Sausage Link Cheese Balls

Not your typical biscuit mix sausage cheese balls, I developed this recipe as a starting point for a variety of tasty tidbits wrapped in butter-rich cheese pastry.

• Ready In: 22 mins
• Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 2  cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1⁄2 cups  grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 4  tablespoons  cold unsalted butter
• 1 (8 ounce) package brown and serve sausages, unthawed

Directions

1. Combine flour and grated cheese in workbowl of food processor with mixing blade.
2. Gradually add just enough butter, teaspoon by teaspoon, using pulse mode, until dough forms a ball, and is not crumbly.
3. Reserve cheese pastry.
4. Cut each frozen, cooked sausage link into 4 equal pieces.
5. While still chilled, wrap each with enough of the cheese dough to form a walnut-sized ball.
6. Preheat oven to 350.
7. Place prepared sausage cheese balls on ungreased baking sheet, (about 20 per standard baking sheet), and bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.
8. Do not overcook.
9. Cool just a few minutes on paper towels before serving.
10. Variations: Be creative with fillings, which could include small, cooked meatballs, button mushrooms, cocktail olives, cubes of ham or bacon.
11. Vary the cheese, using Muenster, Monterey Jack, Gouda, Swiss or other favorites.
12. The basic dough and sausage make this salty enough that unsalted butter is best here.
13. You may flavor dough with dillweed, sage, thyme, cracked black pepper, curry or chili powder or experiment adding small amounts of deli mustard and the like.