Cranberry Pecan Cheese ball bites

[Saving Moola]

Tasty, crowd-pleasing, festive cranberry pecan cheeseball bites!
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Cranberry Pecan Cheese ball bites

ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup white sharp cheddar cheese shredded
1 cup dried cranberries chopped and divided
1 cup pecans (or walnuts), chopped and toasted *optional
1/4 cup chives or green onions chopped
½ tsp garlic powder
pretzel sticks

Toast Nuts

To Toast Pecans or Walnuts: Preheat the oven to 375F. Coarsely chop the nuts and put them on a baking tray. Bake for 5 minutes or until aromatic. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, cheddar cheese, ½ toasted pecans, ½ cup dried cranberries, chive or green onion, and garlic powder until well combined.

Combine remaining ½ cup pecans, ½ dried cranberries, and 2 tablespoon chives in a shallow bowl.

Using a cookie dough scoop, scoop out balls of the cream cheese mixture and drop them into pecan/cranberry mixture. Roll them around a bit until coated. Place them on a cookie sheet. Just prior to serving, insert a pretzel stick into each cheeseball bite. If you want a splash of color add a tablespoon or so of chopped flat-leaf parsley to the nut mixture before rolling.

To make a Large Cheeseball:

Place mixture in the center of a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper and cover completely with wrap while forming it into a ball shape. Place in fridge until ready to serve.

Just before serving, combine remaining ½ cup pecans, ½ dried cranberries, and 2 tablespoon chives on a flat surface or cutting board. Unwrap the ball and roll in cranberry-pecan mixture. Serve with apple slices, crackers, pita chips, pretzels, carrots or celery.

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[Liss]

For those with Nut Allergies, if you still wanted to add some crunch…you could substitute sunflower seeds which would give you a nutty flavor without the allergens.

Another option would be coarsely crushed pretzels, to give it a bit of the crunch texture.

Roasted crunchy cinnamon maple chickpeas are another option- I’d do the cinnamon glaze and cook them till they’re good & crunchy, coarsely chop them. They also make a great addition to salads.

[Author]

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