Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Cupcakes



By Paul Briand

Meatloaf and bacon: It’s a combination that’s very hard to resist, especially when it’s packaged together in this unique recipe I found on Yummly via the Flipboard app.

Come on, how can you not immediately fall in love with the notion of a bacon wrapped meatloaf disguised to look like a cupcake?

I served it for a big family dinner, (the recipe serves 12) and I substituted the white mashed potatoes with whipped sweet potatoes as the topping. And I didn’t use a piping bag as suggested; I just dolloped the potatoes on with a spoon.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
1 onion, finely diced
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 (8-ounce) can tomato paste
2 tbs brown sugar
1 1/2 tbs Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
12 slices of bacon
4-6 potatoes
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbs butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees;
2. For the meatloaf: Line your muffin tin with the bacon so that each tin is circled by one strip;
3. Mix together the beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, salt, pepper, tomato paste, sugar, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce;
4. Form the meat into 12 equally sized balls and place them into the bacon-lined muffin tins. Fold the top of the bacon over, if needed;
5. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the meat is cooked through and the bacon is crisp;
6. For the potatoes: While the meatloaf is cooking, dice he potatoes and boil them in salted water until they’re soft;
7. Drain the potatoes, place into a mixing bowl, and mash them with a fork until they’re completely smooth;
8. Add your butter, cheese, milk, salt, etc and mix until fully combined;
9. Move your mashed potatoes into a piping bag (or a zip-lock with an edge cut off) and save it until the meatloaf is ready;
10. Once the meatloaf is ready, remove from oven and pipe them with the potatoes;
11. Turn the oven up to 400-500 degrees and re-heat until the tops of the potatoes are golden brown.

Click here for recipe card.


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