Cheese Balls with Butter Puff Crackers

These assorted cheese balls look pretty and are a cinch to make. Serve with Peek Freans Butter Puff crackers and impress the guests at your next party.

I love the concept of appetizers – finger foods usually served before a meal or between mealtimes. Sometimes called hors d’oeuvres, antipasti, or starters they can range from the simple to the complex depending on the amount of time you have and the occasion one is making them for.

Tiny little bites to tide one over till the actual meal gets served. Much appreciated in our country considering how late events can get at times. My favorite kinds are the ones with cheese and served with crackers. Sounds simple but there’s so much you can do with it.

The cracker is the perfect blank canvas – crispy and light with a hint of flavor from the seasonings used. Just the thing to mix and match cheese & toppings with. Serve with some sharp cheddar, and then cream cheese the next and maybe some feta the third time around.

And what better canvas than Peek Freans Butter Puff. That rich buttery taste in cracker form is something that I remember while growing up – the perfect snack for when dinner was a bit late or for school lunches. Now that I am older, I like to twist things up and try out different recipes letting me turn this humble delicious snack into something even more impressive.

For example by making these cream cheese balls. Don’t they look pretty? Coat them in whatever tickles your fancy – paprika, walnuts, sesame seeds, pistachios, cranberries, coconut. The more colorful the better.

Serve them with Butter Puff crackers. Either the Original or the new Veggie variant. Keep some pretty plates & butter knives on the side and I am sure the guests will be impressed seeing the appetizer platter.

My guests definitely were and they had to try all the variants. They finished the Butter Puff crackers and then I had to refill so we could all munch some more. I am enjoying the leftovers now and thinking of what else to make that. While I am doing that why don’t you go and make these assorted cheese balls?

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Cheese Balls with Butter Puff Crackers

These assorted cheese balls look pretty and are a cinch to make. Serve with Peek Freans Butter Puff crackers and impress the guests at your next party

Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 8 people

Calories 1070 kcal

Ingredients

• 120 gram cream cheese softened (Cream Cheese Triangles can be used)
• 4 tablespoon grated cheddar cheese
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon salt omit salt if using salted cream cheese
• ½ teaspoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon cream
• 2 family box Peek Freans Butter Puff Crackers Original or Vegetable to serve

Coating options:

• Paprika Add a pinch of red pepper or chili flakes if you want a spicy kick
• Finely chopped/crushed walnuts or other nuts like almonds/pistachios
• Dried Herbs Parsley, Basil, Oregano, Rosemary etc
• Fresh Herbs chopped finely (Basil, Parsley, Thyme, Oregano, Rosemary etc)
• Toasted Sesame Seeds
• Shredded Coconut or coconut flakes toasted
• Spring Onions Chopped

Instructions

1. In a medium ball, beat cream cheese till fluffy (about 1 minutes) using a hand whisker. Add grated cheddar in the cream cheese.

2. Add seasonings (salt, white pepper, garlic powder) and cream. Mix until combined. Adjust seasonings if required.

3. Keep in fridge for 30 minutes – 1 hour.
4. Using a teaspoon or a cookie scoop, form balls of the mixture and then roll in your hands. Keep the prepared balls on wax paper.

5. Take out the different coating options in small bowls separately. Roll the cheese balls in the different coatings. This recipe makes about 10 balls so I did three different coatings (Paprika, Dried Herbs & Chopped Walnuts)

6. Keep in fridge until ready to serve. Take them out 15 minutes before serving.

7. Serve with Peek Freans Butter Puff crackers (Original or Veggie).

Recipe Notes

If the cream cheese mixture is too soft to roll into balls, keep in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to firm it up.

Would love it if you could try out and rate the recipe, and let me know how it was in the comments below! 

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DISCLOSURE: This is a Sponsored Post for recipe development purposes. All comments in the post are my own opinion as I believe in being true to my readers.