crab cakes are great! mini crab cakes are awesome! i made these mini crab cakes to serve as an appetizer for my summer seafood fest dinner with tom.  i adapted the recipe from bon appetit.  this were the easiest crab cakes i have ever made! 

mini crab cakes recipe!

INGREDIENTS:
8 oz of cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup of sour cream
1 teaspoon of orange peel, chopped
1 teaspoon of lemon peel, chopped
4 tsp of chopped chives
1/4 tsp kosher salt
10 oz of lump crab meat
2 cups of panko
1/2 stick of butter, melted
pinch of cayenne pepper
baking spray
fresh chives 

INSTRUCTIONS:
start by beating the cream cheese until smooth. add the cheese and the egg.  try to have the egg at the same temperature as the cheese.  add the egg  slowly.  

add the cayenne pepper, lemon and orange peel, chives, salt and sour cream. beat for a minute or two until combined. 

next, fold in the crabmeat. make sure to pat dry the crabmeat before you add it to the cream cheese mixture. as you can see below i ended up using the whole container of crabmeat (something like 16 oz… oops!), it ended up working out fine. the mixture was perfect, i think if i’d used the 6oz they suggested it would have been too wet. 

if you want, you can make this a day in advance and chill the crabmeat over night.  if you are in a rush, as i was, then just use it right away. 

heat up your oven to 350º.  

mix together the panko, 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons of chopped chives and melted butter.  toss everything to make sure the panko is coated with butter. 

next, get your mini muffin pan ready. i don’t have a mini muffin pan so i bought the disposable ones at the 99ct store across the street. 

coat the muffin tins using the baking spray, you can use butter if you do not have the spray. 

spread about a tablespoon of the panko mixture to the bottom of each muffin cup. 

next, spoon one generous spoonful of crabmeat over the panko. 

cover the crabmeat with the remainder panko mixture, about 1 teaspoon for each. 

bake the mini crab cakes for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. 

let them cool in the pan for a few minutes before getting them out. they should easily slide out.  shake off any excess panko and arrange on a platter to serve. 

decorate with fresh chives. 

as you can see, i served them over fried green plantains.  the flavors between plantains and crabmeat complement each other very well.  also, the different in textures makes for a fun snack!

we could not stop snacking on these, they were scrumptious! 

i think the very simple seasoning allowed for the crab flavor to take center stage.  i really liked the orange and lemon undertones and the bit of cayenne pepper gave the crab cakes a nice kick.

today, we are celebrating labor day here in america? what are your plans for it? i don’t have to work so i will be doing a whole lot of relaxing. maybe go to a park and enjoy the lovely end of summer weather. 

thanks for stopping by, have a great week!