June 21, 2013

Veggie Pizza and Buffalo Chicken Salad Wonton Cup Appetizers

 

Buffalo Chicken Salad Wonton Cup Appetizers - so simple, so fast, yet such an impressive party bite! | foxeslovelemons.com

What better occasion to choose something from my “Party Bites” Pinterest board than my friends and I pretending that we are grownups by having a cocktail hour. Ok, we sort of actually ARE grownups. It’s true. But we also play in an adult kickball league, so we walk a fine line.

Angela over at Joyously Domestic is like the wonton cup queen. She keeps making different varieties of them, and I keep pinning them. I’d actually never worked with wonton cups before, so I figured it was time to give them a try. I decided on doing a riff on Angela’s Fresh Veggie Pizza Wonton Cups, as well as her Buffalo Chicken Wonton Cups.

Let me tell you, I am officially in love with wonton wrappers now! They are SO easy to work with; you get like, 1 million of them in a package for $3; and in 8 minutes, you can bake up some of these cute little cups in the oven. Then fill them with whatever you want. Boom! Party appetizer. I think they sort of look fancy and like you spent a lot of time on them, but you didn’t at all!

Veggie Pizza Wonton Cup Appetizers – so simple, so fast, yet such an impressive party bite! | foxeslovelemons.com

Because it was a warm day and I didn’t want to stand in front of a hot oven in a cocktail dress for any longer than I had to, I decided to take the buffalo chicken one in more of a cold salad direction instead of Angela’s original hot appetizer. For the veggie pizza one, I changed up the filling just a little bit by using a packet of ranch dressing seasoning I had leftover from some recipe testing awhile back. I made both fillings and chopped garnishes the night before, so all I had to do the day of the cocktail hour was bake the cups real quick, and then fill them up. The only “problem” I had with making these is that while baking my first batch, some of the wonton cups folded in on themselves. That was easily corrected for the second batch just by taking care to press the wrappers onto the sides and bottoms of the muffin cups, making sure they were somewhat flush against the walls of the cups.

I’m pretty much in love with these things now, and will probably make them for any and all future parties I host or am invited to. I’ll keep making them until people tell me to stop, basically. Friends, you’ve been warned. Wonton cups are most definitely in your future.

Buffalo Chicken Salad Wonton Cup Appetizers - so simple, so fast, yet such an impressive party bite! | foxeslovelemons.com 

Wonton Cups

Yield: Makes 24 cups

  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 24 wonton wrappers (the ones I used were 4-1/2-inch squares)
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 standard muffin tins with nonstick spray. Press 1 wonton wrapper into each cup, taking care to press again bottom and sides of cups. Lightly spray wrappers with additional nonstick spray.
  2. Bake 8 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Remove wonton cups from muffin pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling.

 

Veggie Pizza Wonton Cup Appetizers

Yield: Enough filling for 24 wonton cups

  • 1 packet (1 ounce) ranch dressing seasoning mix
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened (about 1 cup)
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 cup chopped or sliced vegetables of your choice – I used carrot, red pepper and celery
  1. In a small bowl, stir together seasoning mix, cream cheese, sour cream and garlic powder.
  2. Dollop a heaping tablespoon of cream cheese mixture into each baked wonton cup. Top with veggies.

Adapted from Joyously Domestic

 

Buffalo Chicken Salad Wonton Cup Appetizers

Yield: Enough filling for 24 wonton cups

  • 1-1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
  • 1/2 cup prepared ranch dressing, plus additional if necessary
  • 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
  • 2 tablespoons buffalo sauce
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, for garnish
  • Sriracha or additional buffalo sauce, for garnish (optional)
  1. In a medium bowl, stir together chicken, ranch dressing, blue cheese, celery and buffalo sauce. You may need to add a bit more ranch dressing, depending on the texture of chicken you started with. You want it to be thoroughly coated in sauce, but not too wet or anything. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to overnight to allow flavors to come together.
  2. Divide chicken mixture between baked wonton cups. Garnish with green onions and additional hot sauce, if desired.

Adapted from Joyously Domestic