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Holiday Tree-Shaped Cheese Ball

An easy, eye-catching way to serve a holiday cheese ball. The best news? You can make it up to a month in advance!

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( 58 Ratings)

58 Ratings

5 Stars 48%

4 Stars 26%

3 Stars 19%

2 Stars

1 Stars

Member Reviews ( 18 )

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Prep Time 20 min
Total Time 4 hr 20 min
Servings 7

Ingredients

3: packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

4: cups shredded Cheddar cheese (16 ounces)

2: tablespoons basil pesto

1: tablespoon grated onion

1/4: teaspoon yellow mustard

: Red pepper sauce

1/4: cup finely chopped parsley or cilantro

1/4: cup pine nuts or sliced almonds

2: tablespoons chopped red bell pepper

: Piece of lemon peel, if desired

: Assorted crackers, if desired

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Directions

1 Stir together cream cheese and Cheddar cheese; divide in half. Stir pesto into 1 half; stir onion, mustard and 2 or 3 drops pepper sauce into other half. Cover each half; refrigerate about 4 hours or until firm enough to shape.
2 Place cheese mixtures on cookie sheet. Shape each half into cone shape to look like a pine tree.
3 If desired, wrap each tree, label and freeze up to 1 month. Twelve hours before serving, remove trees from freezer. Thaw in wrapper in refrigerator.
4 Just before serving, roll trees in parsley, pressing it evenly onto trees. Press pine nuts onto trees in string form for garland. Press bell pepper pieces onto trees for ornaments. Top each tree with star shape cut from lemon peel. Serve with crackers.

EXPERT TIPS

Expert Tips

Place the tree in the middle of a platter covered with a cloth napkin “tree skirt,” and surround it with crackers of all shapes and sizes for the “gifts.”

A combination of fresh basil and oregano instead of the parsley or cilantro gives this tree Italian flair!

Got questions? Our experts have the answers. Ask Betty now.

View Full Nutrition Information

Nutrition Information

NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING

Serving Size: 1/4 Cup

Calories: 165
Calories from Fat: 135 ),

% Daily Value

Total Fat: 15 g; 15 %
(Saturated Fat 9 g, 9 % ),
Cholesterol: 45 mg; 45 %;
Sodium: 180 mg; 180 %;
Total Carbohydrate: 1 g; 1 %
(Dietary Fiber 0g 0% ),
Protein: 6 g; 6 %

% Daily Value*:

Vitamin A: 12%;
Vitamin C: 2%;
Calcium: 10%;
Iron: 2%;

Exchanges:

1 High-Fat Meat; 1 1/2 Fat;

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

REVIEWS & COMMENTS

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1 - 3 of 18 Reviews View All

Posted 12/16/2011 4:01:46 PM REPORT ABUSE EnaHaynes said:

Rating:

I used my favorite cheese ball mix instead of this recipe, but loved the idea. For ornaments I used red and yellow pepper, and used a straw to get perfectly round cut outs easily and quickly. I also used cheddar cheese for the star instead of lemon. This went together very quickly and looked like tons of work!

This reply was: Helpful Inspiring

Posted 12/25/2010 12:29:08 PM REPORT ABUSE JayDes said:

Rating:

I love this tree. I've made it twice this season. A couple of changes I've made: (1) I only use the cranberries. It's more than enough; (2) When I'm prepping it, I substitute an hour to an hour int eh half in the freezer for the 4 hours in the refrigerator. It's the same thing; and (3) I substitute a teaspoon of horseradish sauce for the Worcestershire and it's fabulous. I still keep the onion but scale it back slightly. Everyone loves it and is super impressed. The only this is their hesitant to destroy it so I recommend being the first one to dig in and the others will follow suit.

This reply was: Helpful Inspiring