1.17.2014

Mini Muffin Tins VS Regular Muffin Tins - Does it Matter?

Did you know that there is a difference between mini muffin tins and regular muffin tins? Yes the size is an obvious answer, but did you know that using one instead of the other can totally ruin your dinner?  If you didn't, then you need to read this.

There has been a recipe for Mini Quinoa Pizza Bites floating around Facebook for a while now and they look so good! I decided to give them a try.

Big mistake. 

I took a glance at the recipe and came to the conclusion that I had everything I needed. My spice collection is not as fancy or complete as most, but I felt it would suffice. As the quinoa cooked, I grabbed a bowl and threw in a dash of dried oregano here, salt there, pepper and paprika all over. I also threw in some Wine & Garlic seasoning I "got" from The Melting Pot which is AMAZing. I add it to everything.

Next came the grated mozzarella cheese, two eggs and ..... no onions. Onions are gross and you will never read about me adding them to ANYTHING. I skipped the pepperoni as well, as I wanted to share my culinary masterpiece with a vegetarian friend at work. What can I say, I am an unselfish cook.

Once the quinoa was cooked, I mixed everything together and felt really confident that I had a good thing going. As I was filling my muffin tin with the mixture, it occurred to me that the recipe yielded 40 pizza bites. How could I make 40 when I have just used all of the quinoa in one muffin tin?

OH! I need a MINI muffin! Duh. How different can it be?

Very. It is very different. I promise you.

I put the pizza bites into the oven anyways and set the timer for a wee bit longer seeing as they were a wee bit bigger. After about 10 minutes I started to smell them. They smell like pizza! I win!

Not so much. I took them out and #1 - they stuck as I forgot to spray the tin and #2 - they were mushy and I wasn't 100% the egg was fully cooked. I dug in and sort of flipped them over to try and cook them all the way through. Put them back in the oven and waited.

Another 15 or so minutes went by and I checked on them. Should I flip them over again? Does it matter that half of each bite is now crusted and baked permanently into each muffin hole? Do we have a jackhammer?

No one, including me, got to enjoy the quinoa pizza bites. Well, unless you count the garbage can.

At least I got to smell them.


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