Taco Muffins!

I was feeling like I needed a new project, so I started looking around Pinterest on Sunday night to pass some time when I came across a recipe called “Weight Watchers Taco Cupcakes.” Intrigued and looking for an excuse lately to have ~~a margarita~~ tacos, I clicked on the link to check it out. It seemed easy enough, so I figured I would give it a shot. I didn’t waste any time and made them on Monday night. While I would say that it was successful, I do have two comments on the original recipe: 1. I have no idea how these are considered Weight Watchers friendly unless you really skimp on the ingredients and/or use fat free everything; and 2. To me, these are more like muffins than cupcakes, so I hereby declare that they shall be called Taco Muffins instead. That said, I recommend them. They would make a great appetizer to bring to a party or serve when you’re not planning on making dinner for guests or even to eat for dinner if you’re having a splurge night. I made 12 of them, but I think that was way a tad too many. I ate four of them and was satisfied. I tried to eat a 5th one, but it made me way too full. Jay, on the other hand, had no problem with eating seven of them.

Ingredients

1 ½ teaspoon chili oil (I used Chili & Garlic Oil that I found near the Asian ingredients.)
½ lb lean ground beef (I used 93%, but you could probably use whichever you prefer.)
1 Tablespoon of taco seasoning of your preference
¾ cup of canned black beans, drained and rinsed
Wonton wrappers; Take the amount of taco muffins you want to make and double it to get the amount of wonton wrappers you’ll need. I had to ask someone where they were, but they’re found in the produce section.
Queso dip or salsa con queso (I used salsa con queso because I prefer it in general.)
Chunky salsa – suggested 1 cup
Shredded Mexican cheese – suggested 1 cup
A muffin tray/tin

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a sauté pan or large skillet, heat the chili oil over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and taco seasoning, cooking it as though you were cooking tacos. Add the black beans. Once it’s pretty much cooked, lower the heat on the stove to keep everything warm. Stir occasionally.
Push the wonton wrappers into the bottom of each cup in the muffin tin. Spoon queso dip into each wonton wrapper and spread across the bottom to form layer one.
Spoon some of the meat/beans mixture into each cup on top of the queso. You’ll want to use half of the meat.
Put salsa on top of the meat to make layer three.
Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top of each cup to form the final layer.
Repeat Steps 3-6. You’re going to put the wonton wrappers, queso, etc. on top of the cups you’ve already filled. So essentially, you’ll be stacking two of these cups made out of wonton wrappers on top of each other.
Bake for 18-20 minutes in 375 degrees until golden brown. Let cool for five minutes befor removing from the muffin tin.
Enjoy!

Some pictures:

Completing Step 7.