Christmas Morning Cheddar Breakfast Sausage Recipe

This Christmas Morning Cheddar Breakfast Sausage Recipe is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Hillshire Brands Company. All opinions are entirely my own.  

My sisters and I would stay up all night on Christmas Eve…

Well we would try to anyway. The anticipation for Christmas morning just a few hours away was almost too much to handle. What would Santa bring us?  Would he bring us that magical toy that we had been dreaming of for months? How big would the pile of presents be under the tree? What would I be able to show-off when school came back into session in a week or so? What was Mom & Dad going to make for Christmas morning breakfast?

Yep, the 2nd most magical thing about Christmas morning is our Christmas breakfast that has been a tradition for years in our house. It all started with my Dad who is a waffle aficionado. This man can make a mean waffle & his pancakes are pretty amazing as well. One year he decided to come up with the most decadent Christmas breakfast and he hit it out of the park. He would make Belgium waffles topped with strawberries, vanilla ice cream & fresh whipped cream…. Yum!

Now when it comes to breakfast in our house my parents are a matched set. My dad excels in the waffle/pancake arena, while my mother has the savory options locked and loaded. She of course had to come up with a savory companion that could stand-up to this over the top sweet Christmas treat. She discovered a recipe for Cheddar Breakfast Sausages that fit the criteria perfectly!

Together these two savory and sweet treats made Christmas morning for our family almost as exciting as discovering what Santa had brought us for the holiday!

The tradition has followed me as I became a Mother and married a waffle loving man as well. Together we too are a matched set. Mike makes our waffles, the very same ones my Dad used to make when I was young and I handle the savory treat that my Mom used to make, her Cheddar Breakfast Sausages.

To be completely honest, and I mean no disrespect to the waffle loving men in my life… I look forward to the Cheddar Breakfast Sausages more than I look forward to the waffles. I LOVE them!

The other day my little guy and I headed off to Wal-Mart to grab our supplies so that we could make some Cheddar Breakfast Sausages to share with you, maybe this savory treat will make it into your Christmas morning line-up as well.

Of course we had to start with our favorite Jimmy Dean® Premium Pork Sausage!

They are super easy to make, and the really nice thing is… They freeze beautifully! You can make these days or weeks in advance when you have a few extra minutes in the middle of the holiday rush and you’ll be all-set for Christmas morning!

Here is what you’ll need…

2 lbs. Jimmy Dean® Premium Pork Sausage Regular

16 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups all-purpose baking mix

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

 Preheat oven to 375˚

In a large bowl combine sausage, shredded cheese, baking mix, onion, celery and garlic powder. Using clean hands mix ingredients just until fully combined

Shape into 1 oz. balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the sausages reach an internal temperature of 160˚

Makes roughly 36 servings.

It really is just that easy and the fact that you can make it ahead of time, it’s a brilliant Christmas morning addition!

Looking for more fantastic Holiday recipes? Visit joytothemeal.com for all kinds of fun new recipes to create or add to your Holiday traditions.

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