Crispy Cheese Jalapeno Bacon Balls

[Darlene]

INGREDIENTS
CRISPY CHEESE JALAPENO BACON BITES

4 oz cream cheese softened
4 oz mozzarella cheese shredded from a block (please see notes)
4 oz white cheddar shredded from a block (or monterey jack cheese)
2 - 3 jalapenos seeds removed, chopped finely (about ½ cup)
6 oz of bacon sliced finely and cooked to crispy bits
1 tbsp hot sauce
Salt to season

DREDGING STATION

Spiced flour mix recipe below
2 eggs
1 ½ - 2 cups panko breadcrumbs or gluten free breadcrumbs

SPICED FLOUR MIX

½ cup AP flour or gluten free flour
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
Oil for deep frying

INSTRUCTIONS
CRISPY CHEESE JALAPENO BACON BITES

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine well. Add salt to season ONLY if needed. I add extra hot sauce, and usually don't need to add extra salt.

Using a spoon, portion out the cheese mix and make 1 inch balls. Place the balls on a tray, and freeze for about 10 - 15 minutes until they are firm (but not frozen). You can keep them covered in the fridge overnight as well.

Get the dredging station ready. Mix all the ingredients for the spiced flour mix. Lightly whisk the eggs, and place the panko crumbs in a plate.

Coat the chilled cheese balls in the spiced flour mix, and then coat with eggs, followed by the flour again, and the egg mix again, for a double coating. This created an extra crunchy coating (flour - egg - flour - egg).

Finally coat the cheese balls with the panko crumbs and set aside until all the cheese balls are coated.

At this stage, you can place the cheese balls in the fridge overnight (in a single layer, on a tray, covered with plastic wrap) until you are ready to fry them and serve. OR you can freeze them as well. However, if you do freeze them, allow the cheese balls to thaw in the fridge overnight before frying.

Heat enough oil to deep fry the cheese balls, to 350°F/180°C. Deep fry, without over-crowding the pan, for about 1 - 1 ½ minutes.

Remove the cheese balls from the oil and let them drain for a couple of minutes. Serve warm with dipping sauce. Enjoy!

RECIPE NOTES
Note about the cheese - it’s better to use cheese that you shred yourself from a block, rather than using pre-shredded cheese. But if you can only find pre-shredded cheese or it's more convenient, that's fine too.

Note about freezing - make sure the cheese balls are refrigerated OR frozen on a baking tray, in a single layer.

Wrap the tray well with plastic wrap to prevent freezer burns

[holly]

My family really likes fried potatoes and toasted bread, and even though it's not very healthy, we decided to get a deep fryer. For a long time, I chose between two options, read several articles. I chose Bella, medium price, fries well, and has been working for a long time. I will leave a link to the article where I chose my technique mykitchenadvisor.com/deep-fryer/. Thank you for your recipe, I will try it!

[kit]

hi there! this recipe is great! my kids even love them. we found that we like our bites to be on the smaller side as they're easier to eat!

[Brenda "Catbatty" Adams]

Thanks much for the recipe, Darlene and also thanks for Kit for the taste-test review! It sounds like a keeper. I'm copying it to my laptop as we speak! Did it come from a mag or book? Thanks again. (I have a foodie group on Pro-Boards, too. They are great people, the folks who run Pro-Boards. They've sure been generous to us all.)