Christmas cheese ball appetizers with cranberries, pecans and herbs.
Festive Cranberry Cheese Ball Bites
Ingredients:
2 pkgs. cream cheese, softened
2 cups white cheddar, shredded or crumbled blue cheese
2 cups dried cranberries, chopped (divided)
2 cups pecans, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, freshly chopped
1 tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
1/4 cup chives or flat-leaf parsley, freshly chopped
Directions:
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, cheddar or blue cheese, half of the cranberries, half of the chopped pecans, chopped green onions, salt, garlic powder and pepper until well combined and very smooth.
Scoop out a small amount of the cheese mixture and roll it into a small ball, and then place it on a sheet pan. Continue rolling into balls until all of the mixture has been used.
Cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap, then place the cheese balls into the refrigerator to firm up, about 2 hours or until you’re ready to serve.
Combine the remaining pecans and cranberries and the chopped chives in a small dish. Gently roll each ball in the mixture and place on a serving platter.
Either serve them as-is or add a small pretzel stick to each ball to allow for easy pickup.
Serve the balls with crackers, crostini, crunchy vegetables or all three.
