Mini Cheese Ball Bites are the perfect easy appetizer to serve at holiday parties. These tasty little cheese balls are made with dried fruit and cream cheese, rolled in bacon or nuts, and finished off with a pretzel stick. Make these Mini Cheese Ball Bites for a New Year’s Eve appetizer or any simple gathering!
Cheese Ball Bites
Cheese Ball Bites are the perfect New Year’s Eve appetizer. Make these mini cheese balls on pretzel sticks to celebrate the holiday!
New Year’s Eve is coming up, so I’ve been thinking a lot about fun appetizers to serve at holiday parties. There are a lot of good appetizers out there to choose from, but my favorites all have one thing in common: Cheese. If you have followed this blog for any amount of time, that fact probably doesn’t surprise you.
These Mini Cheese Ball Bites are my new favorite New Year’s Eve appetizer. They are so cute, so fun, so easy to make, and SO delicious. Mini cheese balls covered in nuts, dried fruit, and BACON, on a pretzel stick…How genius? I love a good traditional Cheese Ball recipe for the holidays, but having a ball of cheese in bite-sized form might be even better!
Cheese Ball Bites are so fun to make and so fun to eat. You can make them all the same, or make each one a little different with the toppings. Roll them in nuts or bacon, or both! You could even use more dried fruit on the outside. No matter how you present them, your guests will love to eat them right up!
These Mini Cheese Ball Bites are the perfect New Year’s Eve appetizer to serve at your party!
Mini Cheese Balls
I have always loved cheese balls during the holidays. It’s such a classic party appetizer that is perfect for New Year’s Eve, Christmas, or any holiday party, and it is always a hit with guests. Cheese balls are always a hit with ME, because what’s not to love about a ball of cheese? Dip your crackers in it and get the most delicious bite of your life! Everyone knows it’s the holiday appetizer to keep your eye on.
So of course these Mini Cheese Balls are a dream! It’s a classic cheeseball, but bite-sized…You can literally just pick it up and stuff the whole thing in your mouth at once. No need for crackers, no need to share, no need to stop yourself from eating the whole entire thing. It’s just the perfect little New Year’s Eve appetizer, and they are so darn cute too!
How to Make Cheese Ball Bites
These mini cheese ball bites are very easy and quick to make. They need to chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving, but other than that, they are done in about 10 minutes. Talk about an easy party appetizer!
I made all of the mini cheese balls the same on the inside (with cream cheese, cheddar, herbs and dried fruit), but used two different toppings (bacon crumbles and a nut mix) to roll on the outside. The great thing about these recipe is that you can use whatever you like. Get creative, use your favorites, try pistachios, almonds, dried cherries, or anything else you want. They would all be delicious additions!
- Mix cream cheese, cheddar, dried fruit, & herbs
- Form mixture into tablespoon sized balls
- Place cheese balls on a baking sheet and let them set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
- Roll each cheese ball in your preferred toppings (bacon, nuts, etc)
- Store them in the refrigerator, and place a pretzel stick in each one just before serving
I think they taste best when they are still cold, so I recommend making them the night before, letting them sit, and serving them straight out of the fridge.
Easy New Year’s Eve Appetizers
These Mini Cheese Balls are the ultimate New Year’s Eve appetizer. Not only are they delicious, festive, and super cute (sometimes it’s all about presentation), but they are so easy to make too. It won’t take more than 10 minutes to prep these and get them in the refrigerator to set. And once they’re ready to serve, take them out, place the pretzel sticks, and set them up on a plate or serving platter. Absolutely hassle free!
I’m all about the food when I’m at a party. So as amazing as these cheese ball bites are, you gotta have a few more options to serve, especially since these cheese balls will disappear quickly!
Here are some other easy appetizers to serve:
- Pigs in a Blanket
- Crab Rangoon Bites
- Swedish Meatballs Recipe
- Avocado Egg Rolls
- Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots
- Classic Sausage Balls Recipe
- Fried Goat Cheese Balls
These Cheese Ball Bites are a MUST for your New Year’s Eve festivities. Whether you’re throwing a party, bringing an appetizer to your friend’s, or staying in with the family, these mini cheese balls need to be part of your night. A bite of cheese filled with dried fruit and covered in bacon and nuts…YUM!
See the recipe card below for details on how to make Mini Cheese Ball Bites. Enjoy!
Try some more favorite appetizers:
- Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Meatballs
- Bacon Cheese Fries with Ranch
- Cheeseburger Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers
- Homemade Gardetto’s
- Best Cheese Ball Recipe
- Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball
- Christmas Cheese Ball
Mini Cheese Ball Bites
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature or softened
- ¾ cup freshly shredded white cheddar cheese
- ¾ cup dried fruit i used a mix of dried apricots, cherrys, and cranberries. you could use all three or use them individually
- 1-1½ tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1½ cups mixed nuts finely chopped
- 1½ cups bacon crumbles
- 12 medium-sized pretzel sticks
Instructions
- Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, cheddar, fruit, and herbs together until smooth.8 ounces cream cheese, ¾ cup freshly shredded white cheddar cheese, ¾ cup dried fruit, 1-1½ tablespoons Italian seasoning
- Form into tablespoon-sized balls and place on a baking sheet. Let chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Roll each cheese ball in either bacon or nuts (or both!), pressing them lightly into the cheese so that they stick.1½ cups mixed nuts, 1½ cups bacon crumbles
- Keep covered in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve (I think they are best served very cold. I would recommend keeping them in the fridge overnight before serving).
- Just before serving, skewer each cheese ball with a pretzel. Enjoy!12 medium-sized pretzel sticks
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Nutrition Information
Hee Hee, it says to roll them in buts! My inner third grader laughed.
#4 Roll each cheese ball in your preferred toppings (bacon, buts, etc)
Typo! Good catch!
Doubled the recipe and ever one was eaten!
I love to hear that!
I’m anxious to make these for a Christmas party I get to attend. Thank you.
Thanks for stopping by, Shery!
Would like suggestions to replace nuts to use other than breadcrumbs
you can use chives, grated hardboiled egg, parmesan..
I LOVE THE RECIPE’S….. BUT IT TAKES FOREVER…. TO GET TO THEM…. MAKE IT EASIER…. PLEASE…THANK YOU….KIM
Was there a tip to putting something on your hands before rolling the cheese into balls? Like oil or dampened?
Thx
You could use a bit of nonstick spray, that might help a lot!
Just add cold water to your hands
Hello, How many does this recipe yield?
It made about 12-15 cheeseballs. Thanks for stopping by!
I sometimes wonder what people eat and like because we obviously have different palates. I rarely comment on a recipe but I had to on this one. I was apprehensive when I read 1-2 TABLESPOONS of Italian seasoning for 8 oz of cream cheese. So, I started out with very little because you can always add more but it is near impossible to fix when you add too much of one ingredient. I made these for Easter 2014 for about 50 people. When I tasted them as I was making them, I called my cousin to say I didn’t think they were good. She said to bring them anyway because some people might like them. I shouldn’t have listened to her and just threw them out then. But I brought them to the Easter gathering. Not one person liked them…not one! They were disgusting! I think if fresh herbs were used it would make a huge difference. But as the recipe reads, disgusting! I am deleting this recipe from my recipe file on my computer. It is a waste of good recipe space.
So sorry to hear you and your family didn’t like these! I hate to hear that, but you’re right, everyone has different tastes. I appreciate you trying it, I apologize again that it wasn’t quite what you wanted. Hope you have a good rest of the week – Becky
I think I may have to souble the recipe to B able to give a true rating! ….if they r as good as they sound!!!!