If your a cheese lover like me and need a quick go-to appetizer recipe give these a try. These are so easy to make, the flavors are incredible and you can use crackers, veggies or bread to smear the yummy cheesy goodness on. Always a crowd pleaser!
Ingredients
Cheese Balls
3 8 oz Cream Cheese (Softened)
8 oz Sharp Cheddar shredded ( Yellow or White will do)
8 oz Smoked Gouda, shredded
1/2 C Julienne Cut Sun-Ripped Dried Tomatoes
5 Tblsp Dried or Fresh Dill
1/4 TSP Sea Salt
1 TSP Ground Black Pepper
1 TSP Garlic minced (about 2-3 cloves)
For the Outside Coating
1C Toasted Walnuts chopped
1C Fresh Minced Parsley
1/2 C Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
In a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl with hand mixer, add all your cheese ball ingredients.
Mix until all ingredients are incorporated and set aside.
In three separate bowls, preferably about the size of a cereal bowl, add your toasted walnuts to one, black pepper to another and parsley to the last bowl.
*Your hands will get a little messy at this stage, you can use plastic gloves *
Grab about a cup of your cheese mixture and roll in the palm of your hands until it forms a round ball. Place it in one of the three bowls and gently roll the whole ball around to make sure it is covered with coating.
Repeat this step with the other two cheese balls and the other coatings.
Gently wrap each cheese ball separately in plastic wrap and pop in the fridge overnight.
When ready to serve, remove from the fridge 30 minutes before hand and place on your serving plate or board. Just before company arrives or you are ready to eat, remove plastic wrap.
Add your assortment of crackers, carrots, celery, peppers or a nice loaf of crusty bread on the side. With a small cocktail cheese knife, one knife per cheese ball, dive in and ENJOY~
Servings: Depends on the size of the cheese balls you make!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Chill Time: Overnight
Total Time: 15-20
As you can see from the pictures I made little pumpkins (made in fall) using 3 pieces of curling ribbon, put them in the fridge like this overnight and used micro greens for the stems. Pepper stems work really great as well.
