Easter Chick Mini Cheeseball

It’s Fantastical Food Fight time and this month is a Cheeseball throwdown.  At first, I was going to bow out.  I don’t think I’ve ever made a cheeseball and I certainly didn’t have an occasion for making and serving a cheeseball either.

Then I made my 3-cheese tortellini and ended up with just a bit of extra cheese filling (I think I under-filled a few tortellini).  So I got to thinking…could I add some cream cheese to the ricotta mixture and create a cheeseball?  What about mini-single serving cheeseballs??  What about something Easter-themed?!?

I found the idea for the little chicks over at Hungry Happenings and played around with the cheeseball ingredients to tailor it to suit my tastes and the ingredients I had on hand!

Hubs and I enjoyed these fun little chick cheeseballs as an appetizer last Saturday and I’m hoping to make another (larger) batch for Easter!

Easter Chick Cheeseballs

Inspired by Hungry Happenings

¼ cup ricotta cheese (I used leftover filling from my cheese tortellini)

4 ounces cream cheese

1-2 slices cooked bacon, finely chopped

Dash of garlic powder

1 cup shredded cheddar jack cheese

Optional: dash of dried basil & parsley

1 baby carrot, sliced

Black peppercorns

Crackers

Mix together the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, bacon, and spices.  Pulse the shredded cheese through a food processor once of twice to make finer cheese shreds.

Scoop 1 tablespoon of cheese mixture.  Place into the shredded cheese and turn to coat.

Place 2 carrot slices onto a cracker.  Place the coated cheeseball on the cracker.  Cut a carrot piece into a triangle and press into the cheeseball as a beak, and two peppercorns as eyes.  Serve immediately of cover loosely and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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