Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

I kind of strayed from the diet in order to use up the last of the cream cheese I have in the refrigerator before it goes bad! I absolutely love stuffed mushrooms, so it only made sense for me to make some. I prefer bite-sized servings because it gives you the perfect amount of filling to mushroom! For dinner though, I made this recipe using big mushrooms. This recipe is so versatile; you can add anything you would like such as sausage or bacon! This makes for a wonderful appetizer or hors d'oeuvres! My significant other does not like mushrooms, but he happily gobbled one down and wanted more! Happy cooking!

Yields: 12 - 24 mushrooms

Ingredients:
24 whole fresh bite-sized mushrooms or 12 large mushrooms if you like a lot of filling in the mushroom
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. minced garlic
2 stalks green onion
1 (8 oz.) packaged cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper or paprika
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Breadcrumb mixture
1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs + 1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping + pepper, optional

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems and place it in a processor.

3. Roughly chop up the green onions and put it in the processor as well. Process until mixture is minced.

3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic, mushroom stems, and green onions to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.

4. In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs, parmesan, and pepper together until combined. Set aside.

5. In a medium bowl, stir in cream cheese, cooled mushroom stem mixture, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper/paprika. Mixture should be very thick. 

6. Dip each mushroom into melted butter and place in a 9x13 glass baking dish. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. 

Generously top with the breadcrumb mixture.

7. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.