In just a few hours it will be 2016 and if you’re like me you like to bring in the new year with a bang celebrating with family and friends. Celebrating also means time for appetizers and drinks. How about something that will not only delight your palate but will be great for game day as well. Try our Blue Cheese and Bacon Cheese Ball because everything is always better with bacon.
Here is what you’ll need:
Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup Italian blend cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup cooked, crumbled bacon
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 tablespoon green onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons green peppers, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Italian parsley, finely chopped
Few dashes of your favorite hot sauce
Instructions
Add the cream cheese, Italian blend cheese, blue cheese, green onions, green pepper, and hot sauce to the bowl of a stand mixer.
Finely chop about a tablespoon of the bacon and a teaspoon of the parsley and set them aside. Both of these will be used in the coating on the outside of the cheese ball.
Add the remaining bacon and parsley to the food processor.
Turn the mixer on low until all the ingredients are incorporated, and then turn it up to medium and let it whip for about 60 seconds.
Transfer the cheese ball onto a plate using your spatula to form into a ball. It won’t be a perfect ball at this point, and that’s OK.
Place the cheese ball in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up.
While the cheese ball is chilling, add the almonds, reserved bacon and parsley to a plate and mix to combine.
Remove the cheese ball from the freezer and place it on the plate with the coating.
Carefully press the coating into the cheese ball. Most of it is going to fall back onto the plate, which is normal. Just keep pressing the coating into the cheese until it’s completely coated. As you do this you can also form the cheese ball into whatever shape you like.
Sprinkle the remaining coating onto your serving platter and place a cheese ball right on top.
Serve with chips or crackers.
Enjoy!
Notes:
Cheeseballs are the perfect snack for any party or get-together…and so easy to make.
This cheese ball is packed full of both flavor and texture! The blue cheese and bacon make this extra savory, while the green pepper, parsley, and green onions add a pop of crunch and freshness!
To toast your almonds, add them to a small pan over medium-high heat. Continue tossing them around the pan until you can start to smell them. Immediately remove them and put them on a plate to cool. Be sure to watch this closely, as they can burn in a matter of seconds. When the almonds are cool, finely chop them and set them aside.
The hot sauce is optional, but gives it a nice little kick.
Blue cheese has a very strong flavor, so we only used 2 tablespoons. If you really love it, feel free to add more!
To really bring out the bacon flavor, we finely chopped a little to use in the coating. And the parsley just gives it a little bit of pretty color on the outside.
You need a little shredded cheese in most cheese ball recipes to help hold it together. We wanted to go with a mild flavored cheese so that it wouldn’t overpower the blue cheese and the bacon. Mozzarella is a little too mild, so we found that using an Italian blend was perfect. That said, you could really use whatever you want as long as it’s not too strong of a flavor.
To toast your almonds, add them to a small pan over medium high heat. Continue tossing them around the pan until you can start to smell them. Immediately remove them and put them on a plate to cool. Be sure to watch this closely, as they can burn in a matter of seconds. When the almonds are cool finally chop them and set them aside.
