Date, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Ball

18 Reviews
ADD YOUR REVIEW
Photo: Jonny Valiant; Styling: Deborah Williams
Yield
14 servings (serving size: 2 tablespoons)
By Diane Morgan
November 2010
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

Prepare this retro-chic snack up to two days ahead, and serve with crackers, bread, or veggies.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
  • 1 tablespoon nonfat buttermilk
  • 5 ounces fat-free cream cheese, softened
  • 3 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
  • 3 tablespoons minced pitted Medjool dates (2 to 3 dates)
  • 1 tablespoon minced shallots
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts, toasted

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 78
  • Fat 4.8g
  • Satfat 2.6g
  • Monofat 1.2g
  • Polyfat 0.7g
  • Protein 4.2g
  • Carbohydrate 5.3g
  • Fiber 0.5g
  • Cholesterol 12mg
  • Iron 0.2mg
  • Sodium 229mg
  • Calcium 74mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Place first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Add dates, shallots, lemon rind, salt, and pepper; beat at medium speed until well blended, scraping sides of bowl as necessary.

Step 2

Spoon cheese mixture onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Form into a ball, using a rubber spatula. Wrap cheese ball in plastic wrap; chill overnight.

Step 3

Combine parsley and walnuts in a shallow dish. Unwrap cheese ball; gently roll in nut mixture, coating well. Place on a serving plate. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Ratings & Reviews

Cheryl242's Review

daneanp
February 07, 2012
I hardly got a good taste of this, but what I did taste was delicious. Everyone else really liked it. I used feta cheese instead of blue cheese, because I had lots of feta on hand. I think it would have been good with blue cheese, too, but was very good with the feta. I let it "cure" in the frig for two days for the flavors to blend, and I think that really helped. Next time I think it would be good to add some chopped walnuts to the cheese ball itself, instead of just rolling the ball in the nuts. All in all was very good, and would make again.

flowerpot916
November 12, 2017
I totally agree about the blue cheese. I am a blue cheese lover, but even blue cheese haters (shhh...don't tell them) loved it!

Ashloves2eat's Review

Molly1451
March 15, 2014
I had become tired of my standard cheddar cheese ball and was excited to try this one. I made it as an appetizer over the holidays and it was devoured in 30 min. Even if you don't like blue cheese, it's only a hint and I served it at a superbowl party and people who thought they hated blue cheese loved it! I added some honey to the mixture and mixed some walnuts throughout-instead of just on the outside. If you aren't a fan of dates, then dried apricots make a good substitution.

Guests LOVE it

Ericar1477
November 12, 2017
I've made this a couple times for special dinners and it gets RAVE reviews from everyone.  It's amazing.

GatewayCook's Review

Bcafferty
November 30, 2013
This was good, but I was very disappointed that you couldn't really taste the dates. I would triple the dates if you want to have something more than a standard cheese ball.

68black's Review

GatewayCook
November 28, 2010
great recipe! flavors were bold and interesting. next time i would use a little less lemon rind, but other than that, it was great as written.

hotpsoup's Review

creamcheese
September 05, 2011
This was so easy to make and such a hit. The flavour of the blue cheese with the sweet dates is excellent. Brought this to a party and the host told me that I'm not allowed coming back without it. He likes the cheeseball more than me!

Ericar1477's Review

Cheryl242
November 15, 2012
I got many complements on it :) It was just slightly rich for my taste but delicious!

MeganCalPoly's Review

PKcookin
August 13, 2012
N/A

flowerpot916's Review

stillwater
November 24, 2010
Excellent flavor. I did, however, make a mistake. I used the full packages of both cream cheese. The ball never set up and so I ended up putting the cheese into a small serving bowl and topped with the parsley and walnuts. Served with crudites and crackers. Very tasty.
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