Cheese Balls Are The Reason For The Season
A Cheese ball…..
is the easiest party pleasing trick of the season.
Can you open a bag of shredded cheese? Then you can make a cheese ball. It really is that easy and you can’t go wrong. This season i’ve dialed in my own version of a classic cheese ball which serves as my base for all cheese balls. Once you’ve got it down pat, manipulate with different cheeses, spices and nuts. And refer back to my cheese ball content for MyRecipes.com for brilliant tips and tricks and also holiday booze pairings (yes, Darcy and I are making this a thing). Always drop into my DM’s if you have any questions when you get balls deep. As for legit recipe time and stuff, I have no clue. It could take me 10 minutes or 2 hours, but mostly I enjoy doing it alongside a glass of bubbly and some tunes.
Happy holidays and keep tagging your cheese balls because we all need more #cheeseballcontent in our lives.
The Shindig Ball
by Jenn Rice
Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese
4 oz Duke’s Mayo (if you don’t live in the South, I supposed Hellman’s will do…)
4 oz butter (thanks to Vivian Howard, i’m now an advocate of butter in all cheese ball recipes)
Spring onions (dice entire green portion of green onion bundle and use as please in mixture)
Fresh parsley (chop and use as wanted in mixture)
Couple dashes garlic powder
Couple dashes paprika (optional)
1 cup medium cheddar or extra sharp cheddar, pending tastebuds
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (I like to add in two cheeses for extra texture and flavor but you can always do 2 cups of one cheese to keep it simple)
1 bag crushed pecans or favorite nuts (toast for nuttier flavor)
Directions:
Mix together cream cheese, mayo and butter in a mixing bowl.
Add in green onions, garlic powder and paprika, mixing together to ensure spices are distributed evenly.
Add cheddar and parmesan and mix together with hands to really get ingredients mixed together properly.
Place pecans in Ziploc bag and crush into small pieces.
Decide on size of cheese balls and roll each ball into pecan pieces, patting pieces into the ball to ensure you have a nice coating of nuts.
Wrap up or put in a container and let balls rest in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours to bring the flavors all together, but if impatient it’s perfectly okay to devour upon completion.
*I usually create two medium-sized round balls from this recipe for parties and entertaining purposes but size is up to you
Important (not so important) tidbits to remember:
This is a cheese ball and not meant to be taken too seriously. I often try new things such as adding in hot sauces or spices (like Spicewalla’s Modena Balsamic Rub), trying out new cheeses (Tillamook’s Smoked Medium Cheddar Loaf is an excellent sub for regular cheddar, btw) and adding different nuts to the equation.
Really, this is just a basic base. You want 1/2 squishier things like cream cheese, butter and mayo and half actual cheeses. For a bold flavor, substitute Point Reyes Original Blue (or your favorite blue cheese) for cream cheese. Or use a harder cheese like Vella Cheese Company’s Dry Jack instead of parmesan. I personally like a little texture within the mixture so adding in a hard cheese is a nice way to amp it up.
Cheese balls are the life of the party. Don’t trust anyone who doesn’t love a holiday cheese ball, unless they’re dairy free, and then find a way to make them an applaudable dairy-free version to show them what they’re missing out on.
These are super fun to make with friends over wine. Plus, you can freeze them and whip them out all holiday season long — and long after. Best to let cheese balls “cure” for 48 hours but not mandatory.
If your balls feel too liquid-y, add more shredded cheese.