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Mini Cheese Ball Bites are the perfect snack on a stick. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos add some kick & color to this popular appetizer, making them a beautiful and tasty treat for your next gathering.

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Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Mini Cheese Ball Bites

When we were younger we celebrated with family on Christmas Eve. Once we got a bit older and our family had spread out a bit more my parents decided Christmas Eve would be spent with friends.

It was an open door policy so anyone could popover at their convenience. My parents always had delicious snacks and appetizers ready for munching on.

This time of year always gets me excited to seek out new appetizers. There are so many Holiday party opportunities to try out different recipes. This year I decided to try something new in the form of a cheese ball.

I love cheese balls but I’ve never actually made one before. Us Shane sisters can’t live without Flamin’ Hot Cheetos so I thought, why not combine our love of cheese and Flamin’ Hots into one tempting treat!

Mini Cheese Ball Bites

You can absolutely make a normal sized cheese ball with this recipe but I just love the look of these little guys. I mean, how adorable are they?

Also, I prefer the convenience of the size and pretzel stick addition. Just grab a mini cheese ball or two and put them on your plate. Now you can enjoy them any where the party takes you.

The size of the cheese ball bite also means you get more of the Flamin’ Hot flavor. The crushed Cheetos add a bit of spice and crunch to the smooth cream cheese and the smaller size means Cheetos in every bite.

Ingredients for Flamin’ Hot Mini Cheese Ball Bites

There are so many flavor combinations when it comes to cheese balls. Because I really wanted to taste the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in these bites I went for a pretty simple cheese ball flavor. I think it works best with these mini cheese ball bites.

I did try out a big cheese ball with more ingredients that came out amazing as well so look for that soon. I’m thinking football season.

Here’s what you’ll need for the minis:

1 8oz block of cream cheese – softened
1 cup Flamin’ Hot Cheetos – crushed
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese – shredded
2 Tablespoons Green Onion – chopped
1 tsp Garlic Powder

That’s it! Pretty simple ingredients. You may want to up your garlic powder and/or your chopped green onions. Once you get everything mixed together give it a taste and add a little more at a time until you get the desired amount.

Just remember you won’t get the full flavor of these bites until they’ve been rolled in Cheeto dust so don’t go over board with the add ins.

Making Your Mini Cheese Ball Bites

Like I said before, I’ve never made a cheese ball before, let alone a bunch of mini ones. These are so incredibly easy to make but they look incredible. They will definitely impress your guests.

The key to making these is to start with softened cream cheese so remember to set your block out a good hour before you make these. Once your cream cheese is close to room temperature you’ll throw it in a medium sized bowl.

Add the cheddar cheese, chopped green onions, garlic powder and stir to combine. You can use the whole green onion for these but make sure to save a couple of green tops for the garnish.

Stir everything together with a fork. You don’t need to dirty the whole mixer for this but you can if you want to. I find it’s easier to clean a fork than the mixer whisk.

Once everything is combined give it a taste. Feel free to add more green onion or garlic powder in now but keep in mind what I said above.

Use a spoon or the fork you’ve been using to scoop out a small chunk of cheese ball mixture. Roll it around in your hands to form a ball.

Place it on a cookie sheet and keep going until your mix is all used up. You should get about 12 balls out of it. You can absolutely double the recipe if you need to.

Pop your cheese balls in the fridge for about an hour. This will help the flavors blend and to firm up the bites.

While your waiting on your cheese balls go ahead and crush your Cheetos. I placed about a cup of my Flamin’ Hots in a ziplock bag, squeezed out the air and closed tightly.

Using a rolling pin, crush your Cheetos into dust. I started by lightly pounding at first and then switched to rolling over the chunks to make them finer.

You can throw the Flamin’ Hots into a food processor but there’s less to clean up when you do the bag method. Just think of it as a quick de-stressor.

If you are going to tie green onion to the tops of your cheese ball bites then you can prepare those now. Just snip off the green part of the onion and cut it into thin strips, length wise.

You don’t want to add the rest to your cheese balls until close to serving time. If you build them too early the Cheetos could get stale and your pretzel stick will get soggy.

Just before the party starts grab your mini cheese ball bites from the fridge and roll them in the crushed Flamin’ Hots. You can plop the cheese balls in the bag but I found you get a better coating of Cheeto dust when you roll the ball in the crushed chips.

Grab your pretzel sticks and push them down into the top of your cheese balls. Tie on your green onion as a cute garnish.

I know that seems like a lot of steps for what I call a simple appetizer but I promise it’s all really easy.

Last Things You Should Know Before Making Flamin’ Hot Cheeto Mini Cheese Ball Bites

You can make the cheese balls up to 2 days in advanced which is another reason why I love this as a party snack. Just remember to add the final touches right before the party starts.
Don’t worry about these being too spicy for your guest. The cream cheese balances out the spice of the Flamin’ Hots well. They really aren’t that spicy.
Do serve these with crackers like you would any other cheese ball. Guest can usually get 2-3 crackers worth from each mini cheese ball bite.
As always feel free to get creative with the recipe. You might love the combo of ranch and Flamin’ Hots so swap the garlic powder for ranch dressing mix.
The red and green combo make these great for a Christmas Party but they can be made for any gathering.

What do you think? Are you ready to try this super simple but bold appetizer? I think your party guest will love these Mini Cheese Ball Bites!