Holiday Pinecone Cheeseball And Three Cheese Recipes

Make your holiday festivities more special and your guests delighted with this beautiful holiday pinecone cheeseball. Choose from three different cheese recipes,

This beautiful pinecone cheeseball has been on my to-do list since the summer! And you won’t believe just how easy it is to make. I’ve seen lots of these pinecone cheeseballs on Pinterest so I did a whole lot of experimenting to bring you the best shape, easiest instructions, and 3 scrumptious cheese ball flavors. This festive treat will be showing up on Christmas day along with a lovely spreading knife and some buttery crackers.

Now let’s make a pinecone good enough to eat!

Tips To Make The Best Pinecone Cheeseball

  • Most of the recipes for a pinecone cheeseball out there make very small cheeseballs. My recipe is for a nice large pinecone, one that is able to feed a group of people!
  • Shaping your cheeseball is the most important thing for a realistic-looking pinecone. It should resemble a fat almond with one pointy end and the other end slightly flattened out.
  • This cheeseball uses lots and lots of almonds.
  • Toast the almonds in a 350-degree oven for 5 minutes. They become pretty and brown and have a nuttier flavor.
  • Many recipes tell you to stick the almonds into the cheeseball at an upward angle. If you want the cheeseball to be covered and not a lot of gaps, don’t do this. Lay them almost flat against the cheeseball.
  • Start adding almonds to the cheeseball at the tip of the pinecone. It really doesn’t look like a pinecone at first. Start at the tip of the pinecone and work either side to the edge. Start the next row right above the row before.
  • This is not hard at all.
  • Make the cheese spread in a food processor.
  • Garnish with fresh herbs and cranberries.

Here are 3 delicious cheese ball recipes to use…

BEAUTIFUL PINECONE CHEESE BALL RECIPES

Three delicious cheese ball recipes to make a pinecone cheese ball.
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Garden Herb And Vegetable Cream Cheese Ball

  • 1 8 oz container Garden Vegetable cream cheese
  • 1 8oz container of Roasted Garlic cream cheese
  • 1 cup sharp cheese, shredded
  • 3 green onions, chopped

Goat Cheese And Herb Cream Cheese Ball

  • 2 8oz packages, cream cheese
  • 4 oz goat cheese, softened
  • 3 TBS fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 2 TBS fresh tarragon, finely chopped
  • 1 TBS fresh thyme. finely chopped
  • 1/2 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced
  • 2 dashes hot sauce

ONION GRUYERE CHEESE BALL

  • 2 8 oz packages of cream cheese
  • 1 pk onion soup mix
  • 4 oz gruyere, shredded

Instructions

  • Mix the ingredients for each cheese ball in a large bowl.
  • Shape into a large oval and refrigerate for 2 hours.
  • Decorate with almonds according to the directions on the post.

You still have time to make this WOW factor appetizer! If you make it send me a picture!

Happy Holidays!

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34 Comments

  1. Wow, Yvonne that is beautiful and looks delicious! I will have to try that! Thanks for sharing!!

  2. Looks scrumptious & almonds are good nutritious!

  3. What a presentation of a pinecone! Lots and lots of nuts, but it looks like a challenge to make. I may try this..

  4. anne cody says:

    Looks great, could you serve this other than Christmas.

  5. This may sound odd to you but one of the most delicious ways to serve this cheese ball (and I’ve done this many times!) is with strawberry preserves or jam. Leave out the almonds and Ranch dressing. Make the cheese ball, make a large indention in the cheese ball and fill with strawberry preserves. Spread both on a Ritz cracker. This recipe (or something very similar) came out years ago in the 70’s. It was a fave of the Jimmy Carter family and for a long time it was on everyone’s hor d’eourve table when company was coming. Soooooo good and sooooo addictive!!!

  6. Norma Rolader says:

    Yummy and so adorable!!! Thank you for sharing with us God bless and Merry Christmas to you and your family

  7. Looks wonderful! I have made pinecones my theme item this Christmas season; so what fun to include on the buffet table this Christmas and New Years. Our 5 year old granddaughter is obsessed with pinecones, maybe she will even try this cheeseball, although she is a very fussy eater. I love to see what creative ideas you have and have tried many of them, thank you for sharing. Merry Christmas!
    PS your recipe for gingerbread men have been a huge hit!

  8. Gloria Ardrey says:

    I have made this for the last 15 years every year for my Christmas party. I use my own cheeseball. I would send a picture but how?

  9. Laura Harrie says:

    Really looks too good to eat! It is a work of food art!

  10. Wow! The pine cone cheese ball is beautiful & the recipe sounds delicious !! It has been added to my Christmas to do list! Thank you!!

  11. Beautiful presentation.

  12. This cheeseball looks amazing! Great presentation!!! And it sounds yummy!!!

  13. Jenny Young says:

    Cheeseballs are one of my favorite party foods & I love how pretty the pinecones are! Last summer I made a bacon ranch flavored cheeseball for my daughter-in-laws woodland themed baby shower. I found a sweet little white hedgehog shaped bowl & used slivered almonds for the quills. It was adorable & delicious. This pinecone would have been a perfect compliment as well.

  14. That is a beautiful presentation.

  15. Denise carlson says:

    So cool, who doesn’t love a cheese ball -and one that looks like a pinecone is so cute!

  16. Thanks Yvonne! I’m taking one to our holiday garden club meeting. Perfect!

  17. Kathy Roper says:

    Thanks for the recipe Yvonne. I made this many years ago and got called “Martha” a lot that night (Stewart). It is always a big hit and your recipe sounds a bit more flavorful than the one I remember.

  18. This may sound like a dumb question, but when you say to start at the tip, do you mean the top or bottom of the pine cone? Thanks

  19. Cecilia from Georgia says:

    I made this last year and completely forgot about it! I am trying the bacon and dill this time. Thanks for the suggestions! Merry Christmas!!

  20. Love this darling pine cone cheese ball!
    We will join our niece for Thanksgiving and this
    Will be the show stopper I’m sure! Have a couple
    Ideas to make it work for Thanksgiving ..can’t wait!
    Thank you so much for sharing and the time it took
    To perfect?

  21. This looks awesome but I can’t find the 3 recipes?

    1. Hi Janet, not sure what happened to the recipes. My tech guy is working on fixing the it. So sorry!

  22. Laura Corbett says:

    I am so sorry, I have attempted all day to get the Pinecone Recipes! They truly are not coming up!

  23. Jennifer Johnson says:

    I’m also not seeing the recipe, but would love to try this for Christmas next week! I’ll check back later for the recipe–thanks for your beautiful blog!

    1. Jennifer, you might not have read in the body of the post that I am having some tech difficulty. For some reason, the recipe just disappeared. I am so sorry. My tech guy is working on it.

      Thanks for understanding.

  24. I have been making these for years… they are SO much fun and get so many compliments !

  25. I’m hoping the recipe will show up soon. I would love to make it this week.

  26. Sarah Posecznick- says:

    The pinecone cheesecake looks amazing, but for the life of me I can’t get to the ingredients list no matter what link I try and how far I scroll down… I see how to make it- just need to know with what! Please help!

    1. Sorry, that is a tech glitch. I’m trying to get the recipes back online. Thanks for letting me know.

  27. I plan to try this with goat cheese. Thank you, Yvonne. We always adore your recipes!

  28. I made this a couple of thanksgivings ago and it was the hit of the meal. It not only looked wonderful but tasted great! I had to buy more cranberries than I needed so I also made homemade cranberry sauce. So easy and was an extra bonus. Thanks for a lovely recipe.