Glazed Ham Balls

 A favorite recipe in our house is this one from Taste of Home for Glazed Ham Balls.

I have made these for several years now and they are always a winner. You can cut the recipe in half as it makes quite a few, or do as I do and freeze the leftovers for another day. However, if Bettie’s daughter is at our house, she always gets any left over as they are one of her favorites. One of the reasons we like these is that there are no graham crackers in the mixture. For some reason in this area most recipes call for them and I feel they make the balls too sweet.

Glazed Ham Balls

Balls

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 ¼ cups quick cooking oats

 2 ½ lbs. of ground Ham (I use a ham loaf mixture from our local store which is ground ham and pork.

Sauce

1 cup plus 2 TBS packed brown sugar

3 TBS cornstarch

¼ teaspoon ground cloves (scant)

1 ¾ cups pineapple juice (buy just the pineapple juice)

½ cup light corn syrup

3 TBS cider vinegar (it needs to be cider)

4 ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard (yellow will work if that is all you have)

  In a bowl, mix the eggs, milk, oats and ham. Shape into 1 ½ inch balls. (a ¼ cup measuring cup works well to get the right size). Place into a lightly greased 15 x 10 x 2 inch baking pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 15 minutes while you get the sauce ready. Drain before adding the sauce to get rid of some of the fat. 

 In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch and cloves. Stir in pineapple juice, corn syrup, vinegar and mustard until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Pour over ham balls. Bake uncovered at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes or until browned. Baste occasionally with the sauce.

Yield: 10 servings of 2 Ham balls per serving