Artichoke Dip Mini Muffins #MuffinMonday

Cheesy artichoke dip mini muffins are made with all of the wonderful ingredients of our favorite hot baked dip: artichokes, of course, along with Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise and green chiles.

Every Christmas Eve, our dinner menu is appetizers only:  Smoked salmon or home-cured salmon, angels on horseback, caviar, deviled eggs, potato latkes, a variety of stinky cheese and sometimes bruschetta. But artichoke dip always makes an appearance. As good as it is the day it is baked, it’s also wonderful as leftovers, stirred through some hot pasta or stuffed into a baked potato. (I’ve even used it as stuffing for puff pastry tarts!)

Here I recreate our favorite dip in muffin form. Bake some up and pour yourself a drink! And make sure to scroll down to the bottom to see the other Muffin Monday recipes I'm sharing.

Artichoke Dip Mini Muffins

To get most of the packing liquid out of the artichokes, give each one a gentle squeeze then place them bottom up in a sieve so they can continue draining. To completely drain the green chiles, put them in a sieve and press down with the back of a spoon.

Ingredients - Makes 34 mini muffins
2 cups or 250g flour
1 cup or 100g finely grated Parmesan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
1⁄2 cup or 115g mayonnaise
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1 can or jar artichoke hearts, drained weight 7.9oz or 225g*
1 small can (4.5 oz or 127g) chopped peeled green chiles, drained well
Canola or other light oil for greasing muffin pan

Optional for decoration: coarsely grated Parmesan

*Do not use marinated artichokes as those, even well drained, will add unnecessary oil to the muffins.

Method
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C and brush your mini muffin pans with oil.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, finely grated Parmesan and baking powder.

In another mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and milk.

Chop the well-drained artichoke hearts roughly and add them to the mayo/milk bowl, along with the drained green chiles. Stir well.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and fold just until the flour is moistened.

Use a tablespoon or scoop to fill the prepared muffin pan. My scoop is 2 tablespoons. Using it, the batter made 34 mini muffins.

Top with some extra grated Parmesan, if desired.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

These delightful savory morsels are excellent served with cold beer, a crisp dry white wine or a full-bodied red.

Enjoy!

This month my Muffin Monday group is sharing five wonderful recipes. Get baking!

• Artichoke Dip Mini Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Cranberry Sweet Potato Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Jalapeño Cheddar Mini Muffin Appetizers from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Lemon and Candied Ginger Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Wine Muffins from Passion Kneaded

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.
Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

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Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Cashew Cookies #CreativeCookieExchange

All of my taste testers agree, these fudgy flourless chocolate cashew cookies are GOOD. Better than good. We thought they were fabulous. Crunchy on the outside and wonderfully chewy in the middle. And as long as there are no nut allergies to worry about, your gluten-free friends will love them too.

With Thanksgiving nearly upon us, I chose the theme "quick last minute cookies" for this month’s Creative Cookie Exchange. I don’t know about you, but aside from the traditional pecan pie, desserts always take a back seat to the main course and sides at my house. As my elder daughter says, "Thanksgiving is All About the Sides!" When extra guests show up and that pie won’t stretch far enough, whip up some quick cookies.

While these cookies are easy to put together and bake, I am also delighted to tell you that, once baked, they freeze and thaw beautifully, making your life even easier. You are welcome!

Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Cashew Cookies

I named these for the nuts I had on hand, but please feel free to substitute whatever you have in the cupboard. If your nuts aren’t roasted and lightly salted, toast them in a dry skillet and add one half teaspoon of fine sea salt when you sift the sugar and cocoa powder together. The salt is absolutely essential to balance the sweetness of these fudgy cookies.

Ingredients - for 2 dozen big cookies or 4 dozen small ones
3 cups or 375g powdered sugar
2/3 cup or 53g extra dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark.)
1/2 cup or 95g mini dark chocolate chips
5 1/3 oz or 150g lightly salted roasted cashews, chopped roughly
3 large egg whites

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your cookie sheets by lining them with baking parchment or a silicone mat.

Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa into a large bowl together.

Add in the chocolate chips and chopped cashews, saving a couple of tablespoons of the cashews for topping, if desired. I always like to add nuts to the tops of baked goods if there are nuts inside because 1. They look nice and more importantly, 2. They are a warning to those with nut allergies. No bad surprises.

