Do you love bacon? How about cream cheese? And apple cinnamon? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you’re going to love pig shots!
Pig shots are delicious morsels of flavour! Bacon-wrapped cream cheese bites are always a hit, and with the addition of apple, they’re even better. The salty, crispy bacon is the perfect contrast to the sweet apple cinnamon cream cheese filling. These take a little bit of prep but is worth it for your snacking pleasure! We’ll show you how to make them step by step, so you can be sure they turn out perfect every time.
What Are Pig Shots?
Pig shots are bite-sized appetizers that are often filled with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. Smoked sausage or Kielbasa is used as a base. Bacon is then wrapped around the sausage and secured with a toothpick to create a cup or a mini-bowl.
These mini pork bowls are filled with a cream cheese filling that is flavoured with spices, fruit or vegetables. A popular flavour is the jalapeño and cheddar pork shot.
They’re perfect for parties, game day, or any time you want a tasty snack.
Tips to Make Pig Shots:
- For the bacon, we recommend not using very thin bacon as you need some structure to the mini bowls. You want some thickness to the bacon but not so thick that you have trouble wrapping them around the sausage.
- Use half-strips of bacon and wrap it around the sausage, secure the edge of bacon with a toothpick. Ensure the toothpick pierces through to the other side of the pig shot.
- Make sure you are working with cold bacon! If needed, keep the bacon in the fridge and only take out a few strips at a time. As the bacon warms, the bacon fat can become slippery and make assembling the pig shots a bit tricky.
- The best way to fill the pig shots is to pipe the filling in. This makes for a tidy presentation and it’s quick too!
How to Cook Pig Shots?
Pig shots can be cooked in the oven, smoker or on the grill over indirect heat (with the lid closed). Preheat your oven, smoker or grill to 350˚F and place the pig shots on a wire rack. If you are coking them in the oven, place the wire rack on top of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil. The wire rack makes it easy to handle the pig shots and move them in and out of the oven or grill in one motion.
Bake, grill or smoke them for 25-30 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.
Serving Pig Shots
The pig shots will be quite hot when you remove them from the oven/grill. Allow them to cool for a few minutes and remove the toothpicks. The pig shots will retain their shape and they will no longer need the toothpicks to hold the bacon in place.
Enjoy! And don’t forget to share this recipe with your friends. Bacon lovers everywhere will thank you!
Apple Cinnamon Pig Shots
Makes about 24-28 pieces
Ingredients
Cinnamon Sugar
2 tbsp sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
Cream Cheese Mixture
1 tbsp butter
2 cups small diced apples (honey crisp)
3 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
1 block of cream cheese (8 oz), room temperature
1 tbsp maple syrup
Pork Shots
1 package bacon
smoked sausage or kielbasa (about 2 – 3 sausages)
Directions
Preheat the oven or grill (indirect heat) to 350˚F.
Make the Cinnamon Sugar: Make the cinnamon sugar by combining the sugar, cinnamon and sea salt.
Make the Cream Cheese Mixture: In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 tbsp of butter. Add the diced apples and sauté for about 7 minutes. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt and cook for another minute. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, maple syrup and cooled apple mixture until combined. Scrape the apple cream cheese mixture into a piping bag (or Ziploc bag with a hole cut in the corner).
Make the Pork Shots: Slice the sausage into ½ inch-thick rounds. Cut the bacon slices in half. Wrap a half slice of bacon around the sausage and secure with a toothpick, creating a mini bowl.
Assemble the Pork Shots: Pipe the apple cream cheese mixture into the mini bowls just to the top of the bacon. Sprinkle the tops with the cinnamon sugar.
Cook the Pork Shots: Set the assembled pig shots on a wire rack. For the oven, put the cooling rack on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place into the oven.
If grilling them, place the wire rack directly on the grill grates (over indirect heat) and close the lid of the grill.
Cook until they are golden and crisp, around 25-30 minutes.
Allow them to cool for 5 – 10 minutes. Remove the toothpicks and serve while they are warm.
