzy & light-headed & (oddly) filled with a dozen ideas for soul food or otherwise southern menu options.  I had all kinds of aspirations involving chicken-frying something & biscuits & gravy & mashed potatoes and mac & cheese.  I am really excited about the chicken-fried recipe but I only got as far as this mac & cheese idea.  I have enough of just these things to survive here for a week.  And I really shouldn’t eat mac & cheese cupcakes every meal for a week or I might develop type-2 Diabetes.

You can opt to make the cupcakes out of this recipe or just stop at the mac & cheese level.  It is a no-bake mac & cheese but I am certain 20 minutes at 375 wouldn’t hurt it.  Here it is right outta the pan – no baking at all.  If you are not baking it or making cupcakes – this mac & cheese comes together in just a little more time than it takes to boil the pasta.

That is a little smoked paprika on there.  Pretty, no?

I used this wacky, large shell pasta for my recipe.  Regular macaroni or other small, shaped pasta would work, too.

Vegan Buffalo Mac & Pepper Jack Cheese Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

1 lb dry pasta – cooked

4 TBS flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp ground pepper

1 pinch cayenne pepper

4 TBS vegan butter

2 celery stalks – diced (plus more for garnish)

3 scallions – diced (plus more for garnish)

1 jalapeno – seeded & diced

3 cups non-dairy milk

1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

4 cups vegan pepper jack cheese (grated)

Crumbled vegan blue cheese as garnish (optional)

Wonton skins (2 per cupcake)

Paprika (as garnish)

Breadcrumbs and/or extra grated cheese to top the cupcakes (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Cook the pasta according to directions.

Heat the oven to 375.

In a bowl – whisk the dry ingredients together: flour, salt, dry mustard, pepper & cayenne.  Set aside.

In a large stock pot, melt the butter & saute the celery, jalapeno & scallions for about 2 minutes.  Add the flour mix & saute over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes.  Add the milk – 1/2 cup at a time – and stir it in until it thickens.  Then add the rest of the milk in the same fashion & in 1/2 cup increments.

Stir in the hot sauce & the pepper jack & heat until melted & combined.

Stir in the cooked pasta.  You can serve it at this point with blue cheese crumbles, celery & scallions as garnish – and maybe a drizzle of more Frank’s sauce – or a brightly colored paprika!

OR –

Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray.  Place two wonton skins in each cup.  Fill them with your mac & cheese.

You might want to add more grated cheese or breadcrumbs here – or not.  I only added breadcrumbs to half to see how they came out.  No big difference.  Bake at 375 for about 12-15 minutes or until bubbly & browning.

Let them rest for about a minute & then serve garnished with blue cheese crumbles, scallions and/or celery.  Maybe sprinkle some paprika on them or drizzle more Frank’s sauce.  Then get a shoe horn & force feed yourself these things like they do a pate goose.

Taco Cupcakes with Chipotle Fish & Mango Salsa or Garlic Lime Fish or Spicy Soyrizo or Rustic Corn

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2012

So – I really enjoyed the results I got from the lasagna cupcakes – and thought, “Why not try other savory cupcakes?”  There really is no end to what you can prepare in the cupcake pan.  And what a great way to make lots of little freezable, single-serving sized portions!  So – since I had taco fixings on hand – I thought I’d experiment there.  Here are the four versions that I made but do not feel you need to follow these very loose recipes much at all.  It’s kinda like a Color Me Mine kitchen project where you can put anything into these taco cupcakes that suits your fancy.  I made three different kinds using wontons (as I did with the lasagna cupcakes) and then one version using corn tortillas.  The tortilla version came out a tad more rustic in appearance because I used tortillas cut round with a cookie cutter & therefore they had no outer shell to hold them together.  The others came out a bit more elegantly – exactly as the lasagna versions had.

