It’s that time of year when we get ready to scream and cheer for the best part of Football Season. But how will you gear up for the AFC Championships, with friends and family, when you’re not sure what snacks to make? Don’t spend the day slaving in the kitchen. We’ve come up with a few spectacular bite size treats and sweets that are semi-homemade to minimize mess, cooking time and cost. So roll up your sleeves and try out one or all of these quick and easy Football game day Recipes.
Chicken and Waffles Bites
- 1 bag of Trader Joe’s Chicken Breast Nuggets
- 1 box of Kellogg’s Eggo Mini waffles
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1½ teaspoons Tabasco Sauce
Bake the Chicken Breast Nuggets according to package directions.Toast the mini waffles according to package directions. Place each chicken nugget on one waffle and place another waffle on top, like a mini sandwich. Use a toothpick to keep them held together. In a small mixing bowl, combine maple syrup, melted butter and tabasco sauce and stir until well combined. Serve sauce on the side. (Note: this syrup has a savory and spicy kick that’s perfect for the gameday kickoff)
Mini Cheeseburger Tots
- 1 large bag of frozen Tater Tots
- 1 lb. Ground Beef
- 1 1/2 cup Onion, finely diced
- 2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp. Mustard
- 2 Tbsp. Ketchup
- 2 Tbsp. Pickle Relish
- 1 c. Cheddar Cheese, shredded
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Optional: Mini pickles slices for garnish
Preheat your oven to 425°F. Grease a mini muffin pan. Place three frozen tater tots per cup. Bake in the oven for about ten minutes.
In a large skillet, brown ground beef and onions over medium high heat until browned. Remove from heat to drain the meat. Cook for an additional five minutes or until the onions appear soft and clear. Add mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and pickle relish to the meat mixture, stirring well until combined. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the muffin pan from the oven (after 10 minutes) and mash the cups together with a spoon or a tamper, pressing the tater tots together into each cup. (It should look like little tater tot cups) Fill each tater tot cup with the ground beef mixture. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of each cup. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Allow the cheeseburger bites to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing them from the pan. This will give the tots a nice extra crisp. Optional: Garnish with mini pickle slices on top. Serve with burger condiments, like ketchup, relish, mustard etc… although these little bites pack a mean punch of flavor without any toppins!
No-Bake Cheesecake Football Bites
- 1 pkg. (11.1 oz.) JELL-O No Bake Real Cheesecake Dessert
- 5 Tbsp. margarine or butter, melted
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1-1/2 cups cold milk
- 10 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted (optional)
- or
- Wiltons Chocolate Decorating Icing (optional)
There’s a few different ways to make these little delights… for the classic cheesecake bite omit the melted chocolate chips and garnish using chocolate icing (we went the simple route and bought a tube of Wiltons Chocolate Decorating Icing)
Add mini muffin cups into the tins of a mini muffin pan. For the crust, follow the box instructions (add Crust Mix, margarine and sugar in a bowl and mix well. Use a spoon or mini ice cream scoop to evenly add the crust mix to the paper-lined medium muffin cups. Press the mixture firmly into the bottoms of each cup.)
For the cheese mixture, beat the Filling Mix with the milk using an electric mixer (low speed) just until blended. Turn the mixer up to medium speed for an additional 3 minutes or until filling is nice and thick. Spoon evenly into prepared cups. Chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour.
Optional: Use the chocolate icing to make little football laces on each mini-cheesecake. Or, remove the cheesecakes from the muffin cups and place on a piece of wax paper on the counter. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 15 seconds to make sure it doesn’t harden up. It should take about 1 minute for the chocolate to completely melt. Drizzle the chocolate, over the cheesecakes, covering completely or just the tops for an extra special treat! Let cool until chocolate has hardened. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve, for the best results.