Say Happy Holidays With A Pineapple Habanero Pecan Cheese Ball

Christmas is coming, y’all. Are you ready for it?

One way to start is to make up your cheese balls ahead of time, then wrap them up tightly and store them in your freezer. When you need them, just get them out of the freezer and set them on the kitchen counter for a few hours to thaw before you serve them. Easy peasy.

Yes, you can freeze cheese. You can even prepare these months in advance!

Texas Pepper Jelly Pineapple Habanero Pecan Cheese Ball Recipe

This cheese ball recipe is one of our favorites. Here’s how to make it:

SERVINGS: 24

EQUIPMENT:

• Large mixing bowl
• Small saucepan
• Pie plate or other shallow dish
• Saucer(s)
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Stand mixer (optional)
• Wax paper, plastic wrap, freezer bags

CHEESE BALL INGREDIENTS:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• One 2-ounce jar of Texas Pepper Jelly Pineapple Habanero Pepper Jelly
• 1/4 cup finely shredded pineapple
• One tablespoon finely diced onion
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• One teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 cup crisp bacon, finely chopped
• One teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Two tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• Fresh chopped parsley (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Put all the ingredients except the butter and pecans in a large bowl.

• With your hands, mix all the ingredients as thoroughly as possible. Your hands will be all stick and cheesy, and you’ll have to scrape your fingers with a butter knife. It’s wonderful.
• For those with a stand mixer, you can skip the cheesy mess on your hands by placing ingredients (minus the butter and pecans) into your stand mixer and mixing on low until combined.
• Once you’ve got everything thoroughly blended, shape it into balls. This recipe makes one standard cheese ball or several more petite cheese balls. It’s your party; you decide.
• While the cheese balls are “setting,” melt the butter on low in a small saucepan.
• Pour melted butter into a pie pan.
• Spread the pecan pieces evenly in the pan of melted butter.
• Pick up your cheese ball and roll it around in the buttered pecans until coated. This is when you would add the fresh chopped parsley as well. 
• Place the cheese ball(s) on a saucer(s), cover them with wax paper, then plastic wrap over the cheese ball and down under the edges of the saucer and refrigerate overnight. 
• If you plan to serve the cheese balls within a day or two, just keep them in the fridge. On the other hand, if you’re making these well before your event, put the cheese balls (unwrapped) in freezer bags and place them in your freezer until a few hours before serving. 
• Allow your cheese balls to thaw at room temp before serving. 

How to serve a cheese ball?

Cheese balls are so easy to make and fun to eat. Like with most of our recipes, you can change up the Pineapple Habanero Pepper Jelly with one of our other enticing flavors!

Get creative. We did. Turn your cheese ball into a turkey for an added table decoration. This holiday decor just happens to be edible.

Serve with pretzel sticks, water crackers, or saltines. Sliced sausage is always a good dipper, too. And if using veggies slice them into thick sticks so that you can dig them into the cheese mixture and eat without utensils.

However, be sure to have a spreader on the cheese ball tray for the guests who like to smear the cheesy goodness on their crackers.

If you’ve come up with another way to prepare a cheese ball and incorporate our Rib Candy or other product, give us (or Craig) a shout, we love hearing from our customers. Or better yet, share it on social media and tag @texaspepperjelly.