Sweet and Spicy Meatloaf Cupcakes

Everything is better as a cupcake. These delightful little morsels of happiness are no exception. I am actually shocked to say that these meatloaves are even better than my mom's recipe. I love my mom's meat loaf but these cute cupcake versions are just so tasty. One of the key ingredient is actually the pesto I made for my Scallops with Linguini in a Creamy Pesto. It add the most delightful flavor along with the jalapeños I added for some heat. They are also pretty figure friendly. By swapping ground turkey for the usually ground beef saves you a good 50 calories per serving. Now if that doesn't have you breaking out the cupcake pans I don't know what will.

Ingredients:

Meatloaf

1lb Ground Turkey

1 small onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

1/4 cup Parmesan Shredded Cheese

1/8 cup Jalapeño (finely chopped and deseeded to lower spiciness)

1/2 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

1/4 cup Buttermilk

1/4 cup Pesto

1/2 tbsp Cayenne Pepper 

1/2 tbsp Black Pepper

1/2 tbsp Salt

Topping

1 cup Barbecue Sauce

1 cup Ketchup

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Cayenne Pepper

Mashed Potatoes 

Chives for garnish

• 1.Heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan and place over low heat.

2.Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook for about a minute. Set aside to cool.

3. In a small bowl, combine Panko and buttermilk and set aside for 5 minutes. Then in a large bowl, place turkey, pesto, cheese, salt and pepper, the onion mixture, cayenne pepper, and the panko mixture. Mix with your hands until just combined.

4. Fill cupcake wells to the top with meatloaf. Brush top with some glaze, then bake for about 30 minutes, removing the pan every 10 minutes or so to brush on more glaze. (At the end of baking, you will not have used all of the glaze mixture – just keep it in the saucepan on low and stir it every few minutes.)

5. Cool for 5 minutes. Put mashed potatoes into a pipping bag and pipe about 1/4 of the mashed potatoes on to the top of the meatloaves. Garnish with chives.