This festive Reindeer Cheese Ball is made with seasoned cream cheese, shredded Colby Jack, and rolled in pecans—then decorated with pretzels, olives, and a cherry tomato nose! A whimsical, easy holiday appetizer that’s fun to make and always a hit.
Ingredients
16ouncescream cheesesoftened
2Tablespoonssour cream
1teaspoongarlic powder
½teaspoononion powder
½teaspoonWorcestershire sauce
1cupshredded Colby-Jack cheese
⅔cuppecansfinely chopped
2pretzels
1black olivecut in half
1cherry tomatohalved
crackersfor serving
Instructions
In a large bowl mixing bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, mix to combine cream cheese, sour cream, garlic powder, onion powder, and Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Mix in shredded cheese.
16 ounces cream cheese, 2 Tablespoons sour cream, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 cup shredded Colby-Jack cheese
Place plastic wrap flat on a non-stick surface and, using clean hands, roll the cheese into a ball the best you can. If it's too soft to form a ball you can put it in your refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up. Place it in the center of the plastic wrap and fold the plastic wrap over the ball tightly.
Place the cheese ball in your refrigerator for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
Remove from the refrigerator and unwrap. Roll the ball in the chopped pecans, gently pressing them in, until the whole ball is covered.
⅔ cup pecans
Using a sharp knife, cut the pretzels in half vertically so that you have curved antlers with 2 points and place them into the cheese ball on top as the reindeer's antlers.
2 pretzels
Place the olive halves as eyes and half of the cherry tomato as a nose.
1 black olive, 1 cherry tomato
Serve with crackers, pretzels, and/or veggies for dipping.
crackers
Notes
Utz Sourdough Specials or Snyder’s Olde Tyme Pretzels work well for the antlers.Can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Add pecans and decorate just before serving.