Champagne and caviar may not be in your budget this New Year’s Eve, but you won’t need to resort to crackers and Cheez Whiz to keep the cost of the festivities under control.

Sausage, olive and dried cherry empanadas have a golden crust made from convenient and inexpensive buttermilk biscuit dough that comes packaged in tubes and can be found in the dairy case at most markets.

These treats cost 20 cents each to make and can be baked up to two days ahead, then reheated.

Ingredients:

1 pound loose mild pork or turkey sausage

1 cup finely chopped yellow onions

1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped

1/4 cup pitted and chopped Kalamata olives

1/2 cup finely chopped scallions

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1 refrigerated tube of 8 large buttermilk biscuits

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add the sausage, onions and dried cherries and saute, breaking up the sausage, until no traces of pink remain, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the olives, scallions and thyme. Saute for another 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside to cool.

On a lightly floured surface, cut each of the biscuits into quarters. Use your hands to roll each quarter into a ball, then use a rolling pin to roll each ball into a 3-inch circle.

Put about 1 tablespoon of the sausage mixture in the center of each circle. Moisten the edges of the dough with water, fold in half over the filling, then use the tines of a fork to press to seal the edges.

Set the empanadas on the prepared baking sheets and brush lightly with the beaten egg. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 32 servings.