Appetizer season is here, and this is definitely a great one! I got this recipe from my friend Boo Fields, this cheese ball is her creation and her idea the only things I did different was add real bacon bits and dry dill and adapt the exact amounts of every ingredient to come up with this awesome cheese ball dip. Boo made this recipe for a Christmas party and I could not get enough of it, everyone loved it and it was the star of the party! I recreated this cheese ball dip last night for a movie night with our friends and brought it over their house, we really enjoyed it and it was a great snack for a movie night. I paired this cheese ball dip with flip sides pretzel crackers, let me tell you about this snack… It completes me. It is literally half side pretzel and half side cracker, baked into one and it sounds weird, even looks interesting, but it tastes AMAZING!!! This “pracker” as I call them, totally brings out the flavors of this cheese ball and goes so perfectly with it. I just recently discovered them and wanted to share them with the world, you must try them yourself, you just have to! After all crackers, pretzels, pita chips, potato chips and everything else is so yesterday. If you really want to impress your taste buds, this snack will do it! Okay, enough said, just take a look at these ingredients and you will understand. 😉
Bacon and Chive Cheese Ball {Serves 4-6}
Ingredients:
- 1 package of Cream Cheese (8oz) *Softened about an hour*
- 1/2 teaspoon Dried Dill
- 1 heaping teaspoon McCormick Perfect Pinch (Spice) Bacon and Chive flavored *Pictured Below
- 1 teaspoon Real Bacon Bits (+ 1 teaspoon to top/decorate the cheese ball)
- 1-2 pressed Garlic Cloves, depending on your love of garlic (I like 1 clove)
- Crackers or Snack or your choice. I used Town House Pretzel Crackers *Pictured Below*
- Optional: Almonds or walnuts (I did NOT use any nuts)
Directions:
1) Cut the cream cheese into about 1 inch squares (I cut 4 vertical lines from top to bottom, and 1 horizontal line, to make perfect cubes) and put it into a large bowl.
2) Add the dill, McCormick bacon and chive spice, bacon bits, and pressed garlic to the bowl with the cream cheese and press down with a fork, making the cream cheese soft then mix very well with a spoon.
3) Put a piece of aluminum foil on the counter top. Using a spoon put the cream cheese mixture on the foil and using your hands, form the cream cheese mixture into a ball. You just kind of roll it with your hands, molding it until it becomes a perfect round cheese ball.
4) Carefully pick it up using your hands, and neatly place it into a little bowl that you want to serve it in. Then sprinkle 1 more teaspoon of the bacon bits all around on top of the cheese ball. This makes the cheese ball look extra pretty and gives it even more flavor.
5) Cover the cheese ball with foil and refrigerate until it is ready to serve, otherwise it will get too soft. *Optional: If you wish you can also cut almonds or walnuts into little tiny pieces and top the cheese ball with nuts instead or along with the bacon bits. I did not do that because I like to keep it simple and was not sure if the friends we were visiting had any nut allergies but my friend Boo used nuts to top her cheese ball at the Christmas party and it tasted great, if you are a nut lover definitely try it.*
