Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Baked Crab Rangoon Cups

Crab rangoon is deeeeelish. But I'm sure I don't need to tell you that. It's one of my favorite appetizers so I wanted to incorporate it into some of my holiday entertaining this year.


I have learned the hard way that deep frying for several guests outside of a football party is dreadful. It makes our 2 bedroom/2 bath condo stink and let's face it, it just isn't ideal to be hovering over a deep fryer with a holiday dress on. It's hard making deep frying cute. I've tried.


I still had it in my mind that I wanted to serve crab rangoon so I went on the hunt to find inspiration for a baked crab rangoon recipe that would have all of the delicious creamy crunchy properties of the traditional dish but without all of the fuss. I decided to do a loose adaptation of Steamy Kitchen's Baked Crab Rangoon and am thrilled I did.


Collect your cast of characters:

Canned Premium Lump Crab Meat

Real Mayonnaise

Cream Cheese

Water Chestnuts (chopped)

Garlic Powder

Lemon Juice

Green Onions (chopped)

Wonton Wraps

So obviously fresh crab meat is always better, but hosting for several people can get expensive. I found canned premium lump crab meat on super sale so I decided to get this. I took a pic so you'd believe me - this is really good crab. Just make sure you look for premium lump or you'll be sad.

So my husband is not a seafood fanatic and prefers to NOT have big chunks of seafood hanging around the kitchen. So I creamed the crab in with all of the ingredients at once. However, if you want to have individual pieces of lump crab to shine through, just cream all of the ingredients together and then gently fold the crab in.


Yum Yum. Seriously, you could eat it like this as a dip.


Spray inside of muffin pans with cooking spray and then gently press down wonton wrappers into the mold. I also ended up spraying the top of each wonton wrapper as well to help facilitate the crispiness that makes crab rangoon so darn good.


I love the random look of these. Looks so cool and homemade - each one is different.


Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until wonton wrappers just begin to crisp, about 3-4 minutes. You do not want them to be at our desired golden brown because they need to go back into the oven.


Fill each of the cups and then put them back into the oven to bake. Since everything in the filling is cooked, you just want to bake them until they are nice and golden brown - about another 5 minutes or so. Keep an eye on them though, they can get a little too brown fast. Don't these look good?

I topped each individual one with some chopped green onions, but that is optional. Want to hear something cool? Because these weren't deep fried they are much healthier than the original. So now we have made something easier and healthier. Score and score.


You can also use the green onions to garnish your serving platter. These were outstanding. Really. The addition of the chopped water chestnuts added another layer of crunch. Don't leave them out! Try them the next time you are looking for an easy or lighter appetizer. Stay hungry!

Baked Crab Rangoon Cups

1 Can Premium Lump Crab Meat
2 Tbs Real Mayonnaise
1 Block Cream Cheese
1/2 Can Water Chestnuts (finely chopped)
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
2 Tbs Lemon Juice
2 Green Onions (chopped, greens and whites separated)
24 Wonton Wraps

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients together, reserving the wrappers and white portion of green onions. Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. You could also rub the pan with vegetable or canola oil as well. Press wonton wrappers into pan. Spray tops with cooking spray. Cook in oven for 3-4 minutes or until they just begin to crisp. They should be a pale color. Fill each wonton cup with filling and place back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so or until they become nice and golden brown. Top each with white portion of chopped green onions and serve immediately. Enjoy!

3 comments:

  1. Can I use chicken instead of crab? What if I put a dash of Frank's hot sauce?

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  2. You can absolutely use chicken if you like. I would suggest using pulled chicken so it creams into the mixture better. You might have some trouble if the chicken is cubed. Also, Franks sounds awesome! I dipped mine in a mixture of soy sauce and sriracha, so I like the idea of putting the spice right in!

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  3. Im doing this for new years, but replacing crab with the frozen miniature lobster tails from Trader Joes! YUM

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