Meatloaf Cupcakes...What?

I'm not a meatloaf lover.  I've probably only made it a few times in my life.  But I saw these little meatloaf cupcakes on a blog called "Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy" and was compelled to make them.  They're just too darn cute.  Plus I had all of the ingredients on hand (except chili sauce, which I picked up at the store), so there was no excuse.

 

 

The kids loved them and actually ate mashed potatoes for the first time since they were babies.  Score!  And honestly, Rich and I really liked them too.  Very tasty and adorable. Double score! 

 

I've had a couple requests for the recipe and, since I tweaked Susan's recipe a little, I thought I would just post what I did here.

Meatloaf Cupcakes

For the meatloaf:

1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground turkey breakfast sausage
1 small onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup panko bread crumbs
3 splashes Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs

For the sauce:

1/2 cup chili sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard

For the mashed potatoes:

3 cups potatoes, chopped into chunks
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp butter
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix all ingredients for meatloaf in a large bowl.  Don't over mix.  Chill while preparing sauce.

Make sauce by whisking all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

To assemble cupcakes, lightly spray muffin tin with Pam. Fill each muffin cup with a small handful of meat mixture, gently pressing down until it's completely filled and flat.

Spread a tsp of the sauce onto each cupcake and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. (Some of the grease from the meat spilled out a little while bakeing, I put some foil underneath.)

While the cupcakes are baking, boil potatoes and mash with all ingredients for the mashed potatoes listed above.  (I ended up using a bit more milk and sour cream, but it's just to your liking.  Just don't make them too runny or they won't stand up on the cupcakes.)

Put mashed potatoes into a piping bag.

When the meat is done, pipe the mashed potatoes on the top so it looks like a cupcake.  Put them under the broiler for about 2 minutes to slightly brown up the tops.

I took mine out of the pan and put them onto a paper towel to absorb some grease from the meat. Then sprinkle some minced chives on top for the "sprinkles". And voila! Meatloaf cupcakes. 

Makes 12 cupcakes