spring cheese ball recipe {gluten free option}

I have this love/hate thing with shapes made from food. For instance, the whole Halloween thing seriously grosses me out {brains, eyeballs, and fingers, anyone?} But I can always appreciate a good cleverly-arranged deviled egg combo… or even a dip in my life.

Heck, I can always use a good dip, anyway. I kind of have this thing with dips.

So I was feeling festive the other day, and decided it would be fun to whip something up a bit spring-like for all things warm weather, Easter, and something that just might bring a smile to everyone’s face.

And by smile, I’m not sure if it will make them happy because they’re laughing at me, or they think it’s cute. It’s a toss up. Honestly, I probs got a little carried away. Said presentation was supposed to be a flower, but I think it looks more like a deranged tree. Good thing I’m not a food blogger…

The kids thought it was neat, anyway. ::shrugs::

What I love the most about this, is that you also have the option to keep it gluten free.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• two 8 oz packages of cream cheese
• 1 1/2 C shredded pepper jack
• 1 1/2 C sharp cheddar
• a smidgen of mayo

– This is your base. Everything else after this, is to taste {Yep, guilty}. We added:
• garlic powder
• salt + pepper
• onion flakes {or fresh chopped onion}
• {not pictured because we added as we went}: Red pepper + Worcestershire sauce.
– You have the gluten – free option here, also I can’t spell or pronounce this word. Fun fact.

All your fancy fixin’s… especially if you want a little more than crackers or chips to dip
• Cucumber
• Carrots
• Celery
• Dried cranberries
• Sliced Almonds

– Note: This amount yields double the ingredients shown on the final presentation above. This recipe easily feeds twelve people – I halved it for the whole deranged tree platter.

Our daughter helped make this and absolutely loved it.

We gradually mixed all the ingredients, and tasted as we went.

When it was ready, we gathered it in the bowl and placed it on a piece of wax/freezer paper to help form it into a ball.

Gather your dried cranberries + almonds, and mix in a bowl.

Place them on top of the wax paper, and continue to roll around until you have it all covered. {All of this is optional, of course… the cranberries bring a nice tangy contrast.}