Sausage Balls

In my mind, no Thanksgiving or Christmas would be complete without sausage balls.  Both my mom and Grammy make them and they are a staple of breakfast, lunch, and dinner for days surrounding the holidays.

I'm not a huge meat fan, but these can't be beat.  Now, there's a bit of a discrepancy, because when my mom gave me the recipe, I forgot to write down the part about browning the sausage before mixing up the balls.  So I just mixed them raw.  Turns out, no one died, and they were actually quite good (no offense, mom!).  My version of the recipe thus includes no precooking of everyone's second favorite pork product (bacon is #1, duh).  But if that really grosses you out, you could go old school and cook em like mom does. 

Holiday Sausage Balls

- 1 pound package of ground sausage

- 3 cups Bisquick

- 4 cups grated sharp cheddar

- Seasonings to taste: pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning, onion powder, onion flakes, etc

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Spray a baking sheet with spray

3. Combine all ingredients in a big bowl

4. Mix well with fingers

5. Form into 1" balls by rolling.

6. Bake for 18-20 mins until browned (flip them halfway for even cooking).

Easy enough, right?  Well, it is.  However, please see #4.  That's gonna take you like 20 minutes.  Make sure you don't do arms at the gym the week you're making them.  You will get plenty of workout just mixing these little suckers up.  Um, and I won't go into it, but make sure to take off your rings first.  Nothing like burying your hands wrist-deep in raw sausage. 

The sausage isn't quite moist enough to absorb the Bisquick and cheese quickly if you don't precook it - but in my opinion, the finished product is moister and not as dry if you don't precook the sausage.  So keep mixing.  It's totally worth it!

The recipe can easily be double and makes a TON.  They last really well and make for great leftovers.  Yum!