No frying required, bite-sized and incredibly easy to prepare...need I say more, except you should really think about making these soon...they are so yummy.
Last Sunday my friend brought over her incredible crab cakes to my son's birthday brunch. I haven't been able to stop thinking about crab since. As I was searching my freezer, I came across some Dungeness and proceeded to do a little dance around the kitchen; crab cakes were in my near future.
I wanted to try a recipe I hadn't made before and came across this one from Bon Appetit. These are truly the perfect little passing hor'dourves, coming together almost effortlessly. The addition of orange and lemon zest gave them a nice burst of citrus flavor. However, the crunchy outside against the creamy inside is really what knocked these out of the park.
Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth. Add 1/4 cup Parmesan and egg; beat to blend. Beat in sour cream, citrus zest, 4 teaspoons chopped chives, coarse salt and cayenne pepper. Fold in crabmeat. (This can be made one day ahead. Cover and chill.)
Spray mini muffin pan with nonstick spray. Toss 1-1/2 cups panko, 3/4 cup Parmesan and 4 Tablespoons chopped chives in a bowl. Drizzle melted butter over, tossing with a fork until evenly moistened. Press 1 rounded Tablespoon panko mixture into bottom of each muffin cup (makes a well with your thumb), forming crust. Spoon 1 generous Tablespoon crab mixture into each cup. Sprinkle more panko mixture over each.
Bake crab cakes in a 350 degree oven until golden on top and set, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Gently lift each crab cake out of the pan with a fork onto a serving platter. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Arrange on baking sheet, let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in a 350 degree oven for 5-6 minutes.)
Arrange crab cakes on a serving platter; sprinkle with chives.
Mini Crab Cakes
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Makes 24
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
1 large egg
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
4 teaspoons plus 4 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives, divided
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Large pinch cayenne pepper
6 ounces fresh lump crabmeat, picked over, patted dry, coarsely shredded
1-1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter , melted
Fresh chives cut into pieces
Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth. Add 1/4 cup Parmesan and egg; beat to blend. Beat in sour cream, citrus zest, 4 teaspoons chopped chives, coarse salt and cayenne pepper. Fold in crabmeat. (This can be made one day ahead. Cover and chill.)
Spray mini muffin pan with nonstick spray. Toss 1-1/2 cups panko, 3/4 cup Parmesan and 4 Tablespoons chopped chives in a bowl. Drizzle melted butter over, tossing with a fork until evenly moistened. Press 1 rounded Tablespoon panko mixture into bottom of each muffin cup (makes a well with your thumb), forming crust. Spoon 1 generous Tablespoon crab mixture into each cup. Sprinkle more panko mixture over each.
Bake crab cakes in a 350 degree oven until golden on top and set, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Gently lift each crab cake out of the pan with a fork onto a serving platter. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Arrange on baking sheet, let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in a 350 degree oven for 5-6 minutes.)
Arrange crab cakes on a serving platter; sprinkle with chives.
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wow… you always have the best presentation menu items.
these look so good, and easy
In a mini muffin pan! Brilliant! I want these so badly….
I don’t care for crab but I think maybe I might be persuaded to try these!
What an amazing idea to put them in muffin pans, I absolutely love it. They turned out beautiful!
Crab in a muffin tin? GENIUS!!!!
(as are most of your ideas and recipes…:) )
OMG I can do these. They are so easy. Thanks for posting this great recipe!
Extremely cute! This is something I would love to eat over and over again.
Cathy, this crab cakes sound amazing. Got to try it. It’s my favorite thing ever.
These are adorable, and as I have some crab in my freezer, I think I’ll try them tomorrow!
I love this! Perfect for a party. I am planning on meatloaf in muffin pans one day. But crab cakes? They are one of my very favorite things.
I don’t like crab, but these crab cakes look beautiful!!
These crab cakes have a grab-factor of 10+. I am off to the fishmonger for sure!!!
Been “meat free” these past weeks and LOVING this recipe. I will have to figure out where to buy panko.
Crab cakes are great, aren’t they?! When I’m in Maryland I have them every meal. And I love how you baked these in the muffin tins — so much easier and I bet you need less “filler” to hold them together. Brilliant.
Oh those look fantastic! Such a great idea in the mini muffin tin!
Wow! These look foodtastic! Love your bio (cracked me up) and recipes of coarse. I am going to be back for sure!!!
What a great idea! These would be perfect little appetizers for a get together!
These look amazing Cathy and I love that you bake them in the ovein instead of frying…I just love these!
I am so glad you posted these. It’s perfect timing as I am planning the menu for a bridal shower and these are perfect.
Holy cow Cathy. These are gorgeous and will be going on our Friday night date night menu really soon!
Really cute crab cakes! And baking beats frying any day!
Oh my these look so good! I have been searching for an hors d’oeuvre for Easter dinner… this might be the one!
ok. question for you. I am often left with crabmeat and trying to figure out how to use it up. Does freezing really work well? Does it change the taste/texture. I do have a vacuum sealer.
