Who doesn’t love a good cheese ball? With this simple and delicious base recipe, you can make endless, elevated varieties to serve on their own or to add to beautiful cheese boards for any occasion. Try forming them into trees or shapes of your choosing in honour of winter or your favourite holiday or season! These delicious cheese balls are just one of 15 exceptional recipes found in the 2021 Milk Calendar.

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PREP 25 min
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CHILL 30 min

Ingredients

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Bacon, Onion & Cheddar

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Blue Cheese, Caramelized Onion & Dried Cranberries

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Balsamic, Fig, Shallot & Aged Gouda

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Step 1

Base: In the bowl of a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, beat together cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, Worcestershire, hot sauce, salt and pepper until smooth. Divide equally into 3 bowls.

Step 2: Bacon, Onion & Cheddar

In the first bowl, stir in cheddar, onions, bacon and Worcestershire. Using plastic wrap, shape into a ball and roll into almonds. Wrap well and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Step 3: Blue Cheese, Caramelized Onion & Dried Cranberries

In the second bowl, stir in blue cheese, onions, cranberries, mustard and honey. Using plastic wrap, shape into a ball. Combine parsley, rosemary and thyme and roll ball into herb

Step 4: Balsamic, Fig, Shallot & Aged Gouda

In the third bowl, stir in Gouda, figs, shallot, Dijon and balsamic. Using plastic wrap shape into a ball and roll into pistachios. Wrap well and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Step 5

To serve, unwrap cheese balls and place on serving platter with a variety of crackers and vegetables. Tree Variation: Shape cheese balls into cone or tree shapes with a generous base to support the cheese. Refrigerate 10-15 minutes, then roll in coating ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Instructions

Tips

No turkey? No problem—substitute turkey with a rotisserie chicken! This recipe can also be baked in a 13 x 9-inch (3 L) baking dish or baked and served beautifully in individual 1 cup (250 mL) ramekins.

Nutritional info per serving:

(1/8th recipe)
Calories 540
Protein 25 g
Carbohydrates 38 g
Fat 36 g
Fibre 5 g
Sodium 780 mg
Sugars  9 g
Saturated Fat 19 g
Trans Fat 1.5 g
Cholesterol  205 mg