Champaign Neighbor's Game Day Snack: Maryland Crab Cake Balls

Champaign, Illinois — If you plan it right, the snacks at your football watch party on Feb. 11 will be as much discussed as the key plays. When we asked Champaign readers to submit their MVP-worthy recipes, Fawn Palmer submitted this recipe:

Maryland Crabcake Balls (cocktail size)

Maryland Crabcake Balls are served in restaurants, taverns, and at parties. Easy to make ahead and bake right before serving. Serve with lemon wedges, tartar sauce, honey mustard, bearnaise, and/or mango chutney + dark rum dip. Yield: ~24 balls depending upon the scoop size.
**Recipe: Preheat the oven to 415 degrees F. **On a cooking sheet, cut parchment paper to fit and ~25 pats of butter on parchment. Set aside.
**In a bowl, place1 lb. lump or jumbo lump blue claw, Callinectes sapidus, crab meat, picked clean of shell fragments (do not mash the lumps), drained if bought in a can.
**In a second bowl whisk 1 Xtra large egg. **Add in 2 tsps. Old Bay seasoning; 1 tspn. dried dillweed or dried parsley or 1 tblspn. finely chopped dillweed fronds (no stems) or 1 tblspn. chopped fresh parsley leaves; 3 tblspns. Duke's mayonnaise; 1 tspn. Dijon mustard; and 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce. **Last ingredient. Mix crushed Saltine crackers (25), or 1/2 cup cracker meal. If available, instead of Saltines or cracker meal, crumble one or two fresh made, powdermilk biscuits to equal one half cup measure. **Add the crumbs or biscuit crumbles to the mixture. Mix well with spoon.
**Gently fold the second mixture into the crabmeat in its bowl. Do not mash the crabmeat lumps as you fold.
**Using a tablespoon measure to scoop up the mixture and place in a small size ice cream scoop, pat down the mixture in the scoop. Push the lever to place a half ball onto a saucer with more cracker crumbs or panko crumbs. **Gently roll in the crumbs, pick up carefully, roll in your hand to shape the ball gripping gently. Place each ball on a pat of butter on the parchment sheet.
**When all of the crabcake balls are made, cover baking sheet with crab balls with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
** When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator, and use a nonstick spray on the balls to enhance their sheen and color when baked.
**Bake ~10-15 minutes, depending upon the size of the balls. Take out a ball at 8 minutes, break open, and taste to see if it is hot and cooked to your liking. **Note: I have not used an air fryer to make these. It should be a great method, less fat. For easier measuring, scoop with tablespoon or a soup spoon into a nonstick sprayed minimuffins tin.

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