donut pan idea no. 31: olive cheese cocktail rings

I can't believe I banged these out on Thanksgiving with everything else I had going in the kitchen, but I did. Olive cheese cocktail rings! I serve them in ball form at almost every party I have. They are great because you can prepare them ahead of time and bake them right before serving. Stella, David and our friend Windy love to gobble them down. I can easily eat five or six of them myself per cocktail, so I thought why not bake them in the donut pan? What did I have to lose? 

Nothing! They are even more fun and just as delicious.

The recipe is from a copy of Betty Crocker's Cookbook that my mother handed down to me years ago. So many great cocktail snack recipes in that book, but this is the best one.

I didn't have time to shoot a play-by-play, but that's okay, they are so simple. This is a four-ingredient recipe. You will need 2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese, 1 1/4 c. flour, 1/2 c. melted unsalted butter and 42 small pimento-stuffed olives. This will yield seven cocktail rings, each with six olive segments. You will also need vegetable oil, for the pans.

To make:
Prepare the pans by oiling the cavities. A little heavier than "lightly oiled", but not so much that the oil pools at the bottom of the pans.

Stir together the cheese and flour, then work in the melted butter with your hands, squeezing and kneading until the cheese and dough become one.

Pour your olives into a colander so excess liquid can drip off. Mold one teaspoon (I eyeball it) around each olive and roll between palms to shape into ball. Place tightly, six per cavity, in donut pans like so:

Cover and refrigerate for one hour or up to one day.

When ready to bake, place in preheated 400º oven and bake for +/-18 minutes. When they are done they will be light golden brown at the edges, and ever-so-slightly still soft to the touch, just a little bit. Let cool on a rack for ten minutes before removing from pans.

To remove, carefully work a very sharp paring knife around the edges to disconnect from edge of pan. Do not scrape your pan! After I cut the edges away a bit, I was able to carefully pry the rings out totally intact. If you remove them while the pastry is still warm you risk crumbling, so definitely let them cool first.

To serve, just pile up on a pretty plate and have at 'em. If you are friendly (or family) with your fellow snackers, you might find yourself breaking a few of the rings into segments to share with each other. If you aren't all that familiar, then plan on one ring per person as a cocktail snack. 

Speaking of cocktail snacks, my very first donut project was also great with a drink. Remember these?