Bald Eagle Cheese Ball Bites

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know I love themed food, especially for holidays. A few years ago, I made a large bald eagle cheese ball for the Fourth of July. Yes, it's a little goofy-looking, but it's still one of my favorite things I've made. 

I decided to run with the bald eagle theme again this year, but this time I made mini cheese ball bites! I love that they're bite-sized.

I recently discovered that my food processor grates cheese, and it has made my life so much easier. Since I already had my food processor out, I decided to add the cream cheese and the ranch seasoning to it as well, and it made this recipe so incredibly easy. But if you don't have a food processor, you can, of course, mix everything by hand. I used Challenge cream cheese for this recipe because the taste and texture is far superior to anything else I've found on the market. That's because it's made with real milk, cream, and other natural ingredients.

I used a microplane to grate the mozzarella for the feathers because it creates smaller pieces.

You can make the cheese ball mixture and grate the cheese ahead of time, but I do not recommend putting it onto the cracker until right before you plan to serve them because crackers will get soft in the refrigerator,

Bald Eagle Cheese Ball Bites

Yield: Makes about 28 servings

Ingredients

• 8 ounces Challenge cream cheese, softened
• 6 ounces white cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 (1-ounce) packet ranch dressing mix
• About 28 round crackers
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, finely shredded
• About 28 cashews
• About 56 peppercorns

Directions

1. Combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese and ranch dressing mix. I find it’s easiest to do this in a food processor.
2. Using a tablespoon or small cookie scoop, scoop cheese ball mixture onto round cracker.
3. Press pecan pieces in single layer around base of cheese ball.
4. Press mozzarella onto top of cheese ball.
5. Insert one cashew halfway into center of cheese ball so it resembles a beak.
6. Insert one peppercorn on either side of cashew so they resemble eyes.