One of the hardest things to deal with when having celiac disease is cross-contamination. This is especially true at holiday parties. And when you work so hard to bring something to share and then watch someone contaminate it, well, it’s almost too much to bear sometimes. These Cranberry Almond Cheese Ball Bites are a recipe that helps decrease the chance that someone will contaminate your appetizer. No one will be tempted to use “gluten” crackers from another appetizer tray to dip into this gluten free appetizer because of how it is presented.
Anther way to help party-goers to keep your cheeseball bites safe is to have a small dish with toothpicks in it. You could also have a toothpicks stuck in each cheeseball as well. This helps people to know that they are supposed to take the entire cheese ball, not dip any crackers into it on the serving tray.
One of the ingredients I love to use at Thanksgiving and Christmas time is fresh cranberries. I try to stock up on them at Thanksgiving so that I have them all season long. You might think that using fresh cranberries might make your cheeseball watery with having fresh fruit in it, but cranbrerries are the perfect fruit for adding to things. they will only start to leak their juice if sugar is added. And since, this is a cheeseball, there is no sugar added in this recipe.
Cranberry Almond Cheese Ball Bites
Equipment
- blender
- medium bowl for mixing
- cutting board
- knife
- measuring cups, spoons,
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 8oz block of light cream cheese, softened
- 1 C white cheddar cheese, finely shredded
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 C fresh cranberries, pulsed in the blender, finely chopped
- 1/4 C green onions, sliced
- 1/4 C fresh cilantro, chopped
- 3/4 C lightly salted almonds, chopped I like a mixture of finely and roughly chopped almonds to add visual texture differences
Instructions
- Prepare a container for storing in the fridge lined with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Pour your almonds onto a cutting board and chop to desired sizes. Alternatively, you can use already chopped almonds. Put the chopped almonds in a shallow dish or bowl to roll the cheese balls in and set aside.
- Make sure your light cream cheese is softened before starting. Place softened cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl(I prefer a glass bowl). Set aside
- In a blender, add your fresh cranberries, replace the lid, and pulse several times until all the cranberries are finely chopped.
- Add shredded white cheddar cheese, sea salt, garlic powder, and black pepper to the cream cheese. Mix well.
- Using a spatula, carefully scrape out all the cranberries into your mixing bowl with the softened cream cheese mixture. Add the fresh green onions and cilantro. Mix gently into the cream cheese mixture.We add these last as to not over mix the fresh ingredients, but especially the cranberries, as they will slightly color your cream cheese mixture a beautiful pink color.
- Once all the ingredients are incorporated evenly, use a medium sized cookie scoop(about 1 1/2-2 TBSP) to get the cheese mixture into little balls.
- Then gently roll the cheese ball into your chopped almonds and set in your prepared container with parchment paper.
- Continue until all the cheese mixture is used.
- Cover and store in the fridge for up to 24 hours before serving.
- Serve at room temperature with gluten free crackers.
Holidays are such a special part of our lives. Being stressed about getting sick really complicates family and friend get-togethers. I hope that this Cranberry Almond Cheese Ball Bites recipes can be one more tool in your recipe box and can help you enjoy more fully, the peace this season brings.
May this Christmas Season bring much joy and gladness to you and your family this year.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Emma
