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This Cranberry Herb Goat Cheese Ball with Nuts and Cream Cheese sits perfectly at the intersection of sweet, savory, and creamy with a delicious and eye-catching coating. It makes an impressive appetizer for your next gathering!

Looking for more special starters for your next party? Try my Caramelized Onion Dip or Greek Salad Dip. Also, this appetizer is a great compliment to a special dinner or Cranberry Braised Short Ribs!

The finished cranberry and goat cheese ball wrapped in chopped apricots, cranberries, pecans, pistachios, pepitas, and thyme presented on a wood platter.

Ingredients

Cream Cheese: This is the creamy and smooth base you need to make the cheese ball spreadable. Adding only goat cheese is too crumbly!

Goat Cheese: The mild tangy flavor is mellowed even further by the cream cheese, but it is still present! I don't buy anything fancy for this appetizer since it is being mixed up with so many other flavors.

Garlic Powder: Just a bit of garlic flavor compliments all of the earthy nuts and sweet fruits in the coating.

Black Pepper: I like a bit of heat the mix, but feel free to increase the amount you add to your taste.

Dried Cranberries: These are added to both the cheese mixture and to the coating for sweet-tart flavor and that jeweled appearance.

Dried Apricots: Their sweet flavor and golden hue are perfect additions to the goat cheese ball.

Pepitas: You'll also see these sold as pumpkin seeds in stores. Pepitas are the green center of the white seeds you'd scoop out of a pumpkin. The white part is the hull of the seed. You'll find raw and roasted varieties, but I'd re-toast any seeds before adding to the cheese ball.

Pecans and Pistachios: Toasted pecans are one of my favorite aromas, and they add such a nice flavor to savory foods. The vibrant green pops of color in the pistachios are a pretty addition to the cheese ball coating. Buy both nuts raw or roasted and don't worry if they are already salted.

Thyme or Rosemary: Just a bit of fresh herb goes a long way in adding that special touch to make the cheese ball shine.

Prepare the Cheese Mixture

Cubes of cream cheese and goat cheese along with ground pepper and garlic powder in the bowl of a food processor.

Add the cream cheese, goat cheese, garlic powder, and pepper to the bowl of a food processor. There's no need to soften the cream cheese ahead of time, let the food processor do the work for you. Process until the mixture is very smooth.

Goat cheese and cream cheese blended in a food processor until smooth.

The texture of the processed cheeses and cranberries in the bowl of the food processor.

Add in the cranberries and pulse until the cranberries are chopped up (but not pureed) and the mixture is well blended. Don't forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl before the final pulse.

A ball of cream cheese, goat cheese, pepper, and garlic shaped into a ball with plastic wrap on a brown surface.

Lay two long sheets of plastic wrap on your work surface, crossing them at right angles to form an "x" or cross. Pile the cheese mixture up in the center of the plastic wrap and gather the plastic up around the cheese. Twist the ends together, forming a tight ball. Refrigerate the ball for one hour.

Prepare the Nuts, Seeds, Herbs, and Fruit Coating

Pecans, pistachios, and pepitas toasted in a dry skillet.

Toast the pecans, pistachios, and pepitas in a dry skillet over medium-high heat. You'll want to watch them carefully and keep the skillet moving so they don't burn. The pepitas will turn golden and start to pop and the pecans will become fragrant. Remove them from the heat to a cutting board to cool.

A plate with a mixture of chopped pecans, pistachios, pepitas, apricots, cranberries, and thyme for coating the cheese ball.

Chop the pecans and the pistachios. I prefer to leave the pepitas whole, but you can chop those as well if you choose. Transfer the chopped nuts and seeds to a dinner plate. Try to leave behind any of the "dust" or nuts and seeds that are chopped too fine on the cutting board to create a clean coating for the cheese ball.

Chop the cranberries and the apricots in a similar size and transfer those to the dinner plate as well. Finally, add the herbs to the mixture. If you are using rosemary, chop it finely before adding it. For thyme, you can simply strip the tiny leaves. Give the coating a good mix to distribute the ingredients evenly.

Finish the Cheese Ball

The goat cheese and cream cheese ball being rolled in the chopped nuts and fruit to cover.

Remove the cheese ball from the refrigerator and unwrap it. I save the outer layer of plastic wrap for the next step. Place the cheese ball on the coating mixture and carefully rotate it to cover. Flip it over, roll the sides, and press the coating gently to make an even layer.

The goat cheese ball coated with chopped pecans, pistachios, apricots, thyme, and cranberries and wrapped in plastic wrap on a white plate.

Transfer the coated cheese ball to the plastic wrap from the first trip to the refrigerator (or get a new sheet of plastic wrap) and twist to keep the spherical shape. You can kind of mold the ball to the desired final shape at this point and then refrigerate for at least one hour to help it firm up.

Serving Your Cranberry Goat Cheese Ball

The cranberry goat cheese ball swerved on a wooden platter alongside apples, grapes, crackers, and crostini for an appetizer.

This cranberry goat cheese ball makes a beautiful centerpiece to a snack board. Add in crostini, crackers, apples, grapes, and anything else you can think of. Provide a cheese spreader or knife to serve the cheese ball.

A crostini spread with the cranberry and goat cheese studded with pistachios and pecans on a wood platter.

The cheese ball has a nice proportion of garlicky cheese to coating so you can get some nuts, seeds, and fruit in each scoop for the perfect bite.

Substitutions and Alternatives

Don't forget, this cheese ball can be served as a cheese log instead! Simply roll the cheese mixture into a log in the plastic wrap when you remove it from the food processor. I think a cranberry goat cheese log can make a dramatic centerpiece to a long table-length grazing board.

Don't want to bother with the coating process at all? Make a cranberry goat cheese spread by mixing the nuts, seeds, herbs, and fruit into the cheese mixture once you've processed it. Do this by hand to avoid breaking the coating into pieces that are too small. This will speed up the prep time, as you won't need that additional hour to firm up the shape. You can then transfer the spread into a serving bowl before chilling. Serve the cranberry goat cheese spread with pretzel thins and crackers for a more casual appetizer.

Feel free to substitute or omit any of the nuts or fruits in the recipe to suit your tastes. You can also use only two nuts or only one fruit, just keep to total amount of coating the same so you have enough to cover the cheese ball.

Try It and Share

This Cranberry Herb Goat Cheese Ball with Nuts and Cream Cheese will be the hit of the party. I want to see your results! Tag your photo with #planeatpostrepeat and mention me @planeatpostrepeat on Instagram or Facebook. I can give you a virtual high five and thank you for cooking one of my recipes! Comment below with any questions and please leave a review so others can find this recipe more easily.

Cranberry Herb Goat Cheese Ball with Nuts and Cream Cheese