‘Tis the season to nosh! No one wants “hangry” holiday guests, so every party needs delicious finger food and snacks.
Our new favorite? Cranberry pecan cheeseball bites. We love this recipe because it feels so seasonal and fresh: Pecans and cranberries always have to make a Christmas cameo, and this recipe from Budget 101 really lets their flavors shine through.
When they’re combined in the form of a cheese ball, we’re talking holiday perfection. After all, who doesn’t love a cheese ball? While you might not see eye to eye with your family about a lot of things, almost everyone can agree that cheese balls are a Christmas party must.
Making the cranberry pecan cheeseball bites is so simple. You only need seven ingredients (like cream cheese, dried cranberries and cheddar cheese), and you can choose to toast your pecans or just use them straight from the bag. If you have nut allergies in your family, Liss from Budget 101 advises using sunflower seeds instead to give some crunch. Or, you can use pumpkin seeds or whatever nut-free option you prefer.
You can also decide whether you want to make a large cheese ball, or create little mini cheese balls. If you choose the latter, you can add pretzel sticks to make little “cake pop” cranberry pecan cheese ball bites.
These are so cute and can limit the spread of germs, as your guests won’t all be cutting and dipping from the same cheese ball.
If you are making one large cheese ball, you can lay out crackers and apple slices. Your guests can choose their food platform of choice to deliver the yummy cranberry pecan cheese flavor into their mouths.
For guests who are counting carbs and following a keto diet, we like this version for mini cheese balls with bacon and cheddar from Joy Filled Eats. These festive little treats are so delicious your keto guests won’t feel like they’re missing out on a thing.
Enjoy! And happy holidays.
This article originally appeared on Simplemost and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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9 holiday cookie recipes that are to die for
Every year, as soon as the weather turns crisp and cool, my sons start asking me to bake cookies. There is nothing like the smell of fresh-baked cookies to get everyone excited about the holidays!
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If cookie-baking is one of your holiday traditions, too, you probably already have a list of tried-and-true cookie recipes. But if you’re looking for some variation from your usual favorites — maybe a special holiday cookie to give as a gift or something to bring to a cookie exchange — you’ll love these cream cheese strawberry cookies from Oh My Goodness Chocolate Desserts.
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The trick to making these beautiful chocolate peppermint cookies from Preppy Kitchen is using an ice cream scoop to shape them. Chocolate cookies get a double-dose of peppermint with bits of crushed candy cane in the cookie and a festive white chocolate drizzle spiked with peppermint extract. You’ll want to leave a plate of these for Santa!
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If you love eggnog, we have a cookie for you! These sweet little iced eggnog cookies from My Organized Chaos.
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Invite the kids into the kitchen to help you make festive and fanciful “melting snowmen” cookies from Kitchen Meets Girl. The trick to making these adorable treats is using boxed devil’s food cake mix for the cookie dough base and adding a few drops of mint extract. They’re almost too cute to eat … almost!
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These darling little melt-in-your-mouth meringue cookies from Cooking LSL require just a few ingredients to make a big impression! They take a long time to bake — up to two hours — but they are well worth the wait.
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There is a lot going on in these cookies from The Kitchen McCabe, but the end result is a blend of flavors that will blow you away. Chocolate shortbread is topped with cherry pie filling and drizzled with white chocolate for a cookie that tastes as good as it looks.
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This recipe from That Skinny Chick Can Bake will remind you of Santa’s elves! The butter cookies are all dressed up for the holidays in red and white spirals edged in colorful sprinkles. Their dreamy taste is rivaled only by their show-stopping good looks.
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Holiday fruitcake cookies are what you get when you take the very best of two holiday favorites and combine them into one beautiful dessert! In this recipe from A Spicy Perspective, the cookies are glazed and decorated with chopped fruit, nuts and seeds for a bright, festive cookie that looks like a miniature Christmas wreath!
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The humble gingersnap gets a serious upgrade in these sandwich cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod. In this fabulous take on a classic, white chocolate buttercream is layered between soft, spicy gingersnaps. The delightful flavor combination is the stuff dreams are made of!
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Try these!
- Favorite childhood treats that need to make a comeback
- These cocktails are boozy versions of your favorite holiday pies
This article originally appeared on Simplemost and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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