Here are the corn tortilla taco cupcakes:

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TACO CUPCAKES

Ingredients

corn tortillas OR wonton skins

Grated cheese (I used pepper jack)

Salsa – (I used mango-peach salsa and regular salsa and salsa verde)

Fish (I used tilapia)

Soyrizo or chorizo

1 7oz can chipotle peppers in adobo

Olive oil

honey

limes

1/2 poblano pepper seeded then charred over your stove burner & diced

BLACK BEANS

1 15oz can black beans – drained & rinsed

1/4 onion – diced

1 carrot – diced

1 celery stalk – diced

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 cup tomato paste

GARNISHES (your choice) – Anything you’d put in a taco –

Guacamole (recipe below)

Avocado

Cabbage or lettuce – chopped

Diced Tomatoes

Cilantro

Sour Cream

Grated cheese

sliced jalapeno pepper

DIRECTIONS

Chipotle Fish

In your blender or food processor – puree

1 can chipotle in adobo

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp each S&P

Marinate your fish (or half your fish) in this for an hour or more.

Garlic-Lime Fish

Place your fish (or half if you are doing a chipotle version, too) in a single layer in a marinating dish.  Squeeze the juice of two limes over it & add a lot of sliced garlic.  I used about 6 cloves.  You can go lighter or heavier.  Sprinle with a little S&P – toss a bit & let marinate for about an hour.

Black Beans

In 1 TBS olive oil, saute the onion, carrot & celery until they begin to soften.  Add the can of drained black beans, cumin & tomato paste.  Stir around for about 5-10 minutes.  Remove them from heat & set aside.

Chipotle & Garlic Lime Fish

Remove from marinade & cook either on a grill or in a grill pan or frying pan sprayed with a nonstick spray – keeping the two flavors (Chipotle & the Garlic-Lime) separate.  Once cooked through – break up into smaller pieces.  Set aside.

ASSEMBLY

Spray your cupcake pan with nonstick spray.  Line each cup with a square wonton or with a corn tortilla cut to the size of the cupcake hole – either with a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass.  I used a cookie cutter & used a smaller circle for the first two layers then the larger one for the top layer in both the tortilla version & cut only the top layer in the wonton version.

I layered the wonton versions three ways:

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CHIPOTLE FISH & MANGO-PEACH SALSA

Wonton Papers

Chipotle fish

mango-peach salsa

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GARLIC-LIME FISH

Wonton Papers

grated pepper jack

Garlic lime fish

salsa verde

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SPICY SOYRIZO

Wonton Papers

blacks beans

soyrizo

poblano peppers

hot salsa

pepper jack

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RUSTIC CORN TORTILLA TACO CUPCAKES

corn tortillas

pepper jack

mango-peach AND hot red salsa

black beans

chipotle fish

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So – in each cupcake tin – layer a small amount of the ingredients you selected (or other variation).  Then add another square wonton or round corn tortilla.  Another layer of ingredients and then top with a large rounded wonton wrapper or a larger corn tortilla disc.   Top everything with a little more salsa & top all of them with pepper jack cheese.  In the case of the wonton versions – press the protruding wonton corners down into the topping so they look like little flat bundles.

Cook in the oven for 18-25 minutes – checking frequently to be sure they do not burn.  Remove from the oven & let cool for at least 5 minutes before trying to remove them from the pan.  The corn tortilla ones will naturally be harder to get out of the pan.  Maybe use a large serving spoon to assist in the lifting.

Top with either: sliced avocado or guacamole or more salsa or cilantro or more cheese or jalapeno peppers – whatever sounds good to you.

GUACAMOLE

1 large avocado

lime

Salt

Remove the skin & pit from the avocado.  Retain the pit.  In a bowl – chop the avocado very fine.  Squeeze a little lime juice in there & add a little salt.  Mix it up until it become creamy but some small chunks of avocado remain.  Taste. Add more salt or lime to taste.  Once it tastes good to you – put the pit back into the guacamole.  It will keep it from turning brown.

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