This sharp and creamy Easy Cheddar Cheese Ball will be a party favorite this holiday season!
Aged cheddar is combined with cream cheese and rolled in butter roasted apple chips and pecans with a sprinkle of fresh rosemary. Just 7 ingredients for this no fuss, delicious recipe.
Where do holiday guests congregate? Near the cheese ball! Creamy cheese rolled in nuts and herbs? Few can resist!
So, I know everyone will crowd around this homemade EASY Cheddar Cheese Ball… and I’ll be first in line!
I have a weakness for cheese… even better if it’s creamy and spreadable. But you know I like my food REAL, so the challenge was making an Easy Cheddar Cheese Ball with lots of flavor but simple enough to make at home.
The trick is using a handy dandy microplane! Fine aged cheddar cheese gets grated so finely that when you mix it with cream cheese, it’s super duper creamy! The richness of aged cheddar keeps this combo sharp, so this is the place to splurge when purchasing ingredients. You want a cheddar that is pungent but not crumbly so it will grate (and mix) with ease.
But there’s more to this cheese ball than the cheese! And what adds more crunch than butter roasted apple chips and pecans? Throw in a little fresh rosemary and you have a coating that is sweet, crunchy, salty and herbaceous!
It’s so absolutely, totally, delicious that the two of us polished off the first test batch WAY TOO QUICKLY! I see LOTS of exercise in my future (because those 16 ounces of cheese should feed a crowd!), but I’m so glad to bring you this new twist on a holiday classic!
Easy Cheddar Cheese Ball
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup pecans
- 3/4 cup apple chips
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- pinch sea salt
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 8 oz aged cheddar cheese, grated very fine, preferably with a microplane
- 1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 325F.
- Melt butter and toss with apple chips, pecans and salt.
- Toast apple chips and pecans in the oven, stirring frequently, until dry and crunchy (about 5-10 minutes).
- While apples and pecans are cooling, whip cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment.
- Slowly add in cheddar cheese, mixing until creamy.
- Wrap cheese in plastic wrap and chill until it begins to firm up (about 20-30 minutes).
- While cheese is chilling, coarsely chop toasted apples and pecans and mix with rosemary.
- Once cheese is semi-firm, shape into a nice ball (the plastic wrap is your friend here, so leave it on, and just readjust it as necessary.
- Carefully roll cheese ball in coating, rewrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
- Can be made 3-4 days in advance.
- If you want the apple pecan coating to be crunchy, roll the cheeseball immediately before serving. You can prepare the whole cheeseball in advance but the nuts and apples will absorb some moisture from the cheese... but it's still delicious this way.
Nutrition
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Megan @ Meg is Well says
I love cheese so much but haven’t made a cheese ball yet, which is just strange. I love the butter roasted apple chips, pecans, and rosemary! It’s such a great holiday appetizer!
Vintage Kitty says
Thanks Meg! I think this is only the second time I’ve made one. I’m normally impatient and just eat the block of cheese!
Camilla Hawkins says
I’ve never come across a cheese ball before but this is the 2nd one I’ve seen today and yours wins hands down. You don’t finish your sentence on point 3 but I presume it’s until crisp? I have every Microplane so assume I should use the finest one for this recipe which I think will be fab to bring to a party I’m going to this Christmas – thanks for the recipe;-) Happy Christmas!
Vintage Kitty says
Thanks for catching that Camilla. Yes until crunchy. And the finer the better for the microplane. Are cheeseballs an American thing? Glad to #spreadthelove of cheesefood to the UK!
cakespy says
This is awesome!! It’s got a touch of kitsch, which I love, but you’ve really fancied it up! Sounds so delicious.
Vintage Kitty says
I’ll take kitsch as a compliment, because I love a little nostalgia in my food! And it is way too delicious!