Olive Cheese Balls

Olive Cheese Balls – Flaky, tender, cheesy dough surrounds a warm and salty-juicy olive. A fun and easy baked appetizer recipe, perfect for entertaining!

Hey, hey, hey! We’re goin’ retro today!

Anybody else grow up with baked Olive Cheese Balls? On Mom’s worn, handwritten recipe card, they’re titled “Olive Surprises”. You just gotta love it. My copies of old church and family cookbooks are full of recipe names like that. Another oldie-but-goodie appetizer from my mom is this Shrimp Dip that uses cream cheese – my family enjoys this every Christmas Eve.

This fun little olives and cheese appetizer is easy to make. Simply wrap pimento-stuffed green olives in a buttery cheddar cheese dough, pop them in the oven, and you are now the hostess with the mostess.

But don’t stop there.

I broke tradition with this recipe, thinking it would be fun to #UnfollowTheRecipe. So I’m also offering you a kicked-up version with the flavors of jalapeno, Parmesan, and ranch. I’m giving you two times the fun with olives and cheese!

*  This is a sponsored post, created in partnership with Crystal Farms® Cheese.

If you’ve ever been to Wisconsin, you know that cheese is a way of life there.

I’ve always loved driving past all the dairy farms (there are over 1.2 million cows in Wisconsin!), through the state’s beautiful rolling countryside. And just east of Madison is the town of Lake Mills (population 5,708), where Crystal Farms is located.

Crystal Farms was born of humble beginnings, the product of two immigrant families dedicated to hard work and quality products. That tradition continues to this day, bringing only the best quality cheese to cheese lovers everywhere.

How to make olive cheese balls

First, you’ll need some shredded sharp cheddar and softened butter. Stir together until combined.

Then add flour and a bit of paprika, kosher salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine, and then bring it altogether with your hands to form a dense, moist dough.

The dough should stick together like a ball.

Then portion out the dough (I like to use a small scoop) and roll each portion into smaller balls.

Using your thumb, flatten each round of dough in the palm of your hand, and then rest an olive in the center of the dough.

Mold the dough around the olive, stretching and pinching as needed. And then lightly roll the olive cheese ball between the palms of your hands to finish shaping.

Line those little cuties up on an ungreased baking pan (this 10″ x 15″ pan works perfectly!), let them chill in the refrigerator for an hour, and then bake them. Just 15 minutes in the oven is all they need.

I’ve always been an olive and cheese fan. But this recipe takes that combination to a whole new level.

The cheesy dough bakes up flaky and tender on the outside, while the olive is warm and salty-juicy on the inside. Biting into one of these olive cheese balls is a surprising burst of both flavor and texture.

For even more entertaining fun, offer homemade buttermilk ranch for dipping.

Because nobody ever turns down the opportunity to dip.

Now here’s that jalapeno option I was telling you about earlier. Because you know me. Variety is truly the spice of my life.

In this version, I trade the sharp cheddar for Parmesan, swap out pimento-stuffed olives for those with jalapenos, and add dry ranch seasoning to the dough.

For those who like some heat, this is a marvelous combination.

Holidays, game days, sit-on-the-porch-with-a-glass-of-wine-days, they’re all prime times for a platter of warm olive cheese balls.

Like this appetizer recipe? Save it to Pinterest!

Here are a few more cheesy-wonderful appetizers for you!

• Dill Pickle Dip – with cream cheese, this is a super fun dip with puckery dill pickle flavor!
• Baked Reuben Dip – with Swiss cheese, this tastes like a deconstructed Reuben sandwich.
• Layered Creamy Chili Shrimp Dip – with cream cheese, this festive dip has been one of my family’s Christmas Eve traditions for as long as I can remember.
• Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms Grilled on a Cedar Plank – with Mozzarella and Gouda cheeses, these stuffed mushrooms are infused with a wonderful woodsy flavor from the grill.

For more cheesy goodness, find Crystal Farms on their web site, and on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.