How to Make this Easy Mini Cheese Ball Recipe is easy, and it’s perfect for the holiday’s. It makes an amazing appetizer to share for holiday parties with friends and family. I haven’t met anyone yet that doesn’t love cheese and I’ve given you four delicious ways to transform one recipe! By using Lucerne products you are enjoying good taste from delicious wholesome dairy products! {{fabulous}} Big THANKS to VONS and Lucerne Dairy Farms for making this GIVEAWAY possible! ENTER GIVEAWAY BELOW! 
So, this holiday season, I’ve got a secret weapon, and it’s name is Lucerne®. For real. It’s an amazing brand that’s been around for 110 years. That in itself speaks measures! It’s the only brand that covers every major dairy category. {{smiling}} Now, back to those Mini Cheese Balls…..
Mini Cheese Ball Ingredients
- Lucerne® Monterey Jack Cheese, 1/2 cup grated
- Lucerne® Cream Cheese, 8 oz., softened
- Bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- Mini Phyllo Pastry Shells
- Pistachios, chopped
- Dried Cranberries, chopped
- Pecans, chopped
- Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped
- Chives, chopped
Directions {step-by-step}
Step 1: In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy.
Step 2: Freshly grate 1/2 cup of monterey jack cheese, add. Tip: Freshly grated cheese will stick better in the recipe than the store bought shredded cheese.
Step 3: Chop 1 1/2 tbls. of chives, add.
Step 4: Add 1 tbls worcestershire. Mix until well blended.
Step 5: Use a small cookie scoop to form balls with the cheese mixture. Place on wax paper. 
Step 6: Roll mini cheese balls in topping choices that include crumbled bacon, chopped parsley, chopped pistachios and chopped dried cranberries and pecans. At this point you can refrigerate them until it’s time to serve. When ready to serve place in phyllo cups.
Here’s another way to cook with Lucerne® Dairy Farms products. You can also visit Lucerne’s Pinterest board for some more recipe ideas.
- 1 box (15 mini cups) Safeway SELECT® Mini Phyllo Cups
- 4 oz (1/2 box) Lucerne® Cream Cheese, softened
- ½ cup Lucerne Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
- 8 slices Safeway® Farms or Safeway SELECT Bacon
- ⅓ cup Safeway SELECT Apricot Preserves
- 2 tbsp Safeway® Kitchens Apple Cider Vinegar
- Fresh thyme, for garnish (optional)
- In a microwave or large skillet, cook bacon until crisp (drain fat), then allow to cool before cutting into pieces. Set aside.
- In a small sauce pan, heat and mix apricot jam and vinegar over medium heat until well combined. Next, stir in bacon and bring ingredients to a rolling boil. Once this is reached, reduce flame to low and simmer for 5 minutes. This will create the bacon jam used later in step 5.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and shredded jack cheese with a mixing spoon.
- Spoon a teaspoon of cheese mixture into each phyllo cup. Press down a bit to flatten.
- Top each cup with a dollop of bacon jam.
- Baked at 350º for 7 minutes or until bacon jam just starts to lightly caramelize.
- Plate and serve, garnishing with a touch of fresh thyme if desired.
GIVEAWAY:
- Enter to win a $110 Vons Gift Card!
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a Rafflecopter giveaway
Only open to US Residents, 18 years +. Ends December 24th.
Big Thanks to VONS and Lucerne Dairy Farms for providing the gift card for this giveaway and the product for my recipe!
About Angie
I like their cream cheese because it’s very smooth.
I always buy their cheeses, they’re quite creamy and delicious!
I love Lucerne cheeses! I’m going to try the Cuban Sandwiches Recipe from their Pinterest page.
cream cheese – put salsa over it for a quick cheese appetizer!
tvollowitz at aol dot com
I always buy their sharp cheddar. Great cheese for a great price.
I like the cream cheese because it is so versatile for entertaining. It can be used for appetizers, main dishes and desserts.
I use Lucerne cream cheese. So many things you can do with it – cheese balls, dips, cheesecake, casseroles!
I like Lucerne cream cheese for cheesecake and dips
I like the Lucerne egg nog because holidays need that special treat.
I love using their sour cream for sour cream apple pie!
I love Lucerne Vanilla Almond Milk and use it in some holiday cookie and cake recipes.
I like to use Lucern’s sour cream during the holidays (and year round) because I use it to make a lot of recipes.
I use sour cream for a lot of my holiday cooking
I use Lucerne cream cheese in my pies….it’s cheaper and just as good quality as the name brand.
I use their sour cream to make some veggie dip for one of my fun veggie platters.
I like to use their cream cheese for dips and cheese ball.
I like using the cream cheese to make pinwheels. They always come out great.
I love Lucerne Vanilla Almond Milk and use it in baking all the time.
I like to use Lucerne cheeses and they are great for appetizers.
We love their cream cheese the very best- in fact I am using a ton of it to make appetizeers for New Years – I am making a dill pickle roll up!
I like to use their sour cream because it has fresh taste
I like ice cream, because it taste great.
I like their cheeses. I always use them during the holidays to make cheese straws and sausage balls.
I like their block cheeses because they are delicious and priced right!
I like the cream cheese. I use it on bagels, and in recipes like cheesecake.
I like Lucerne cream cheese because it tastes great!
I like their cream cheese and your Baked Cheese and Bacon Jam Bites look really good, too. Thanks for having the contest.
Thank You for the giveaway… we use Lucerne cheeses & whole milk in all our cooking / baking, and the kids love skim milk for drinking !
I lileartly jumped out of my chair and danced after reading this!