A delicious cheese ball recipe fit for the holidays packed with Fall flavors.
The holiday season is my absolute favorite! I can’t get enough Fall and Winter flavors, so combining them into a delicious new snack is a favored pastime. This holiday cheese ball recipe is sure to please at any gathering.
This dish has several classic holiday flavors and can be tweaked to add even more! The base is a combination of goat cheese and cream cheese, both are tangy and can be combined with savory or sweet notes.
To make this cheese ball, I combined them with a hint of balsamic vinegar and honey, green onions, dried cranberries, and chopped pecans. The result is a flavor-packed snack that can be made in advance and is sure to impress and holiday gatherings.
Feel free to scale up or down on the various ingredients based on your preferences…it’s hard to mess this dish up! Additions such as rosemary and thyme would taste divine with these ingredients as well. Cracker pairings can really elevate this dish and introduce new flavors as well. I used sourdough rosemary crackers to introduce yet another favorite flavor of mine.
How to Make
I recommend setting out the cream cheese for about 30 minutes prior to making this in order to soften it up a bit and make it easier to work with. The goat cheese is typically soft enough to use right out of the refrigerator. While you wait, you can go ahead and chop the green onion, pecans (if they are not already chopped), and any other seasonings such as rosemary that you decide to include.
Once the cream cheese is softened, place it in a bowl with the goat cheese and stir to combine. I like to have the ingredients all throughout the cheese ball rather than just on the outside, so I mix all ingredients into the cheese and reserve some of each to coat the outside. At this stage I also mix in the balsamic vinegar (optional) and honey. Balsamic can be a strong flavor to some, but I think it works very nicely with the other flavors.
At this stage, you can season the mixture with salt, pepper, or other seasonings as desired. A small pinch of salt is delicious, but it may depend on the salt level of your crackers as well.
Once ingredients are thoroughly mixed, put remaining ingredients for the outside coating in a bowl or on a plate. Then form the cheese mixture into a ball, or two smaller balls, and roll them in the coating. Press the ingredients on the outside into the cheese ball so they do not fall off.
Serve this tangy holiday cheese ball with crackers, bread, pretzels, or any other snack you enjoy!
Pin It For Later
Goat Cheese, Cranberry, and Pecan Cheese Ball
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese Softened to room temperature
- 4 oz goat cheese Unflavored
- 1 bunch green onion
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
- 1 tbsp honey
Instructions
- Mix goat cheese and cream cheese together in a bowl
- Reserve a small portion of the green onion, cranberries, and pecans to coat the outside of the cheese ball
- Mix the remaining cranberries, green onion, and pecans, along with the balsamic vinegar and honey into the cheese mixture
- Roll the cheese ball in the reserved green onion, cranberries, and pecans
- Serve with crackers, bread, or pretzels
Notes
- Store the cheese ball in the refrigerator
- This cheese ball can be made 1-2 days in advance
- The ingredients and amounts can be modified to fit anyone’s taste!
- Add in things such as rosemary and thyme for an extra Fall kick
- Add a little salt a pepper to the cheese mixture if desired
Have a favorite addition to this recipe? Drop it in the comments!
Leave a Reply