Whisk your egg whites for a minute or so, just to break down the proteins. Pull your whisk out occasionally and let the egg whites drip off. You’ve beaten them enough when they no longer drop off in glops but drip smoothly. I use a small whisk and a measuring jug for this step, which makes the egg whites easier to pour into the other mixing bowl.

Pour the egg whites into the sugar/cocoa bowl and stir with wooden spoon or hard silicone spatula till they are well combined.

You will think that there are not enough egg whites, but just keep stirring. This batter is super stiff.

Using a 2-tablespoon or 1-tablespoon scoop (depending on whether you want big or small cookies), spoon the thick batter onto your prepared cookie sheets. Mine was a 2-tablespoon scoop.

Sprinkle each mound with a pinch of the chopped cashews, if you saved some.

Bake one pan at a time in the middle shelf of the oven for 12-14 minutes for the big cookies or 11-13 minutes for the smaller ones, or until the cookies are cooked on the outside edges and just set in the middle. Do not over bake!

Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing them from the pan with a thin spatula.

I highly recommend serving glasses of ice cold milk with these fudgy flourless chocolate cashew cookies. A match made in heaven.

Enjoy!

Check out the other quick last minute cookies, my Creative Cookie Exchange friends are sharing. Such a small but delicious group this month!

• Easy Slice and Bake Lemon Shortbread Cookies by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Cashew Cookies by Food Lust People Love
• No Bake Cheesecake Bites by A Baker's House

You can also use us as a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.

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Thai-Style Pumpkin and Shrimp Stir-fry #FishFridayFoodies

This healthy Thai-style pumpkin and shrimp stir-fry is super quick to the table, with enormous flavor. With or without the shrimp, it’s a satisfying meal. But add the shrimp. You won’t regret it.

I’d been hearing about this recipe for a while before I finally got to taste it for myself two years ago. It’s a favorite at my elder daughter’s home where both she and her husband know how to make it without consulting a recipe. I get the impression is in regular rotation, when their favorite kabocha squash is in season.

I’ve made it with red kuri squash and pumpkin, but the original recipe says that you can also substitute delicata, acorn or butternut as well. I could be wrong but I think yams would work too. The slightly sweet flesh with the savory fish sauce, fragrant garlic and spicy peppercorns make this dish very more-ish. This is truly a dish that is more than the sum of its parts.

One more thing, I like to leave the skin on squash and pumpkin. It’s my favorite part. If you are concerned that your pumpkin skin is too thick and might not be edible because it’s tough, slice off a small piece and boil it in a little water for about 5-6 minutes. If it turns tender, you don’t need to cut it off before cooking. Remove any blemishes, but otherwise, cut the pumpkin into pieces, peel and all. If it doesn’t turn tender, by all means, cut it off.

Thai-Style Pumpkin and Shrimp Stir-fry

This recipe is adapted from the original at Thai Table, an excellent source for information about Thai ingredients, travel, and, of course, recipes. If you love Thai cooking, you need to check it out. If your pumpkin is a bit larger or small than mine, don't worry. It will still turn out just fine.

Ingredients
5 cloves garlic
1 slightly overfilled teaspoon or 4g black peppercorns
2 lb 2 oz or 965g whole pumpkin (1 lb 13 oz or 825g after seeding, with peel intact)
3 tablespoons canola or other light vegetable oil
2 cups or 480ml water
5 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
8.5 oz or 240g peeled, cleaned shrimp

For garnish: chopped cilantro
Optional: crushed red pepper

To serve: Steamed rice

Method
Cut your pumpkin in quarters and remove the seeds, scraping the inside clean. If you need to remove the skin, set each quarter on its side and cut the skin off. If not, simply cut off any hard spots or blemishes.

Cut the pumpkin in bite-sized pieces and set aside.

Using a mortar and pestle, grind the peppercorns and garlic together into a smooth paste. In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce and the sugar, stirring till the sugar dissolves.

Heat your wok over a high flame. Add in the oil, closely followed by the garlic pepper paste. Cook the paste for just a minute, stirring continually, until the garlic starts browning.

Add the pumpkin to the wok, stirring to coat it with the garlic and pepper.

Pour in the water and stir again.

Cook for five minutes or until the pumpkin is tender and the water has almost all evaporated. Add in the sweetened fish sauce and stir again.

When the fish sauce has been absorbed by the squash, toss in the shrimp.

Cook minute or two more, until the shrimp are pink and cooked through. Add crushed red pepper to taste, if desired, and sprinkle on some chopped cilantro.

Serve over steamed rice.

Enjoy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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