Pinecone Cheese Ball
This Festive Pinecone Cheese Ball is the perfect appetizer for your next holiday party. It's a fun twist on the traditional cheese ball recipe that will be sure to please any crowd!
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups whole plain almonds
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ⅓ cup ham chopped
- 1 jalapeno diced
- ½ cup colby jack cheese grated
- ½ cup cheddar cheese grated
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Toast the Almonds
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- Lay out the almonds on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. or until nice and toasty.
Make the Pinecone Cheese Ball
- In a large bowl add the softened cream cheese, ham, jalapeno, cheeses. salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet or platter and place the cheese ball on top of the parchment paper.
- Divide the mixture into two portions and shape like a pine cone. Might need a clean pinecone nearby for reference of shape and size. Wrap each cheeseball in saran wrap and chill overnight.
Decorate the Cheese Cones
- Start at the narrow end and work your way to the top of the cone shape pressing the almonds at a slight angle into the cheese cone.
- Continue putting the almonds in the cheese cone in rows until the entire cheese cone is covered to look like a pinecone.
- Complete the look with a garnish of rosemary and berries.
- Serve pinecone cheeseballs on a platter at room temperature with crackers.
Notes
Tips for Making the BEST Cheese Ball
If you're looking to have the best cheese ball at your next party or just some good ole fashioned snacking on some cheesy goodness then look no further I got your covered. Here are my top 4 tips for making one heck of a cheese ball! 1. You will need a nice hard cheese. This is the cheese that you will grate up and add to your mixture to make it all come together in a ball of cheesy goodness! You want this cheese because it's stringy and helps pull everything together with no issues. 2. Add in some meat to your mixture! This is my secret ingredient; It gives great depth of flavor and who doesn't love flavor when they bite into something? 3. Make sure the cheese cones are not too big! If they are too big when you go to serve them they will be super hard to get off of the plate and when people try to take them they will crumble everywhere. The size of a pinecone is perfect! 4. When you serve your cheese ball make sure it's not too cold because if it's too cold the top starts to harden and it gets really difficult to spread on your cheese ball on crackers without it breaking apart. When you are ready to serve your cheese ball just take it out of the fridge for about 30 minutes before hand and let it come up to room temperature.