Brunch Treats

Today was one of my mom's group's Christmas craft workshop. We got to sit around, eat yummy food and make some really fun things all while our children were in the care of some awesome people. BLISS!!!! I had signed up to bring something for the amazing food spread. I wanted to share with you what I made because both items were oh so yummy!

I had put my name under "Egg Casserole" when I signed up and I wanted to make something a little different from the normal breakfast casserole. After scouring Pioneer Woman's breakfast recipes, I came across Eggs Florentine Casserole. It was scrumptious and different from the norm. It makes a 9 x 13" dish of casserole and I came home with two tiny corner pieces left. That's always a good sign.

I used frozen hasbrowns...DO NOT TELL PIONEER WOMAN! It's just so much easier than grating potatoes and it tasted good anyways. I also used a 1 lb. package of breakfast sausage and fried it up while crumbling it.

I absolutely LOVE Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine. It is my favorite recipe magazine. I always learn something and find recipes that I want to make. I treated myself to buying the December issue since I usually just check it out at the library. I found another recipe that I wanted to make to take to my mom's group also.

Sausage-Cheddar Balls

45 sausage balls

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups grated cheddar

1 lb bulk breakfast sausage

1/2 large yellow onion, grated on large holes of a box grater

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, ground pepper, cayenne pepper and baking powder. Add grated cheddar and toss to coat. Add sausage, grated onion and melted butter.

3. With your hands, mix until well blended and roll mixture into 1-inch balls. Place balls, 1/2 inch apart, on baking sheet. Bake until balls are golden and cooked through about 25 minutes. Serve warm.

***I chopped my onion finely instead of grating it but next time might grate it to get even smaller pieces. I would also use just a little bit less of the cayenne. They had a good kick to them but were still so very yummy!