by Elizabeth Dengler, The Huckleberry Home
An easy, tasty and timesaving recipe for your holiday guests or busy weekday mornings.
I enjoy making finger foods when we have the Seahawks game on. Having foods that anyone can access whenever they want, without hassle means, I get to watch the game instead of being stuck in the kitchen. These sausage balls can be assembled ahead of time and frozen before cooking which means you can make these in advance, take out however many you’d like to cook for the game, and leave the rest for another occasion. Think of these not as a meatball, but more like a sausage biscuit in a ball. My Aunt Michal makes a ham ball to die for, but that’s not what these are. I’ll share those with you another time. What I’m trying to get at is, don’t expect these to be moist like meatballs, this is a completely different texture and I want to set you up so you know if this is something you’d like to try. Honestly, anything that resembles a sausage biscuit is on my list of must try. I’d love to hear what some of your favorite game day foods are. Let me know and we can feature your recipe here. Enjoy your sausage balls and “Go Team!”
INGREDIENTS:
3 scant cups Bisquick baking mix
1 pound uncooked, bulk, spicy pork sausage, (if you don’t care for spicy, use a classic sausage or 1/2 hot, 1/2 classic)
8 oz cream cheese
4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 T dry parsley (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer and mix at low speed using the dough hook or paddle attachment until all ingredients are evenly combined or work all ingredients together with your hands. For best mixing results, work with room temperature ingredients.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a baking sheet one inch apart.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom.
- Serve warm plain or with dipping sauces such as: sweet chili sauce, honey mustard, sweet & spicy mustard, ranch, BBQ, hot pepper jelly
Tips for Success:
Shred your own cheese. If you buy pre-shredded cheese, it is coated in potato starch and will cause your balls to turn out dry.
Measure your Bisquick like you would flour. In other words, don’t use your measuring cup to scoop the baking mix; it will pack too much into the cup and your balls will be dry. Instead, spoon the mix into your measuring cup and level off with a knife.
Use a high quality pork sausage for the appropriate fat content. Avoid chicken or turkey sausage as they don’t contain enough fat. Generic and lower quality pork sausages contain too much fat and your balls won’t hold their shape well.
For freezing, place the uncooked balls on a cookie sheet and place in your freezer for a couple hours, then place the frozen balls in a freezer Ziplock bag for storage and place back in your freezer to use when needed. Complete thawing is unnecessary for baking.
If you have a recipe you’d like feature in the Huckleberry Press, email it to elizabeth@huckleberrypress.com
