Disclosure:  This mini cheese balls recipe & holiday grazing board post is sponsored by .  As always, all words and opinions shared are honest and my own.

As a lover of cheese-and-crakers and grazing foods in general, I am a big fan of the charcuterie board/grazing board trend.  Not only are they beautiful and visually impressive, but they are simple to put together and require little or no cooking.  It’s just about arranging things together in a way that looks appetizing and inviting.  So, I headed to my local to pick up all of the ingredients I would need to make my favorite recipe for mini cheese balls, a holiday grazing board, and even a kid-friendly grazing board for pickier eaters.

While I was picking up ingredients, I found this .  It is a really cute set at a great price, so I bought it to test it out and review.  It comes with a wooden cutting board, measuring cups and spoons, cheese knives, a sifter, pastry cutter, silicone spoon & basting brush, a whisk, a mise en place bowl, a pair of wood tongs, and a small rolling pin.  The rolling pin really is child-sized, but this would be a great gift for someone just setting up a kitchen whether it’s in a home, apartment, RV, or even a play kitchen.  I’m going to use a lot of the pieces for paint-making and other things in my studio.

Anyway, I thought it was a cute set and a good buy, so I wanted to highlight it.  Now, onto the mini cheese balls recipe!  The printable recipe is at the bottom of this post if you want to make it.

This mini cheese ball recipe was my first favorable introduction to goat cheese.  It’s always been a little too funky for me but mixed with cream cheese and cheddar it’s just perfect.  Some extra flavor is added in the form of dried cranberries, pecans, and chives.  It’s simple and tasty.

This can be stirred by hand, of course, but I find that cheeses are easier to thoroughly combine in my mixer with the paddle attachment.  is the model mixer I’ve had for almost 20 years.

Mix all three kinds of cheese together…

…until they are combined and soft.

Gently fold in the , , and fresh chives, all chopped.  You can swap out any of these three ingredients for nut allergies, to make the recipe low carb, etc.

Roll 1 T-sized scoops of cheese mixture into balls and coat in the remaining toppings (either chopped cranberries, pecans, or chives.)

I put mine on ) to make them easy to grab off the grazing board.

If you don’t want to fuss with rolling all of the mini cheese balls, you can adjust this recipe to suit your serving style or timetable.  Just make one large cheese ball or put it in a dish and sprinkle with chopped extras to serve as a spread.  Or you can do a little bit of both.

Again, the printable recipe for the mini cheese balls is at the bottom of the post along with the measured amounts of all of the ingredients.

Now, let’s talk about the holiday grazing board.  These are obviously great for little get-togethers, but I also like this idea for Christmas day.  You can just put out a yummy spread and then point to it when anyone asks when the big meal of the day will be ready!

I had a great time walking around to look for good cheeses, fresh fruits & vegetables, and unique crackers to add to the spread.  I was very impressed with the variety of specialty cheeses and meats they carried in addition to some fresh local produce.

| | | Marketside Blue Cheese | Le Gruyère | Creamy Havarti | Blueberry Cobbler Cheddar | Crystal Farms Variety Pack

I also scoped out Walmart.com for parchment and white muffin liners and mini paper loaf pans.

parchment liners | white liners | mini paper loaf pans

I like to use these to divide the dry ingredients, like crackers, from the wet ones like fruit, sliced veggies, and cheeses.  It also just looks really pretty!

I started with a large antique breadboard, but you can create your spread on just about anything!  Even a clean table or countertop will do the trick.  Even if I’m using a board, I put some parchment paper down just to make clean-up easier.  Since the cheeses and meats bring the strongest flavors to the spread, I started with those.

I then worked intuitively to fill the rest of the board with veggies, fruit, mini cheese balls, and crackers.  The board is garnished with walnuts in the shell, fresh cranberries, and herbs.  Even though my intention is for those to be garnishes, they are all edible and I think that’s important to note.  You can make a board beautiful with all edible items.

I think other keys to creating a beautiful grazing board are abundance and composition.  Mix colors, textures, and try to balance it all out.  Fill in empty spaces with garnishes.

Jeff walked up from the basement and his eyes widened when he saw this grazing board.  “Oh, wow!  Can I eat that?”  I had my camera out and put him to work holding a reflector, but as soon as I had the shots, he dug in.

The cheese knives are from the set I purchased and I bought before I knew I’d find cheese knives that are almost identical in a huge set.  I ended up using all of the cheese knives, though…

See how the muffin liners and mini loaf pans help provide some separation and also keep the crackers from leaning/falling.

And the mini cheese balls look perfect tucked into the grazing board…

I felt pretty proud of myself!  I’ve put together a lot of grazing spreads but never one all on a single large board and I love how it turned out.

While I was shopping for the grazing board, I thought about kids who might not think a spread like that looks delicious, but like a minefield.  Will I like that cheese?  Is that cracker just a normal cracker or some weird cracker that adults put out at Christmas parties?  I want a strawberry but it’s touching that piece of meat… 

I was that kind of kid, so I get it.  I would eat crazy things for a little kid like a whole artichoke, but I was spooked by funky cheeses.  So, I put together a kid-friendly/picky-eater grazing board with fruit, pretzel thins, animal crackers, kisses, and other things that are familiar.

It still looks so yummy and inviting.

I hope this gives you some ideas for your holiday entertaining this year whether you’re putting together a shindig, taking a dish to an event, or just making your family feel extra special while you put together puzzles and watch Christmas movies at home.

I linked to items you can purchase at your local and some can be purchased online & shipped.  You can even order most of these products online and have them delivered or schedule a local pick-up.

Mini cheese balls with pecans, chives, and cranberries

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Ingredients

  

• 4 ounces plain goat cheese
• 16 ounces softened cream cheese
• 4 ounces mild shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup chopped dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh chives

Instructions

 

• Mix together softened cream cheese, goat cheese, and shredded cheddar until combined.
• Fold in 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, and 1/4 cup chives
• Roll into 1 tablespoon-sized balls.
• Roll each ball in either remaining chopped pecans, chives, or cranberries. As an alternative, create one or two larger cheese balls or mix everything together and serve as a spread.
• Refrigerate before serving.

Keyword cheese ball, christmas snacks, cream cheese, goat cheese, holiday, party food