Delicious Holiday Tree-Shaped Cheese Ball Recipe (with video tutorial )

This post is brought to you by Finlandia.  All opinions are our own.

The holidays are among us! The decorations are coming out, the festive music is already playing and we’re starting to feel the joy! Two of my favorite things about the holidays are seeing all the beautiful shiny light displays everywhere I go and, of course, the wonderful food! I don’t know about you, but my cooking is always best around the holidays. My culinary skills magically improve and I can make beautiful masterpieces that are devoured, like today’s holiday tree cheese ball recipe made with creamy, delicious Finlandia™ Creamy Gourmet Cheese!

During holiday parties, the guests get a little restless waiting to experience those magical cooking skills! I don’t want to leave them feeling hungry while they wait for dinner to be served. Fortunately, I’ve come up with the perfect solution:  tasty appetizers that are easy to make so that your energy can go into the main course. Today we are bringing you a deliciously festive holiday tree-shaped cheese ball that not only looks beautiful but tastes amazing. It will look like you made it painstaking love, and no one will know that it took very little effort.

This festive tree-shaped cheese ball is something you can throw together quickly and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. The key ingredient to this cheese tree is Finlandia Creamy Gourmet Cheese. Finlandia cheese is made in one of the greenest countries in the world. Their cheese is made with the purest milk from Finnish family-owned farms. These farmers treat their cows like family. Finlandia’s relentless pursuit of taste perfection shows.  Finlandia crafts their cheese with uncompromising standards using only the purest ingredients. Plus, there are no added hormones

To make this cheese ball we used Finlandia’s Black Garlic cheese. This cheese is loaded with flavor! We mixed the black garlic cheese with cream cheese and finely shredded cheese. To make the tree green we chose fresh basil. It gave the perfect herb balance to Finlandia’s black garlic cheese. To shape the tree, we rolled a piece of newspaper into a cylinder and lined it with plastic wrap before filling with cheese mixture.  Check out the video, then print the recipe card for later!

Finlandia Holiday Tree – Shaped Cheese Ball

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1 ½ cups shredded Italian blend cheese
• 7 oz. Finlandia Black Garlic Creamy Gourmet Cheese
• ½ cup sliced almonds
• ¼ cup finely chopped bell pepper
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Watch the video tutorial and read the instructions below:

• In a large bowl combine cream cheese, Italian blend cheese, and Finlandia cheese.
• Form a sheet of newspaper into a cone. Line the inside of the cone with plastic wrap. The plastic wrap will hang out the end. This is ok because it will cover the bottom of the cheese ball.
• Scoop cheese mix into the cone. Fold plastic wrap over the end of the cheese ball. Place cheese cone upside down in a cup or mug and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Remove cheese ball from the cone and gently roll in the chopped basil.
• Lightly press almonds and bell peppers into the cheese ball to decorate. The almonds look light white lights, and the bell peppers look like ornaments.
• Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Serve with crackers or fresh vegetables.

Print this recipe for later:

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Finlandia Holiday Tree Cheese Ball Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1 ½ cups shredded Italian blend cheese
• 7 oz. Finlandia Black Garlic Creamy Gourmet Cheese
• ½ cup sliced almonds
• ¼ cup finely chopped bell pepper
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh basil

Instructions

1. In a large bowl combine cream cheese, Italian blend cheese, and Finlandia cheese.
2. Form a sheet of newspaper into a cone. Line the inside of the cone with plastic wrap. The plastic wrap will hang out the end. This is ok because it will cover the bottom of the cheese ball.
3. Scoop cheese mix into the cone. Fold plastic wrap over the end of the cheese ball. Place cheese cone upside down in a cup or mug and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
4. Remove cheese ball from the cone and gently roll in the chopped basil.
5. Lightly press almonds and bell peppers into the cheese ball to decorate. The almonds look light white lights, and the bell peppers look like ornaments.
6. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Serve with crackers or fresh vegetables.

Once the cheese tree is decorated you can store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Unlike most cheese ball recipe, you really do not need to let the cheese tree soften a lot before serving. Finlandia’s cheese is soft and smooth. It holds its shape but doesn’t get hard as a rock in the refrigerator. We served our cheese tree with crackers, but it would be fantastic with fresh vegetables as well. Instead of setting out a veggie platter with dip, try a veggie platter with a beautiful and delicious cheese tree in the center. Talk about wow factor!

Vote for Us in the Finlandia Influencer Recipe Contest

Finlandia is hosting Influencer Recipe Contest on their Facebook page  featuring 25 influencer recipes – including ours! We’d love for you to vote for us! There’s even something in it for you! One lucky voter will be picked to win a $1,000 Visa gift card!

Earlier this month, we also shared an easy everyday raspberry compound butter recipe using Finlandia imported butter, so be sure to  check that out! Find even more recipe inspiration on Finlandia’s Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram pages. Don’t forget to vote in the Facebook contest!

Do you have a favorite recipe using Finlandia Creamy Gourmet Cheese? Share in the comments!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Finlandia™ . The opinions and text are all mine.