Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

This easy chocolate chip cheese ball recipe is the perfect crowd pleasing dessert or snack for any party!

No bake chocolate chip cheese ball

Just 5 ingredients.

That’s really all you need for this homemade thick, smooth, rich, chocolatey, delicious peanut buttery chocolate chip peanut butter cheese ball. 

It literally tastes like a giant ball of creamy chocolate chip cheesecake!

And the recipe fits right in at holiday gatherings, potlucks, book clubs, birthday dinners, football parties, barbecues, happy hours, or Super Bowl Sunday.

Also try these game day Buffalo Cauliflower Wings

Chocolate chip cheesecake ball dip ideas

The dessert or snack ball tastes great when served with any of the following.

Try graham crackers, Oreos, bananas, oranges, apple slices, berries or other fruit, pretzels, potato chips, animal crackers, vanilla wafers, or gingersnaps.

It’s wonderful spread on top of Chocolate Banana Bread or Protein Banana Bread.

Or skip the dippers and just eat it with a spoon!

The best dessert cheese ball flavors

S’mores: Use butter or a neutral nut butter instead of peanut butter. Cover the cheesecake ball with crushed graham crackers, chopped chocolate bars, and mini marshmallows.

Double Chocolate: For a chocolate cheese ball, add two and a half tablespoons of cocoa powder along with the powdered sugar.

Strawberry: Use strawberry cream cheese instead of plain. This flavor works well with a neutral nut butter like cashew or coconut butter.

Cookie Dough: Use the butter option below, and increase the vanilla extract to one teaspoon. Press any size chocolate chips on the top and sides of the dessert.

Pumpkin Spice: Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the cream cheese, and use pumpkin cream cheese. Cover the giant cheese ball in cinnamon sugar and toasted pecans.

Birthday Cake Batter: Use regular butter or cashew butter. Add a half teaspoon of butter extract or a few drops of almond extract before beating. Cover in sprinkles.

Mocha Cheesecake: Beat in half a teaspoon of instant coffee powder. Garnish with crushed coffee beans and finely chopped dark chocolate.

The recipe was inspired by my Chickpea Cookie Dough Dip and Peanut Butter Dip.

Football snack chocolate chip cheese ball

Make the recipe as written below, pressing the chilled dough firmly into a football shape instead of a round ball.

Cover the entire surface with mini chocolate chips, then use an icing writer or a spoon to create the football laces out of white or vanilla frosting.

Serve with graham crackers, pretzel sticks, strawberries, or anything else you wish.

This is one game day snack that everyone will remember for years.

I know this for a fact, because I first brought one of these dessert cheese balls to a Super Bowl party almost a decade ago, and people are still talking about it!

Chocolate chip cream cheese ball recipe video

Above, watch the step by step video

Mini chocolate chip cheese balls

You can make individual dessert cheese balls instead of one large ball if you prefer.

Dollop small amounts of the chilled cheesecake dough onto squares of saran wrap, and wrap them tightly into mini ball shapes.

Freeze the mini cheese balls until the wrapping can be removed easily without most of the dough sticking to the sides.

Cover the spheres with melted chocolate, add different toppings to each, or keep them all the same.

The choice is entirely yours.

Chocolate chip cheese ball ingredients

To make the recipe, you will need cream cheese, powdered sweetener, pure vanilla extract, butter or peanut butter, and mini chocolate chips.

For a vegan dessert cheese ball, use your favorite plant based cream cheese and dairy free dark chocolate chips.

I like to make the recipe with peanut butter. (Hello, chocolate chip peanut butter cup cheesecake!) You may also use almond butter, cashew butter, macadamia butter, or regular dairy butter or a plant based alternative.

The recipe works well with powdered sugar. Or choose a no sugar alternative to make it a keto game day dessert. You can make your own refined sugar free powdered sugar by blending granulated coconut sugar until it turns into powder.

As a fun flavor alternative, feel free to swap some or all of the chocolate chips for chocolate or rainbow sprinkles, chopped toffee or caramel, white chocolate or butterscotch chips, mint chocolate candies, pecans, walnuts, pistachios, slivered almonds, shredded coconut, chia seeds, or granola.

Leftover chocolate chips? Make Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

How to make a cheese ball for dessert

Start by gathering all of your ingredients.

Bring both the cream cheese and the nut butter to room temperature. The two ingredients should be easily stir-able.

Add them to a deep mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, then stir in the vanilla extract and about a fourth of the powdered sugar.

Stir until the powdered sugar is fully incorporated, using the mixer, hand beaters, or a large spoon.

Gradually add the rest of the powdered sugar. Beat or stir until you achieve a smooth and even cookie dough texture.

Refrigerate or freeze the batter for a few hours or overnight, until firm enough to scoop onto a large sheet of plastic wrap.

Bring the sides of the wrap up over the cream cheese dough, and twist very tightly to form a ball shape.

Freeze the wrapped ball in the coldest part of the freezer until the plastic wrap can be removed without the dough sticking to the sides. This should take anywhere from a few hours to a day, depending on the heat and humidity where you live, as well as the temperature of your freezer.

Once the cheese ball is unwrapped, place it on a serving plate.

Press chocolate chips or your toppings of choice firmly onto the sides and top. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve.

The dessert ball is fine to leave out on the counter for a few hours at an event. Due to the perishable ingredients, we recommend storing leftovers in the fridge or freezer.

Tip: If you don’t have time to wait for the ball to freeze, simply serve it in a bowl as a chocolate chip cream cheese appetizer, snack, or dessert dip.

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