Chipotle Cranberry Sausage Balls

cooked sausage balls prior to cooking on parchment paper on bake sheet

Tart and savory, Chipotle Cranberry Sausage Balls are easy to make for a crowd. This recipe can be scaled up to serve 50 to 75 people.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cranberry sausage balls

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 30

Calories: 192kcal

Author: Erica

Servings: 20

Equipment

Ingredients

1 lb hot bulk sausage room temperature
4 oz cream cheese softened
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
5 oz 50% less sugar sweetened dried cranberries
7.5 oz Bisquik baking mix
2 Tbsp Cholula chipotle hot sauce
1/2 tsp onion powder

Instructions

Heat oven to 350℉.
To the bowl of a stand mixer, add all the ingredients.
Using the paddle attachment on the lowest speed setting, mix the ingredients until a dough is formed. (Note this step can also be accomplished manually using your hands if a stand mixer is not available).
Using a medium cookie scoop or spoon, scoop ~2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Place on a bake sheet lined with parchment paper.
Repeat with the rest of the dough, using additional bake sheets as necessary.
Bake at 350℉ for 15 minutes or until internal temperature reads 155℉ using an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the oven and serve. Yields: ~40 balls.

Notes

The amounts for the sausage, cranberries, cheddar cheese, and Bisquik are based on amounts of smaller, readily available-sized packaging. This makes amplifying this recipe easier because you just get more of each, and then don't have to measure.

These sausage balls do not give off a lot of oil while baking, so either flat or rimmed bake sheets can be used.

The parchment paper serves to keep the balls from rolling around or sticking and makes clean-up loads easier.

Sausage balls dough can be formed and balls assembled a day in advance. They are, however, best served fresh and warm.

As a time-saving tip: use the cookie scoop to scoop ~2 Tbsp amounts of dough and place mounds on cookie sheet. Once the dough is distributed into these mounds, then go through and roll them into balls using your hands. Scooping all the dough, then rolling into balls, makes prep significantly faster than scoop-roll-repeat ball-by-ball.

Nutrition