These little treats come with a surprise filling and make a great appetizer for any holiday spread. You can easily use a stuffing mix to make this recipe come together faster.

Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

  • 2 Maple Grilling Planks
  • 2 oz. Cream Cheese
  • 2 cups Bread, torn or cut into small pieces
  • 2 Tbsp. Butter
  • 1 Carrot, peeled
  • 1 small Onion, peeled
  • 1 stalk Celery
  • ½ cup Chicken, Turkey or Vegetable Stock
  • 1 Tbsp. Thyme, dried
  • ¼ cup Cranberries
  • Kosher Salt and Pepper

Chef's Tip

Place the cream cheese in the freezer to firm up for an hour before cutting.

Directions:

  1. Place the cream cheese in the freezer to firm up.
  2. Soak the planks in hot water for at least 15 minutes, and preheat the grill to 400°F.
  3. Cut the carrot, onion and celery to a small dice, add to a pan with the butter and sauté until translucent.
  4. Add the cranberries to the pan with the stock and cook for 2 minutes, until the berries have softened.
  5. Remove the pan from the heat and add the bread.
  6. Stir to combine until moist enough to roll into balls.
  7. Divide the mixture evenly and form 8 small flattened patties, about 2” in diameter.
  8. Remove the cream cheese from the freezer and cut into 8 equal sized cubes.
  9. Set a cube on each patty and pull the edges around to enclose the cream cheese inside the stuffing ball.
  10. Set the stuffing balls on the planks and cook for 15-20 minutes or until well heated through.

*Keep a spray bottle of water handy in case of flare-ups.

Used in this recipe:

Maple Grilling Planks