Stuffing Cupcakes with Mashed Potato Frosting

Stuffing and mashed potatoes are probably the most traditional Thanksgiving sides. However, one of the frustrating things about sitting down to a big meal is when you have that perfect bite on your fork, are about to taste your food, and someone asks you to please pass a heavy platter. Then, you have to sit there, holding it for them while they scoop out as much as they want. Oh, the horror!

With cupcakes being all the rage these days, I’ve decided to combine the two into an easy-to-grab, individual portion. They keep the buffet line moving, make for easy plating across the table and help keep all the other flavors from running into one big mess on your china.

Plus, often our eyes are bigger than our stomachs so this avoids guests stacking way too much on their plates and wasting all the cooking you put so much time into.

These fun bites are kid-friendly, great for adults and put a fresh face to the same ole’ thing year after year.

Ingredients:

1 (14 oz.) package Arnold’s seasoned stuffing mix

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 small package shredded carrots, optional

1 3/4 cups homemade cranberry sauce or 1 (14 oz.) can whole berry cranberry sauce

1 package peeled and roasted chestnuts, quartered

2 eggs

1/4 cup olive oil

Mashed potatoes

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Sautee onions, celery and carrots in olive oil until tender, but not browned.

Empty bread cubes into a large bowl and pour onion mixture over top.

Stir in cranberry sauce, eggs and chestnuts.

Mix together and set aside.

Prepare your favorite mashed potato recipe (My method is: Roughly peel Yukon Gold potatoes or don’t peel at all. Boil potatoes in salted water and cook until fork-tender. Roast garlic and mash into potatoes with olive oil, milk or heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper.)