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Even though I grew up in the South, I’m not ashamed to use canned biscuits, especially when it turns into a cheesy, garlicky, crunchy coated magical morsel like these Cheesy Garlic Bites.
The concept is simple: flatten each pre-cooked biscuit and wrap it around a fresh mozzarella cheese ball. Pop it in a mini muffin pan and bake.
Each of these cheesy garlic bites is covered in crunchy baked on cheese. The dough is soft and fluffy, and inside is a volcano of melted mozzarella. I used fresh mozzarella ciliegine (which just means cherry size balls). If you can’t find them, just buy a block of mozz and cut it into cherry size cubes.
As for the biscuits, you want to use the in expensive non-flaky kind. They usually come in a 4-pack. The final touch that makes these so scrumdiddlyumptious is the garlic butter white wine sauce that bakes into each bite.
How to prepare Cheesy Garlic Bites
To start, flatten each biscuit and place a ball of mozzarella on top. Then, just pinch the dough around the cheese so it’s surrounded.
Next, saute the garlic and add in butter and wine. I like adding a touch of red pepper flakes, too, for a pop of heat. Roll each biscuit ball into the garlic butter to coat. Save the garlic butter. You’re going to need it at the end.
Place the garlic smothered biscuits in a mini muffin pan with the opening facing up.
Cover with shredded parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Be generous.
You can do everything up to this point and store the biscuits in the fridge, until you’re ready to serve them. Then, heat the oven to 450F and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is brown and bubbly.
When you remove the cheesy garlic bites from the oven, brush with that remaining garlic butter and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and dried basil. Enjoy!
Cheesy Garlic Bites
Ingredients
- 2 cans buttermilk biscuits, not the flaky kind
- 20 balls mozzarella fresca ciliegine, cherry size or mozzarella cut into cubes
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup white wine
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- salt and basil, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Open the can of biscuits. Flatten each biscuit. Drain the liquid from the container of fresh mozzarella. Place a mozzarella ball in the center and wrap the dough around it to form a ball.
- Heat olive oil over medium low heat in a skillet. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add in the butter and stir until melted. Slowly pour in the wine and salt (it may splatter) and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes.
- Roll the dough balls into the butter.
- Place the balls in a mini muffin pan (open side up).
- Combine the shredded cheeses and pile on each dough ball.
- Bake in a 450-degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Brush with remaining garlic butter. Sprinkle with salt and basil to taste. Serve warm.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Are the mozzarella cheese pearls the same as the cherry size ones?
Yes
Very good but I smoked out my oven. Grease dripped over onto the bottom of my oven. Will definitely make again
Sorry to hear that. You may want to get an oven thermometer to see if your oven is running hot. Or perhaps turn your oven down to 425F degrees.
What type of white wine?
I recommend a dry crisp white wine. If you like chardonnay, that works well too because it’s buttery.
EXCELLENT!