Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
No one can resist going back for seconds! Serve this Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball up with cookies, pretzels, or fruit for a perfect party bite!
Why We Love Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball Dip
- Cheese balls are such an easy appetizer to set out for parties. You can make them ahead of time and the flavor options are practically limitless.
- This chocolate chip cheese ball is pure decadence that’ll have everyone coming back for “just one more bite” with its salty-sweet combination of flavors.
- I love making this cheese ball when we’re having friends over to watch the game or for the holidays. I can have it ready ahead of time and let everyone serve themselves. Appetizer buffets for the win!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make a Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
CHOCOLATE: This recipe calls for both semi-sweet and white chocolate. We’re using mini chocolate chips for both. This helps you get some in everything bite and they coat the cheese ball nicely since they’re smaller.
CHEESE BALL BASE: As with most cheese balls, you’ll need cream cheese. Since this a dessert cheese ball we’re using butter to give a nice unctuous texture along with powdered sugar and brown sugar to sweeten things up. You can use light or dark brown sugar.
FLAVORING: Normally I’d just use vanilla extract, but we’re laying flavors with some maple extract too. If you can’t find maple extract (or just don’t want another bottle of extract hanging out in your spice cabinet) you can use 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and skip the maple. It’s yummy both ways.
ADD-INS: To give this chocolate chip cheese ball recipe a little more oomph, we’re adding toffee bits to the cheese ball itself, and then rolling the outside in the chocolate chips and toffee bits mixed with chopped pretzels and walnuts. Yum!
How to Make a Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
Jump to RecipeSTEP 1 Beat together the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl until everything is smooth. Once that’s ready, add in the vanilla extract, maple extract, powdered sugar, and brown sugar. Mix everything together once more.
STEP 2 Add half of the toffee bits and half or the mini chocolate chips (1/4 cup each) and stir them into the cream cheese mixture. Then you’ll pop the bowl into the fridge for 2 hours to let the mixture start to firm up.
STEP 3 After the mixture has chilled, lay out a piece of plastic wrap on a flat surface. Transfer the cream cheese mixture to the plastic wrap and form it into a ball. Then wrap it tightly in the plastic wrap and chill the cheese ball for 1 hour in the fridge.
STEP 4 Add the remaining chocolate chips, toffee bits, white chocolate chips, pretzels, and walnuts to a shallow bowl or pie plate. Mix them together and then spread into an even layer. Unwrap the cheese ball and roll it in the pretzel coating, being sure to press down a little to help the coating stick. Then rewrap the cheese ball and chill it for another 30 minutes.
STEP 5 When you’re ready to serve, Unwrap the chocolate chip cream cheese ball and place it on a serving platter. Surround the cheese ball with dippers and a cheese spreader or butter knife, to make spreading easier, and enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
- Chilling the cream cheese mixture before rolling it into a ball makes the task SO much easier. You get a nice ball shape and the ingredients get time to marry together.
- If you don’t like walnuts, don’t worry. You can skip them altogether or swap them for chopped pecans or chopped almonds.
- If you want white chocolate chips in the cheese ball too, go ahead. You’ll need to add 1/4 cup into the cheese ball mixture and use another 1/4 cup for the coating (as originally directed).
- You can find mini white chocolate chips at Walmart, Whole Foods, or on Amazon.
Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball Recipe FAQ
Can you freeze a chocolate chip cheese ball?
Yes. This cheese ball can be frozen for up to 1 month by wrapping it first in plastic wrap and then in foil. When you’re ready to enjoy it, let the cheese ball thaw overnight in the fridge. You can serve it chilled or let it come up to room temperature on the counter.
How far in advance can a cheeseball be made?
You can make this dessert cheese ball up to 1 week in advance and then store it in the fridge in an air-tight container. (I usually leave it wrapped in plastic wrap and then put the whole thing in a Tupperware.)
What to serve with a chocolate chip cheese ball?
For things to dip, my family likes pretzels, Nilla wafers, graham crackers, and apple slices. But you can totally experiment and see what you like best.
If you want to complete your party spread here are some yummy options.
Sweet
- S’mores Dessert Board
- Air Fryer Apple Pie Bites
- Rocky Road Candy Bites
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake Dip
- Puppy Chow
- Buckeyes
Savory
- Cheddar Pigs in a Blanket
- Brown Sugar Bacon Wrapped Little Smokies
- Mississippi Sin Dip
- Crock Pot Maple Bourbon Candied Pecans
- Ham and Cheese Roll Ups
Other Recipes You May like
- S’mores Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheese Ball
Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon maple extract
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup toffee bits divided
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips divided
- ¼ cup mini white chocolate chips divided
- ½ cup pretzels chopped
- 2 tablespoons walnuts finely chopped
Dippers
- Apple slices
- Nilla wafers
- Graham crackers
- Pretzels
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the vanilla and maple extract, powdered sugar, and brown sugar and beat until combined.
- Fold in half of the toffee bits and half of the mini chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours in the bowl.
- Lay a sheet of plastic wrap out on a work surface. Place the cream cheese mixture onto the center of the plastic wrap and form it into a ball. Wrap the ball tightly in the plastic wrap to hold the shape and refrigerate for 1 more hour.
- Pour the remaining mini chocolate chips, toffee bits, mini white chocolate chips, chopped pretzels, and chopped walnuts into a shallow bowl.
- Remove the cheese ball from the plastic wrap and roll it in the pretzel mixture to coat. Press the coating into the cheese ball as you roll to help it stick.
- Wrap the cheese ball back up in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until ready you're to serve it.
- Place the cheese ball on a platter with cookies, pretzels, or fruit with a cheese spreader for easy dipping/spreading.
Notes
- If you don’t like walnuts, pecan or almonds are both great substitutes.
- You can find mini white chocolate chips at Walmart, Whole Foods, or on Amazon.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.