These stuffed sausage poppers are great for almost anytime and especially when you have hungry people coming to your house. Easy to make and brings a smile every time!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Hot Smoking
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 2 hourshours
Total Time 2 hourshours20 minutesminutes
Servings 6-8
Author Jeff Phillips
Ingredients
Smoked sausageabout 9 poppers per link
Jalapeñosabout 12 slices each
Baconthin sliced (2 poppers per slice
Cream cheese8 oz box
2cupsgrated cheddar cheese
Jeff's original rub
Jeff's barbecue sauce
Instructions
Most of the smoked sausage that I purchase locally comes in two packages (2) per package. Lay the links parallel with sides touching to speed up the cutting and cut them into ¾ to 1-inch long pieces.
Use a knife to cut an "X" in the top side of each piece of sausage down about ½ to ⅔ of the way through. Make sure not to cut all the way through.
Leave the cream cheese on the cabinet for about an hour prior to use, so it can soften..
Place the 8 oz of cream cheese into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add a good handful of grated cheddar (about a cup if you want to measure) and 3 to 4 TBS of Jeff's original rub. Combine all of the ingredients. Please note: I halved the recipe to make about 20 of these and had some left over. The full recipe will make enough for about 40-50 depending on how much you use in each one.
Fill an icing tool or zip top bag with the corner cut off with the cream cheese mixture. Use one hand or a helper to open up the "X" in the sausage. Put the cut corner of the stuffing tool into the opening and squeeze until it oozes out of the sides and top of the sausage pieces.
Cut off the stem of the peppers and carefully clean out the seeds and ribs of the peppers. Cut the peppers into slices that are about 1/8-inch thick. Thicker is fine. Lay a pepper slice on top of each piece of stuffed sausage.
Cut pieces of bacon in half and use ½ slice for each piece of sausage. Wrap the bacon across the top and bottom of the stuffed sausage pieces. Try to end up with the ends of the bacon under the sausage to help hold it. Tip: Bacon can easily be stretched to adjust the length. No toothpick is needed in most cases as the bacon is sticky and will usually hold fine with no further pinning required.
Sprinkle Jeff's original rub onto the tops of the stuffed and wrapped sausage pieces.
Place the wrapped and stuffed sausage poppers onto a pan with a rack or a cookie sheet to aid in transporting them out to the smoker.
Setup your smoker for cooking at 225°F (107°C) using indirect heat. If your smoker uses a water pan, it's okay to leave it dry to help the bacon to crisp up.
Once the smoker is ready, place the stuffed sausage poppers onto the grate and close the lid. Let them cook for about 2.5 hours or until the bacon has a good bite thru. Apply Jeff's barbecue sauce about 30 minutes before they are finished cooking.