Creole Crab Mini Cupcakes

Total Time: 39 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 14 mins

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• 1/3 cup onion, and celery and red bell pepper finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons old bay seasoning
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 8 ounces crabmeat, drained well
• 3 ounces cream cheese, at room temerature
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Recipe

• 1 to make cupcakes: heat oven to 350, spray nonstick mini-muffin tins with cooking spray or lightly oil them.
• 2 muffin cups shoud be 1 34 to 2 inches in diameter. set aside.
• 3 in large saute pan or skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and saute the onion, celery and bell pepper for about 3-4 minutes, until just starting to get tender. let cool.
• 4 meanwhile, in small bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour sugar baking powder and old bay seasoning.
• 5 in a large bowl, whisk together egg, milk and sour cream.
• 6 when the sweated vegatables are cool, add cornmeal mixture to the egg mixture; mix lightly.
• 7 stir in vegatables and all melted butter from the pan, do not overmix.
• 8 fold in crabmeat just until evenly distributed.
• 9 spoon heaping tablespoon batter into each muffin cup.
• 10 you should fill 20 cups.
• 11 bake cupcakes for 12-14 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean (rotate the pans after the first 7-8 minutees of baking).
• 12 let the cupcakes cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then carefully remove them from pan and let cool briefly on wire rack before frosting.
• 13 refrigeration is imperative, as the crab will go bad if left at room temp for an extended period of time.
• 14 bring to room temp or warm for a minute or so in oven before frosting.
• 15 to make frosting:
• 16 in small bowl mash cream cheese with a fork, then whisk in milk and lemon juice until smooth and creamy.
• 17 top each cupcake with 1 teaspoon of frosting, then sprinkle with about 1/4 teaspoon chives for garnish.