So one of my favorite things about holiday cooking is the memory of all the other gatherings where I have made a beloved family recipe.

One of them that's gonna be in my repertoire every year are my delectable warm crab bites with creamy remoulade sauce.

Let me show you how I do that.

[playful music] I'm starting out with a block of cream cheese, just good cream cheese, and I set this out early enough that it's good and soft.

And then I'm going to put in just a dab of sour cream, and I am going to put in one whole egg.

Now, one of the things that makes these crab cakes so delicious is there's not a lot of binder.

There's not a lot of bread that's going to interfere with that great crab flavor.

So I'm gonna take my mixer and I'm just gonna gently blend these together until it's smooth.

You could do this on low speed and you'll see when your cream cheese is good and soft, this comes together quickly.

And the idea is for the egg to be smooth.

It's okay if there's still a few small pieces of cream cheese.

So take that out, and you won't need this mixer again.

Everything else is by hand.

So now I'm gonna start building the flavor in these great crab cakes.

I am putting in a little bit of Old Bay, that wonderful classic seasoning, a little salt, and a big pinch of cayenne.

I'm gonna put in a few finely chopped chives, a little bit of finely grated Parmesan cheese, saving some for a little bit later, and then this is my secret.

I am putting in fresh citrus, which is gonna give not only a little bit of color, but a beautiful fresh burst of flavor.

So there's an orange, and a little bit of lemon.

[buoyant music] And then give this a quick stir to fold it in.

Now I'm going to be using jumbo lump crab, which is a very special thing, but if you are having trouble finding the jumbo lump, you can use a slightly smaller crab.

But you know, for the holidays, is there anything more delicious than these big, beautiful lumps of crab?

Now this crab came from the seafood department.

It's not from a can, and that's important.

You're gonna use the freshest crab you can find to make sure that these are plump, delicious, and holiday-worthy.

I'm just gonna fold this in.

All right, next step, muffin tin.

These are not fried, they're baked.

It's gonna make them golden and crisp and delicious.

So here is my topping.

These are panko breadcrumbs, those good dry, not too fine.

If you use the super fine breadcrumbs, you're not gonna be happy with the outside.

So go with the panko.

That last little bit of those finely chopped chives that I saved, [dishes clink] and the rest of that finely grated Parmesan cheese.

And then once I have this mixed together, this is melted butter, and it's important to melt the butter shortly before you use it.

The idea is to make all of these crumbs moist, but you don't wanna turn 'em clumpy.

So let me see how this is coming along.

You could always add more, but you sure can't take it back out.

I'm gonna go ahead and put the rest of that in there.

All right, now I'm gonna make myself a little assembly line.

This is so clever.

I'm taking my handy dandy little scoop.

This is a one ounce scoop, and look what I'm gonna do.

And I am gonna take a scoop of that crab meat, And then with my fingers, I'm going to gently coat it in those crumbs.

You can use your fingers to kind of make sure that these turn out into a little ball, about the size of a ping pong ball, but don't squish 'em too much, we're just coating these.

And I'm gonna fill every one of these 24 little wells with one of these crab cakes.

[holiday bells ring] [carefree music] And that's it, all 24 little crab cakes in our cute, mini muffin tin.

Now we're gonna pop 'em in the oven.

[pan clatters] [carefree music] Friends, look at these.

Are these not the cutest things?

Who could have guessed that a mini muffin tin is the key to not only the tastiest holiday crab bites you've ever had, they're the easiest too.

Now they are warm, so you can give people a plate, but guests can also just go by and pick one up.

I promise that this will be the key recipe for your holiday entertaining all season long.

[bright music]