These Festive Blue Cheese Balls received rave reviews from my friends. Rolled in either dried cranberries or pistachios, they are a welcome addition to a cheese tray or appetizer platter!

Mini Cheeseballs are tasty and perfect for holiday entertaining. Add them to an appetizer spread or a cheeseboard and watch them disappear.

Festive Blue Cheese Balls in a white ceramic egg crate.

Why You Must Make

  • A cheeseball surrounded by crackers is a staple at cocktail parties. Rolled in pecans, they usually have a cream cheese base and are filled with a variety of ingredients.
  • For a twist, I’ve made these bite-sized and rolled them in dried cranberries and chopped pistachios!
  • The red and green make these perfect for the holidays!

Both coatings add another texture to complement the creamy interior with a subtle pungency from the blue cheese. I served these to a group of my girlfriends over the lunch hour. Needless to say, they were a huge hit! I think these cheese balls may be one of my favorite holiday appetizers!

Ingredient Notes

  • Kitchen Staples – Kosher Salt, Worcestershire Sauce, Hot Sauce
  • Cream Cheese – at room temperature for easier blending
  • Butter – at room temperature for easier blending
  • Lemon Zest – Freshly zested. Don’t use the dried zest found in the spice aisle.
  • Lemon Juice – Freshly squeezed.
  • Blue Cheese – Crumbled. I used Maytag, but any favorite variety will work
  • Red Currant Jelly – I used Wilkin & Sons Ltd. (Tiptree) brand
  • Chopped Pistachios and Dried Cranberries (Craisins) – To garnish
Festive Blue Cheese Balls in a white ceramic dish on a red napkin.

Recipe Tips

  • This easy cheese balls recipe is easily adaptable—use cheddar instead of blue cheese and roll in walnuts, or try feta or goat cheese!
  • Another option is to make a large cheese ball or even a log. A blue cheese ball is perfect for entertaining any time of the year.
  • Make these mini blue cheese balls small enough so you can enjoy them in 2 bites.
  • Insert pretzel sticks into each ball for easy access.
  • Serve this recipe for blue cheese balls with crackers of your choice.
  • My friends seemed to prefer those rolled in cranberries—the sweetness played well off the blue cheese. But I love the look when offering two different coatings.
  • Plus they’re all decked out for the holidays in red and green, but you definitely can use other nuts, dried fruit, bacon, or crushed crackers! Just make sure the coatings are chopped or crushed into small pieces for easy eating.

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Festive Blue Cheese Balls |- A terrific appetizer for your next cocktail party!

Festive Blue Cheese Balls

Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Yield Serves 10+

Delectable bite sized blue cheese balls rolled in cranberries and pistachios

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • A dash of Worcestershire sauce
  • A dash of hot sauce
  • A pinch of kosher salt
  • 2 ounces crumbled blue cheese, I used Maytag
  • 1 tablespoon red currant jelly
  • Chopped pistachios and dried cranberries to garnish

Instructions

  1. Add the first 7 ingredients (cream cheese through salt) to a mixing bowl.
  2. With a hand-held mixer, blend until smooth and well combined.
  3. Stir in blue cheese and jelly.
  4. Chill for about an hour.
  5. Roll into small balls, then roll into either pistachios or cranberries till coated.

Notes

May also roll in nuts or chopped crisp bacon.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 294Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 57mgSodium: 300mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 6g

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