Festive Sausage Rolls (Cranberry & Chestnut)

Christmas and the holiday season in general screams out for sausage rolls. Whether you’re serving them as part of a buffet for guests or as cosy snack; these Festive Sausage Rolls will always be gratefully received. Studded with dried cranberries and chestnuts these sausage rolls are packed full of flavour.

Festive Sausage rolls are a Christmas essential

We all love a sausage roll, so what better way to make you feel festive than by adding delicious flavours we all associate with Christmas.

I’ve taken my much loved sausage rolls recipe and added dried cranberries, chestnuts and sage for the ultimate festive treat.

Make these ahead of time and freeze ready to cook in the oven or air fryer and delicious sausage rolls whenever you need over Christmas.

Make your life easier by using ready made pastry

It is absolutely not cheating to buy ready made puff pastry. I have heard a lot of chefs admitting they buy puff pastry rather than making it themselves. There are some ingredients which aren’t always necessary to make and puff pastry is one of them in my opinion.

Shop bought puff pastry is so quick and convenient. Far easier than making your own pastry from scratch. 

It also means you can make these festive sausage rolls even more quickly. Perfect for an impromptu picnic or party over the Christmas period.

With this recipe I go a step further than just buying the pastry, I buy ready rolled puff pastry. Yes this may seem a little lazy, but it is also a time saver which is what this recipe is all about.

It is also good for me because for some reason I haven’t mastered the art of rolling pastry into a rectangle yet!

Can you use light puff pastry?

You can use light puff pastry to make these sausage rolls, but I’ll be honest; it wouldn’t be my first choice.

The lower fat content in light puff pastry makes it a little bit softer. This means it is slightly trickier to work with. I’ve used it quite a few times when making my quick sausage rolls, but I wouldn’t necesserily use it for these.

If you do want to use light pastry, I recommend frequently putting it in the fridge for it to firm up throughout the process.

which sausage meat is best to use?

When making sausage rolls you can either use sausage meat like I have in this recipe and my pork & stuffing sausage rolls; or remove the skins from sausages.

The reason why I use sausage meat for these festive sausage rolls is because you’re going to be giving it a good mix to incorporate the chestnuts and cranberries.

You can of course use sausages if you prefer, just remember to remove the skin. Any plain pork sausages, Lincolnshire or Cumberland sausages would work really well with the festive flavours.

Which Chestnuts are recommended to use?

For ease, I would always recommend the precooked packets of chestnuts. They are already prepared and ready to use so by far the easiest option.

You can only typically buy these in the run up to Christmas in larger supermarkets. They might be in the Christmas aisles or near the stuffing and gravy and usually come in a pouch.

At Christmas you can also buy chestnuts in a net which you will find by the other nuts in supermarkets. However you will need to crack and cook these before adding them to your sausage rolls.

I definitely vote for using the preprepared and cooked chestnuts!

Which cranberries are best to use?

Fresh cranberries aren’t as readily available here in the UK as they are in the US. However I prefer to use dried cranberries for these sausage rolls which are available year round.

Although I prefer to use dried cranberries, if you don’t want to use them you could use a couple of tablespoons of cranberry sauce. This will make the sausage meat mix a little wetter but that won’t be an issue.

How many sausage rolls does this recipe make?

It can make as many or as few as you would like. 

If you are making these to eat as part of a main meal, you would probably want to cut them a lot larger. I would recommend cutting each line into three so you would have six in total. 

If you are serving these as part of a buffet or party, I would definitely cut them smaller. You don’t want people to fill up on just the sausage rolls!

Can you freeze these Sausage Rolls?

Yes, this is a great way to make them in advance. 

Follow the steps below but don’t brush them with the egg. At this stage, place them on a baking tray and put them in the freezer. 

Once they have frozen, you can transfer them to a container until you want to bake them. 

Then when you want to cook them, take them straight from the freezer onto a tray. Brush them with egg as per the original recipe. When it comes to cooking, bake them for 30 minutes. 

Make these sausage rolls gluten free

You can readily buy gluten free puff pastry in most supermarkets. If you can’t find it in the chiller cabinets, check the frozen aisles.

A lot of sausages and sausage meat are already gluten free, but make sure you check the ingredients to make sure. 

How long will these sausage rolls keep for?

You can cook these sausage rolls in advance and keep them in an airtight container for 3-4 days. 

If you would like them to be warm, you can reheat them for 5-10 minutes in the oven or air fryer set to 180ºC.

I wouldn’t recommend reheating them in the microwave as this will make the pastry become soft rather than crisp. But if you like the sound of that, be my guest.

Other recipes you might like

• Turkey & Cranberry Sausage Rolls
• Pork & Apple Sausage Rolls
• Mustard & Sage Sausage Rolls
• Cranberry & Bacon Sausage Meat Stuffing
• Festive Vegetarian Galettes

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