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Am I the only one that looks forward to Christmas because it’s acceptable to eat a cheese ball with crackers?
Come on….I know I’m not the only one!
Well, I had this beautiful goat cheese sitting in the fridge and half a bag of cherries, leftover from my Mixed Berry Crisp the other day AND I needed a dish to take to a potluck.
Hubbyman wasn’t too sure of my idea, but I made it anyway and took it to the party. Ya know what….it works. It’s a great twist on the traditional holiday cheese ball.
A little tangy from the goat cheese, tartness from the cherries, and sweetness from the blueberry honey. Oh yes, that’s my new love….blueberry honey. Did I forget to mention that?!?!? Let me just tell you….it rocks my world! Here in the dessert we mostly just have orange blossom honey, so when I was able to taste several different honeys from the honey council recently, I was shocked at the differences. And that blueberry honey is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!
Yes, any honey will be fine in this recipe, but if you ever get a chance to buy a bottle or try some….DO IT! It was so good!
Fresh Cherry Cheese Ball
Tangy goat cheese and sweet cherries make this fresh cherry cheese ball a delicious party appetizer!
Ingredients
- 6 oz goat cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup pitted cherries, minced
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
- 1 1/2 tbsp honey, plus more for drizzling
- crackers bread, apples, pears, for dipping
Instructions
- Combine goat cheese, cherries, and honey in a medium bowl. Spray hands with nonstick cooking spray and roll cheese into a ball, it will be very sticky.
- Place pecans in a shallow bowl and then roll the cheese ball in the pecans, gently pressing the nuts into the cheese to coat. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours to blend flavors and allow the cheese to firm up.
- When ready to serve, remove plastic, place on serving board, and drizzle with additional honey. Serve with crackers or crusty bread, and thin apple or pear slices
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 287Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 130mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 3gSugar: 7gProtein: 8g
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I really love cheese balls. Perfect for party time…
So, delicious cheese balls. I really love eating these cheese balls. I will share this recipe to my mom.
Wow…..this is amazing….all those great flavors together. I am making this one for our next summer party….thank you so much for sharing it:)
I’ve never heard of a cheeseball before, maybe its a US thing (I’m from the uk) but it looks great so I can surprise my British friends with it as well!
I had to laugh about being excited that you get to eat cheeseball at Christmas. That is sooooo me! Although I frequently make cheeseball for birthday gatherings, whether my kids like it or not 🙂
Your version looks amazing. I will have to print the recipe and try it.
You’re so right – why wait until Christmas?
Chevre + Cherries + honey? OMG! I am so going to need to make this!
I will make this one too. My kids would surely love this cheese ball.
I am SO not crazy about cheese balls, but you kind of sort of almost maybe might have talked me into making one!!!!
(I’ll let you know how my try goes!)
This would be perfect for appetizers all summer long! IT looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it out!
BLUEBERRY honey! I SOOO need to find me some of that! MMMM this looks so good I will have to try something like this soon!