I’m really excited to tell you about a little meatloaf experiment we conducted last week. But first!

It’s been one year since my first post here on sidonie.com! Happy blog-iversary to me, and to any of you who’ve been reading since then. Thank you!

Ok, now on to the good stuff. Meatloaf muffins.

Recently I started making meatloaf on Fridays. It’s maybe the easiest dinner in the world, its basic ingredients are almost always on hand, and we can toss in anything else we have at the end of the week — extra carrots, mushrooms, greens, onions, really whatever’s around will make the meatloaf that much better.

It’s great, too, that my partner gets a farmer discount on some really delightful local grass-fed beef. But that farm sells their beef in 2lb. packages, and last Friday we wound up with a whole lot more meatloaf than usual. About twice as much, in fact. I was about to get out a second loaf pan, and made a little joke about the cupcake pan sitting next to it.

My brother and my partner were both in the kitchen at the time, and both said, “go for it!” Meatloaf cupcakes. I was … skeptical, mostly because it sounds so ridiculous. But my favorite part of the meatloaf is the slightly crispy outside, and a cupcake pan would mean SO much more surface area to get crispy and delicious, right? So I went with it.

And the result was delightful. Highly recommended. I’m serious — we’re going to do this again, no doubt.

My partner wants to try little meatloaf pies next time around. If we do, I know you’ll hear about it here.

Meatloaf Muffins

For the loaf:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 egg
1 onion, chopped
1 cup milk
1 cup dried bread crumbs
3-4 carrots, grated
4 garlic cloves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

For the topping:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/3 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together the loaf ingredients, adding anything else you like in your meatloaf. Spoon the mixture into cupcake tins. Combine the topping ingredients, and spread over the top of the “muffins.” Bake for 25-30 minutes. (If using loaf pans, bake 1 hour.)

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June 25, 2012

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