Those look incredible! They’re actually making my stomach rumble. Must be time for lunch…
Fabulous idea to bake these in a mini muffin pan!
Irresistible little cakes to say the least. I tried them and they went so fast, they didn’t even get a chance to cool. We ate them as they came out of the oven. Truly a great taste sensation!
Wow! These look delicious! I just had some fabulous crab cakes at one of our favorite spots last night, but I’m sure they were fried.
I’ll be making these soon. Off to bookmark to my delicious cookbook!
Bookmarked! I can’t wait to try these.
Cathy – these are definitely going to be on my Easter menu – I must have missed it in BA!
Hope you have a great weekend!
Another great looking recipe from you!
I’ve tried about 3 different recipes so far and ALL
have been outstanding! My kids even liked it, went
so far as said “loved it” about the Coconut Chicken Chili. Going to make this this weekend. Thanks for
all your great work, I really enjoy your blog.
My mom e-mailed me telling me she wants me to make these for her for Mothers Day. They do look pretty tasty so I’ll have no problem granting her wish!
Crab cakes are one of my favorites. I love the way these are made! Delicious. Oh and a happy belated birthday to your son! My youngest turned double digits last year….
These look so light and cruncy. With the cream cheese in there, I’m sure I’d love them.
These look wonderful and you have no idea how much I love crab cakes. This will be on my agenda for the weekend.
Oh. My. Lord. I think I experienced a heavenly moment when I saw this post. I love them, LOVE LOVE LOVE them. I’ve never seen ones like these, and I must give it a go. I found these gluten free crumbs that would be an awesome sub for the panko … alas no gluten in this family … but gosh I bet it would work awesomely in your recipe! YUM!
These look so cute. I love the idea of making crab cakes in muffin tins. My husband loves his crab cakes to death, but I have trouble frying them in a way that stays cohesive. This really helps solve the problem.
This is genius. The breadcrumb mixture in each cup and being able to bake them all at once. Perfect.
This may be the recipe “find” of the year. These sound unbelievable!
These look amazing! Love crab cakes.
Jenn
I never have a problem with freezing.
Those are completely awesome, may okay will make them.
I love these little gems! So easy if you can make them ahead of time too!
Hi Cathy! Crab cakes are one of my all time favorite things. I’ve actually had crab meat from a can at Trader Joe’s that is really good! I think I might have to make these too; I think for Easter!
Oh my! My mouth is watering.
I have been on a Crab Cake binge lately. These look fantastic! Even better, they don’t have any mayonnaise in the recipe. Crab is just one of my all time favorite foods.
Wow. Those look absolutely amazing. My husband is from Baltimore and refuses to eat any crab west of West Virginia. It’s really ridiculous. That said- we’ll be back in Baltimore this weekend so I’m sure we’ll have plenty of crab for Easter and I might have to use this recipe while I’m out there… Thanks! Beautiful pics.
There’s rarely a recipe you post that I don’t want to make! These look so yummy and easy! Better put them on the to do list…
These were absolutely delicious! Although mine did not look as pretty as yours…they were amazing! Thanks so much for posting.
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!
EVERYONE at my dinner party loved these crab cakes!
The recipe works perfectly and came out exactly like the photo!
Many thanks,
Kathy Maister
I amwondering if imitation crabmeat would make this gross or not? what do you think?
Hi!! And wow! These look fantastic. Do you think they can be made in a regular sized muffin pan?(Making crabcakes and fried oysters for in laws tomorrow night and would like to make reg sized crabcakes.)
Can these be made in a regular sized muffin pan? I would like to make these as an entree.
Thanks!!!!!
You can always try it.
(sorry about the extra post-the conf email did not go through yesterday and when I sent the other one today, they went through at the same time)
These look so amazing! I’m going to give it a go this weekend for a dinner party. Suggestions on a sauce to pair with them, or do you think they won’t need it?
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These look great! I would love to make these for a wedding. Is it possible to bake them the day before and reheat the next day?
You will lose the crispiness.
Made these today so delish
I made 36 minis had some filling left so , doubled bread crumbs .
I will use the leftover bread crumbs to coat chicken for dinner.
Thanks
I’ve made these many times since the recipe was first introduced to us and they have been the hit of EVERY party. Delicious!
Do you know if these freeze well? Or how many days in advance you could make them? Thanks.
I have never frozen them so I can’t really answer that. The most important thing is that the crust is crisp, if they sit too long you won’t have that.
Just put these in the oven!! I didn’t have any citrus fruit on hand, so I used about a teaspoon of lemon pepper seasoning. The batter tastes great, can’t wait to try them hot out of the oven. Thanks for the great recipe!!
can you use imitation crab meat for the mini crab cakes?
Hmmm…you can…not sure how that would taste though.
These are great and a big hit with all . Very easy to make.
Thanks for letting me know!!