I would’ve called these “bacon onion cheddar puffs”, but somehow “puffs” don’t sound as accurate. Puffs, to me, should be lighter or airier than these. These were not dense, but they weren’t puffs to me.

I also considered calling them “bacon onion cheddar pops”, but I think that makes them sound like there should be sticks on them, and I didn’t want to do that.

So, balls it is.

This can make conversation about these a little awkward.

“So…did you like my balls?”

“Yes, you’re balls were very tasty!”

Or maybe it’s just me, because I’m still 12 years old inside!

Anyway, I decided to use my babycakes(TM) cake pop maker to make these. This is probably the most girly appliance I have. They only come in pastel colors, and the logo is all large lower case letters with additional colors on the front.

The cuteness of this appliance makes them look deceptively kid-friendly, but I feel like I should warn anyone considering buying one for their child that they get quite hot on the sides and in front when in use, and sometimes, when you open them after they’ve been cooking something, there can be a fair amount of smoke and steam that comes out of them. But they are great for making donut holes and of course, cake pops. (I’m not a huge fan of cake pops; the sticks seem so unnecessary, but whatever blows your skirt.)

I’m planning on trying rice krispies and some sort of cookie dough for them in the future, though, so stay tuned!

Bacon Onion Cheddar Balls (about 18*)

1/2 cup milk

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 slices bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled

1/2 cup caramelized onions (use part of your own recipe, and reserve the rest for something else, or 1/2 cup of this. I like using caramelized onions for other things, but if you don’t like it here, you can also just make regular sautéed onions. Also, if you don’t like the amount of this ingredient, you can just add more cheese and/or bacon.)

1/4 teaspoon, (or to taste) salt

black pepper to taste

method:

Combine milk and butter in medium saucepan and bring to a simmer o medium heat.

Add flour and stir with a spatula to form a mix flour with the milk/butter.Remove from heat.

Stir until well combined.

Add eggs one at a time and continue to stir to combine.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

With a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop, scoop into cake pop maker. Fill the holes so that they are almost a sphere. You want a domed top to fill the top part of the mold when you close it. If you over fill them, they create something that looks like a Saturn ring. You can simply trim that part out after they’ve cooled.

The tricky part in knowing how long to leave them in. Mine took about 8 minutes, but they look a tad browner than I would’ve liked; a friend, however, said that my balls were perfect. (There goes my 12-year-old self laughing again!)

I removed the balls with a wooden skewer, which worked well.

These were good on their own, but I kept wanting to dip them in something, like a ranch dip, or salsa, so…get creative and use your favorite dip. Maybe a guacamole would be good?

*This is an approximate number, due to first making a bunch of them that were not completely spherical because I didn’t fill the holes up, thinking they were going to expand. Sorry.