Melt In Your Mouth Chicken

Wow, is this chicken good!  This is one of those recipe I found on one of my favorite blogs, Grateful Belly.  The original recipe called for a whole cup of mayonnaise and a teaspoon of seasoned salt, but I wanted to lighten it up a bit so I cut the mayo in half and replaced the seasoned salt with a salt-free season blend since Parmesan cheese is already pretty salty.  Everyone in the family loved it - so much so that they asked for it again the next night.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Just 5 ingredients make up the cheesy crust.

Put them in a bowl...

Mix them together to form a paste...

...and spread it on four chicken breasts, then pop them in the oven for 35 minutes.

Delish!

Melt In Your Mouth Chicken

serves 4

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (Duke's is our favorite brand)

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (romano or grana padano will work too)

• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder (not garlic salt)

• 1 teaspoon salt-free Mrs. Dash Onion and Herb blend

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Wash and dry chicken and place in a greased 9x13 baking dish.

3. Combine the remaining ingredients to make a paste; spread the paste evenly on the chicken breasts using an offset spatula.

4. Bake uncovered for about 35 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the parmesan is golden brown.

(affiliate links)

Chocolate Applesauce Muffins

Little ButterYum made these muffins for me on Mother's Day.  What a wonderful treat they were.  Thank you, my love!   

Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand-held mixer).

Use the paddle attachment or, even better, a BeaterBlade attachment!  If you love to bake, do yourself a favor on get a BeaterBlade.  It eliminates the pesky task of having to scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl.  Love, love, love this thing!

Add the applesauce, eggs, and sifted cocoa powder. 

Mix until incorporated.  Don't worry if the mixture looks a little curdled - it's fine.

Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; mix until no traces of flour remain.

Mmm, mmm.... time to dish it up.

I use a rounded #20 scoop to portion the batter into a professional muffin pan that is lined with these awesome grease-proof liners that I've absolutely fallen in love with.  I especially love using them for chocolate muffins and cupcakes - they make my baked goods look so rich and decadent!  

Using a portion scoop is neat and tidy... and all my muffins are going to turn out the same size.  Win-win!  

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• professional muffin pan https://amzn.to/3HRkM1l

• brown grease-proof paper liners https://amzn.to/3hFWRHB

• #20 portion scoop https://amzn.to/3Wq72zj

• high quality dutch-processed cocoa powder https://amzn.to/3G0Jpax

• beaterblade attachment https://amzn.to/3FISCTw

• heavy duty stand mixer https://amzn.to/3v2Pv3Z

• nonstick baking spay https://amzn.to/3HOp3Th

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Chocolate Applesauce Muffins

Printable Recipe

makes 18 (140 calories each, not including optional mini chocolate chips)

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted

• 1 1/2 cups applesauce

• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick baking spray or paper liners.

3. Cream butter and sugar together until light in color, about 2 minutes.

4. Add eggs, cocoa powder, and applesauce; mix until smooth.

5. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix just until combined (don't over mix).

6. Use a heaping #20 portion scoop to fill cups about 3/4 full.

7. Bake 22-25 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a couple crumbs attached.

8. Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan, placing on cooling rack to cool completely.

adapted from The Low GI Diet Cookbook