Baked Italian Wontons w/ Spicy Aioli

Going to a New Years Eve party and not sure what to bring?  Try these baked italian wontons!  Unless the other guests follow this blog, I'm fairly certain that no one else is going to show up with the same thing.  This is the perfect party appetizer because you can eat it with your hands and you could even cook it ahead of time and just pop it into the oven for a reheat once you get to your destination.

Ingredients:

For the wontons- 

• olive oil
• 12 wonton wrappers (double the recipe if you're feeding a bigger bunch)
• whipped cream cheese (get chive cream cheese if you can find it! game changer)
• 36 pepperoni slices
• 2c+ marinara sauce
• 1c+ shredded italian blend cheese 
• garnish: chopped cilantro or basil & some grated parm

For the aioli-

• 1/3c canola mayo
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• a pinch each- garlic powder, cayenne, chili powder
• 1 tbsp sriracha chili sauce
• salt & pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat a mini muffin tin with olive oil.
2. On your work surface, lay out 12 wonton wrappers.  Spread each one with a thin layer of cream cheese, then top with 3 pepperoni slices, 1 tbsp marinara and 1 tbsp shredded cheese.   Gather the sides and pinch to make a "purse" and place them in the mini muffin tins.  
3. Bake approx 30 minutes or until the tops and sides are browned.  Serve with additional marinara and the spicy dipping sauce below, and garnish with some chopped cilantro or basil and a little grated parm.
4. While the wontons are cooking, you can make the aioli.  Whisk all the ingredients, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe was born out of "we need to clean out this fridge" and a love of fun & new appetizer ideas.  In the photo, we drizzled the wontons with the aioli and some additional sriracha, and then served with the marinara in the middle.