Fauxsage Blossoms

 Originally published December 19, 2012

I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of fake meats. Fake bacon (facon), fake chicken (ficken), fake sausage (fauxsage), fake duck (MOCK DUCK, duh)… But my friend, Megan made these nifty little appetizers for a party last year and I was in love. One of the things I don’t really like about fauxsage is that it’s so much like real sausage. And I never liked real sausage. But in this recipe, the fauxsage is ground up, so it’s easier on my delicate senses.

There are a lot of different recipes and names for these cheesy little snacks. Megan calls them tofu stars, the critter version is often called sausage stars, but I felt like fauxsage blossoms was a better moniker. They’re perfect for parties or any occasion where you need to serve finger foods. They’re better warm, but still good at room temperature, too. And they're tasty! Mr. Eats and Mini Eats both enjoyed leftovers (which reheat in the microwave quite well).

Fauxsage Blossoms
servings: 36-48 blossoms

Ingredients
1 package (8 ounces) vegetarian sausage (fauxsage) patties
1 package cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese (8 ounces in block form)
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Original salad dressing mix
1 package (48) wonton wrappers

Cook the fauxsage gently (don’t overcook) in the microwave or skillet. Chop the fauxsage and add to a medium bowl. Add the softened cream cheese, shredded cheese and Ranch dressing mix and stir to combine.

Using a teaspoon from your flatware, scoop a dollop of the mix and put it in the middle of a wonton wrapper. Fold the sides up to hold in the center and resemble a blossom or star and place in a slot in a muffin pan.

Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes or until the tips of the blossom have browned.

Notes:

*Be sure not to overcook the fauxsage; if so, you will have tiny hard chunks in your blossoms and that is not good.

*If you don’t soften the cream cheese first, it will be nearly impossible to mix it with the rest of the ingredients.

*Using pepper jack cheese gives the blossoms a little more zip, but you may consider just cheddar or half cheddar and half pepper jack. Though I don’t like spicy food and the pepper jack version was still very tasty.

*I used both a mini muffin pan and a regular muffin pan and found the mini one to be easier to keep the blossoms more compact, but it’s fine to use whatever you have on hand.

*If your dollop is too large and/or you undercook the blossoms, they may stick to the muffin pan bottom.

*And do not—DO NOT—use egg roll wrappers; they are too thick. Megan and I use Nasoya wrappers found in the produce section at Publix.