Cooking Playdate: Savory "Cupcakes"

I'll bet when your think of a cupcake, you think of a moist fluffy cake with a heaping pile of delicious sugar and butter creamed together. Well, for this play date, we chose to switch it up and provide more of a savory twist on "cupcakes." We really just ended up making single serving meals using muffin or cupcake tins. I happen to think this is a brilliant idea for a cocktail party.

Our first "cupcake" was of course a salad.

Caesar Salad Parmesan Cups -
Feedback: I've never made salad dressing before and apparently it is very easy. I think for this recipe the recommendation was to use way more cheese for the cups. These cups ended up falling apart because they were so thin. I would also add that they may taste best if eaten right after being prepared. Otherwise, the salad was very yummy and fun.

Then, we have our side dish. And what's more comforting than some mac n cheese!

Mac and Cheese Muffins -  

Feedback: I'm a bit picky with my food and especially when it comes to all these crazy cheeses. But, these "cupcakes" were very good. I absolutely love the idea of making portion sized meals for something like this. I might make the constructive criticism that they may have needed a bit more liquid, but I'm certain that was a fluke.

And for our main entree, we had cheeseburgers.
Cheeseburger Cupcakes -  

Feedback: This felt much more like a lasagna than a cheeseburger. But since lasagna is one of my favorite meals, I wasn't complaining. There were also a ton of mushrooms in this meal, which I will admit I didn't notice, but would most definitely leave out if I made this for my family. Although, I did have two. I would highly recommend trying this recipe.
More feedback from Jennifer: I absolutely loved these!  We used wonton wrappers for the base of the cupcake. Some people were concerned with buying these because of leftovers but I feel it was worth it.  The crisped edges were delicious in my opinion.  You could also use these wrappers for simple dumplings as well if you have leftovers.  Like Takisha, I also do not like mushrooms but easily devoured them in this recipe without pause.  If I made this recipe I would include the mushrooms.


For the finally, we had the pleasure of diving into a chocolate chip cookie infused brownie.
Brownie Cookie Cupcake  -  

Feedback: We actually used Emily's cookie recipe and my brownie recipe. But, the link above should work as well. I won't deny that I ate more than my fair share of these delicious treats. I may recommend baking the brownies for a but before adding the cookie dough which is a tip given in the link.

Tip we learned: Spray your cooking spray over your dishwasher to prevent that greasy mess.

For more recipe ideas, visit Emily Bites

*the recipes I'm looking at are in the "Main Course 'Muffin/Cupcake'" section

If you attended this playdate please provide your personal reviews of these foods (or anything else) in the comments below!