Birthday Party Food - Parmesan Spinach Balls with Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce

Parmesan Spinach Balls with Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce:

Kids Love Them!

Finally, a way to get kids interested in green, leafy spinach! Perfect for a birthday party, baked spinach balls with parmesan cheese are delicious, healthy, and an excellent finger food. If you like to know the snacks you provide are nutritious and don't want to end up with a huge stack of dishes after the festivities, parmesan spinach balls are the perfect birthday munchies for kids. You might even want to make a double batch as adults love them, too!

To make the balls, you will need:

1 cup of oat flour

1 big yellow onion, chopped fine

1 10-ounce package of premium frozen spinach

1/4 cup of parmesan cheese

1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil

3 whole eggs

1 teaspoon of table salt

1 teaspoon of thyme (or more, if preferred)

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine half the spinach and all of the rest of the ingredients. Beat until well incorporated, then add the rest of the spinach. Do not over-beat. Make sure that the spinach still looks whole and unbruised. It is normal for the mix to look slightly runny. If this occurs, mix in a small amount of Italian bread crumbs to stiffen.

Once the mix can be formed, spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray and hand roll the balls. Bite-sized is best, but slightly larger will work as well. Bake them for ten to twenty minutes until they are turning golden-brown on the outside. Allow them to cool and be sure to test them yourself before setting them out. You wouldn't want an enthusiastic child to burn their mouth!

Recipe variation: if cheese is an issue, don't be afraid to substitute the parmesan for nutritional yeast.

The spinach balls are delicious with a honey-mustard dipping sauce. To make it, you will need:

1/4 cup of white vinegar

1 tablespoon of Dijon Mustard

1 tablespoon of honey

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Mix all of these ingredients together and allow it to chill in the refrigerator until needed.

Serve these lovely green balls and the dipping sauce at your next birthday party. These really freeze well, so you can make them as far in advance as you'd like. Just don't tell the kids it's spinach!