So are there days that you are too tired and too busy to cook?? I feel like over the past couple of weeks I have had MANY of those days. It has been crazy at work, and I have had so much going on outside of work. But here I go again.
Over the holiday season one of my fantastic employees brought a store bought cheese ball that I LOVED. Now we went to our local grocery store where it was purchased and I was horrified to see that the one cheese ball was $10. I knew that I could make it for less, and guess what--I did. A few ingredients, and a little time, and this party pleaser was formed. And as a little tidbit of info, I made four cheese balls for about $6.
Cranberry White Chocolate Cheese ball
1 package low fat cream cheese
1 12 oz bag of cran-raisins
1 12 oz bag of white chocolate chips
coconut for outside
1 stick of butter-softened
1/3 cup powered sugar
*Cream together butter and cream cheese
*Once creamy, mix in powered sugar
*Melt about half of the chocolate chips in the microwave until a little creamy, and then mix in with the cream cheese mixture.
*Once well combined, mix in the cran-raisins and 1/2 of the remainder of chocolate chips.
*Refrigerate for about two hours. Once set, this will make four normal size cheese balls. You should use wax paper, put a "pool" of the coconut in the center, and then put a fourth of the mixture in it. Take the wax paper and form the ball with the coconut around the outside of it. Bring all the outside of the wax paper up and form the ball in the bottom, squeezing it into a ball.
Enjoy this with crackers or even graham crackers. This is definitely a sweet dessert, but is something everyone will love. You could also use slivered almonds as the outside of the cheese ball.
Expect a lot of from me in the next while. I am working on putting together a small cooking class that we can get together and share ideas. So look for more info on that.
Happy cooking, and enjoy your food!!!
Jennifer
