Tamal Cupcakes
Tamales are a delicious Hispanic classic. This tamal cupcakes recipe is a great to enjoy a creative, yet easy-to-make meal. You can served them as an entree, a side dish, or appetizers.
Ingredients
For the cupcakes (Masa & Fillings)
- 5 Del Real Foods Chicken Tamales in Green Sauce, steamed and mashed
- 2 tsps of vegetable oil
- 2 tsps of baking powder
- 2 cups of your choice of meat filling (I included Del Real Foods’ Chipotle Chicken Tinga and Barbacoa meats)
- Cooking spray
Toppings
- 1 tsp of sour cream / Mexican crema per cupcake
- 1 cup of Cotija cheese (shredded)
- 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped (chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 °F
- Prep your cupcake pans with cooking spray
- Release tamales from husks and put them into a big bowl. Smash them together, mixing in the vegetable oil and baking powder. Here you can add any seasonings if you’d like. Dough should hold together when you squeeze it with your hand
- Grab small balls of tamal dough or “masa” (about ¼ of a cup each) and place one on each well of your cupcake pan. Now press down the masa on each well with your fingers, to evenly create a thin-to-medium thick layer on the bottom and sides of the wells.
- Stick your pan inside the oven and cook for about 10 minutes, until the masa crust looks firm, like it’s holding still.
- Now take the pan out of the oven and add about 2 tablespoons of your desired filling, try not to include too much salsa if you have meat in a sauce, and don’t overfill the cupcakes.
- Bring the pan back to the oven to cook for another 10-15 minutes until the tamal cupcakes' crust looks golden brown.
- Take out your pan and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Carefully release each cupcake after that.
- Add your toppings! First add a dollop of crema / sour cream. Finally, sprinkle your tamal cupcakes with some cotija cheese and chopped cilantro.
Video
Notes
Tamales are an Hispanic classic served on family tables all over Latin America. I created this recipe as a nice alternative to enjoy and share them with your closest ones.