Mini Cheese Ball Bites are the perfect slowly appetizer to serve at vacation parties. These tasty piddling cheese balls are made with dried fruit together with cream cheese, rolled inwards bacon or nuts, and served on a pretzel stick to make a seize with teeth-sized snack. Make these individual-sized cheese ball appetizers for New Year’sec Eve, Christmas parties, game twenty-four hour period, or whatsoever other occasion!
What’sec in this Mini Cheese Balls recipe?
Everyone loves a cheese ball at parties, too these cheese ball bites on pretzel sticks hateful yous won’t have to percentage! They’re quick in addition to slow to brand with simply a few ingredients.
- Cream Cheese: This is the base of the mini cheese balls. It’s easiest to function with at room temperature, and then go out it out an 60 minutes or ii before making.
- Shredded Cheese: Adds an extra cheesy season. I similar to purpose white cheddar, simply you lot tin can purpose another type.
- Dried Fruit: Adds texture and flavor into the cheese bites. I used a mix of dried apricot, cherries, too cranberries.
- Italian Seasoning: Adds a savory flavour to the cheese. You tin can add every bit much or as lilliputian every bit you lot similar, or skip it if you lot prefer.
- Mixed Nuts: Finely chopped nuts add crush to the outside of the balls.
- Bacon Crumbles: Another choice for coating the cheese balls.
- Pretzel Sticks: Stick these into the bite-sized cheese balls to serve, and so yous can easily pick them up and pop them into your oral cavity.
Pro Tip: These are best served real common cold, so I recommend making them the night earlier, as well as chilling them inwards the refrigerator correct upward until serving.
Variations on Cheese Ball Bites
This mini cheese ball appetizer is then versatile. Just past choosing your preferred dried fruit as well as nuts, you can actually alter the flavor and look of each one. But in that location are more ways to change these footling cheese bites, and so yous tin serve them at any and every party.
Use your favorite nuts (mixed nuts, pistachios, candied walnuts, pecans, toasted almonds); whatsoever dried fruit (apricots, cherries, cranberries, mango); another type of seasoning (garlic & onion pulverization, everything bagel seasoning, herbs de Provence); or some other coating (breadcrumbs, dried herbs, dried fruit or nuts, crumbled crackers, sesame seeds).
Give the cheese mixture at least two hours to chill as well as set inwards the refrigerator before finishing too serving them.
These cheese balls are a mix of cream cheese together with shredded white cheddar cheese. You tin can purpose other types of shredded cheese for a dissimilar flavour.
The ingredients will not mix together properly unless the cream cheese is fully softened–I recommend working alongside it at room temperature. The easiest fashion to do this is to simply set it out on the counter for a twosome of hours earlier using it.
How to Make Ahead as well as Store
Once y'all’ve made the mini cheese balls, shop them inward the fridge until y'all’re fix to serve them. Keep them inwards an airtight container, or cover the plate with plastic wind.
I similar to make them the dark earlier and so they have plenty of time to set up inward the fridge, but yous tin brand them upwardly to 48 hours ahead of time, or equally fiddling equally two hours (they make call for fourth dimension to chill).
You tin can besides continue leftovers inwards the refrigerator for upward to a week.
How to Freeze
Layer cheese ball bites betwixt pieces of parchment newspaper in an airtight container or resealable pocketbook. You may want to wrap individual balls inwards plastic twine to proceed them separated if using a bag. Freeze for upwardly to 2 months, so thaw in the fridge. Store them without the pretzel sticks.
Serving Suggestions
This mini cheese ball bites are the perfect appetizer for New Year’s Eve, holidays, in addition to parties of all kinds. They brand a fun addition to charcuterie together with cheese boards likewise.
Serve them along with other tasty party appetizers, like cocktail meatballs, pigs inwards a blanket, sausage balls, and bacon-wrapped shrimp.
5-Star Review
“Doubled the recipe in addition to every 1 was eaten!” – Dana
Recipe
Mini Cheese Ball Bites
Ingredients
- eight ounces cream cheese room temperature or softened
- ¾ cup freshly shredded white cheddar cheese
- ¾ cup dried fruit 1 used a mix of dried apricots, cherrys, in addition to cranberries. y'all could role all iii or use them individually
- one-1½ tablespoons Italian seasoning
- one½ cups mixed nuts finely chopped
- ane½ cups bacon crumbles
- 12 medium-sized pretzel sticks
Instructions
- Using a paw mixer, trounce the cream cheese, cheddar, fruit, as well as herbs together until smoothen.eight ounces cream cheese, ¾ loving cup freshly shredded white cheddar cheese, ¾ cup dried fruit, one-1½ tablespoons Italian seasoning
- Form into tablespoon-sized balls and place on a baking sail. Let chill inward the refrigerator for at to the lowest degree 2 hours.
- Roll each cheese ball inwards either bacon or nuts (or both!), pressing them lightly into the cheese and then that they stick.ane½ cups mixed nuts, i½ cups bacon crumbles
- Keep covered in the fridge until you lot're prepare to serve (I intend they are best served very common cold. I would recommend keeping them inward the refrigerator overnight before serving).
- Just before serving, skewer each cheese ball with a pretzel. Enjoy!12 medium-sized pretzel sticks
Last pace! Don’t forget to demo me a moving-picture show of what you lot
made!
Upload an icon or tag me
@thecookierookie on Instagram!
Becky’second tips
Storage: Store mini cheese ball bites covered or inward an airtight container, inward the fridge upwards to i week.
Nutrition Information
More Cheese Ball Recipes We Love
- Classic Cheese Ball
- Everything Bagel Cheese Ball
- Christmas Cheese Ball
- Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball
- Fried Goat Cheese Balls
- Pumpkin Cheese Ball