When I was a little girl, my grandfather would make me my favorite meal every time that we visited.  While most kids might have preferred mac and cheese or something along those lines, I loved crab legs.  He would do a huge boil and I would end up eating more than any adult at the table and this was all while I was only 5 or 6 years old.  The tradition continued throughout my whole life and my love for crabs has never wavered.  Luckily for me I married a Cajun with a father who can boil the best crabs probably anywhere and I'd be willing to bet on that.  Since I don't ever boil crabs myself (because after tasting my father-in-law's, there will never be any competition), crab cakes are my go-to recipe when I have a craving.  My baked crab cakes and spicy garlic dipping sauce hit the spot every time.

There is something about the buttery, flaky meat of a crab that I literally could eat pounds of at a time.  Because it is not inexpensive I don't get to eat it nearly enough, but when I do...I go all out.

I like my crab cakes pretty simple, letting the crab shine through and I like to bake them so I can eat as many as I want.  But you could totally fry them up in a pan with a little butter if you prefer, either way I promise you they will be delicious!  I'm coming over either way, so you can expect me at your dinner table.

One of my favorite ways to use up leftovers (if there are any), is to make a crab cake BLT the next day!  So so good y'all. I can't wait for you to give these a try!

Ingredients:

Crab Cakes-

• 1 lb. Fresh Crab Meat

• 1 Cup of Panko Bread Crumbs (you could also use white bread crumbles or saltines, I just like the crust that the panko bread crumbs make)

• 1 Tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

• 1 Tsp. Reduced Fat Mayo

• 1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard

• 1 Tsp. Old Bay Seasoning

• 1/2 Tsp. Salt

• 1/2 Tsp. Pepper

• 2 Green Onions, sliced thin

• Juice From Half of a Freshly Squeezed Lemon

• 1 Egg

• 1 Tbsp. Fresh Parsley, Diced

• 2 Tbsp. Melted Butter

Spicy Dipping Sauce-

• 1/4 Cup Reduced Fat Mayo

• 2 Tbsp. Siracha Sauce (or more if you like it extra spicy)

• Juice From the Other Half of the Lemon

• 2 Garlic Cloves minced finely

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• In a small bowl, combine mayo, siracha, garlic, and lemon juice and stir to combine. Refrigerate until crab cakes are done.

• In a large bowl, combine the crab meat, 1/2 cup of the panko bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, mayo, mustard, green onions, egg, old bay, salt, and pepper and mix well careful not to break up the crab meat too much.

• In a shallow dish, mix the other half of your bread crumbs with the parsley and mix.

• Make your crab cakes into six patties and then carefully place in the dish with the bread crumbs. Be sure to cover the entire crab cake with bread crumb and parsley mixture. Repeat for other cakes. Place on top of parchment paper on a baking sheet.

• Gently brush a small amount of melted butter on the top of each crab cake.

• Bake for 20 minutes in the oven and then the last five minutes switch your oven to broil on high. This will give good color to the crab cakes. Remove from oven after five minutes. Serve with the spicy garlic dipping sauce and a wedge of lemon.

And if the next morning you want to fry an egg and make a crab cake sandwich for breakfast,  I would probably be on board with that idea...just sayin'.