When the Wife is Away… Make Maple Sausage and Bacon Balls
Wife doesn’t like the smell of bacon cooking in the house? Do it when she’s gone!
Bisquick is something that can cause a divide in the baking community. At its core, it’s just a premix of flour, baking soda, and sugar. Some people think it’s low-bar to use when you can just make your own mix, but I grew up watching Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee so I am firmly in team Bisquick rocks.
I have a house of mostly picky eaters or eaters that are just getting teeth, so finding something everyone likes with a little variety can be a struggle but thankfully pancakes for dinner has been a good fallback when all else fails. That means I always have Bisquick on hand and can use it in other ways, like these maple sausage & bacon balls.
Sausage balls are a staple to me, a Midwesterner, but they might not be one for everyone. With the holidays, football playoffs, and winter in general bearing down on everyone I’ve been seeing sausage balls on my timeline for a while and finally had the opportunity to make them.
Since my wife and mother in law took 2/3 of the kids on a girls trip to Disney last weekend, I could cook off the rest of the bacon I had on hand early in the morning and make the balls in the afternoon before my brother dropped by. I love recipes where you just dump everything in a bowl, mix it, and you’re 90% of the way done. This recipe is the epitome of that dream. I made a maple butter to go along with it, but it’s purely optional.
Maple Sausage and Bacon Balls
Yields: 24 balls
Ingredients:
3 cups of Bisquick
1 pound of bulk uncooked maple sausage
12 strips of thick cut bacon, precooked and chopped
16 oz of grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of milk
For the Maple Butter:
2 sticks of softened butter
1/2 cup of maple syrup
Big pinch of kosher salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a large rimmed baking sheet by greasing it with Pam or butter.
In a large bowl, dump all ingredients into the bowl and with a hand mixer on low fully mix all the ingredients together. This will take a bit and you might need to switch to kneading by hand (with gloves) by the end to make sure the Bisquick is fully incorporated into the mix.
Using a large cookie scoop or your hands, ball up mixture into compact balls and evenly space them out on the greased baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking for even browning. Bake until brown on top and serve warm with maple butter. If storing, cool completely the put in an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can freeze them too for up to 3 months and reheat later.
For the Maple Butter:
In a bowl, put the two sticks of butter, maple syrup, and salt then whip until fluffy and fully incorporated. If you want a more intense maple flavor, add syrup to taste.