Turtle Cheeseball – If you’re looking for a sweet cheese ball recipe, you’re in the right place. With caramel, pecans and chocolate chips, this is a great dip to serve with apples, animal crackers or grahams.
Love chocolate and caramel? Be sure to try our turtle brownies, turtle fudge, and homemade turtles too.
What is a Turtle Cheese Ball?
Whenever we entertain I love to serve a combination of salty and sweet treats. And while guacamole, jalapeno dip, and queso are all delicious choices, sometimes, a sweet dip is equally important.
A cheese ball is a cheese based dip, usually cream cheese or another soft cheese variety, served–you guessed it–in the shape of a ball. (like our chipped beef cheeseball and our ham and pineapple cheeseball).
Surrounded by a wreath of crackers, cheese balls are designed to be shared with a crowd.
It has the signature pecans and chocolate along with two forms of caramel–caramel pieces and thick caramel sauce.
You can serve it as an appetizer or alongside dessert for an after dinner treat. (After-tizer? I’ll work on that one.)
Sweet Turtle Cheese Ball Recipe
Here’s what you need to make Turtle Cheese Ball:
- Cream cheese
- Butter
- Powdered sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Caramel pieces – I used Kraft caramel baking bits because they’re the perfect size.
- Caramel sauce – Caramel ice cream topping works great or use our homemade caramel sauce or butterscotch sauce!
- Chopped pecans– Toast the pecans for best flavor!
- Mini chocolate chips
Today’s recipe is easy to put together. You can make it the day before if you’d like and keep it in the fridge.
To serve the dip: Place on the center of a serving platter surrounded by your choice of dippers. You can also serve the ball on the center of a plate with the dippers in separate bowls on the side.
What to serve with a sweet cheese ball
- Pretzels, apple slices, and animal crackers are a few of my favorite vehicles for scooping up this dip.
- For even more sweetness, crunchy cookies would be delicious. Think Biscoff cookies, shortbread or even Oreos. Of course it’s great spread onto graham crackers too!
- Our baked cinnamon sugar tortilla chips are also perfect, as are salty homemade bagel chips!
If you like a combination of sweet and salty tastes, try scooping the turtle cheese ball with Ritz crackers. (It tastes a bit like those Ritz cracker cookies but with caramel. Amazing!)
How to store cheese ball
You can make this up to a day in advance and keep wrapped in plastic in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. If you end up with leftovers, rewrap what’s left in plastic to maintain the ball shape and keep in the fridge. Enjoy the leftovers within one day.
More Appetizer Recipes
- Toffee Chocolate Chip Cheeseball: can use any holiday sprinkles!!!
- Reese’s Cookie Dough Dip. No description necessary!
- Instant Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Cannoli Dip
- Cheesecake Dip
- 7 Layer Dip
Game Day Snacks
See all Appetizers recipes
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Turtle Cheeseball
Ingredients
- 1 package cream cheese, softened 8 ounce
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 Tablespoons caramel sauce I used caramel ice cream topping
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar packed
- ¾ cup mini chocolate chips divided
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- ¼ cup caramel bits I used Kraft
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with butter until fully blended. Add caramel sauce and sugar and beat until combined. Add 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.
- Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on counter. Drop cheeseball onto plastic wrap and cover cheeseball completely. Once covered, shape into a ball. Refrigerate for one hour.
- In a bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips, pecans and caramel bits. Unwrap cheeseball and roll into bowl of chocolate chip mixture. Press toppings gently into the cheeseball.
- Rewrap in plastic wrap (a new piece) and refrigerate until ready to serve! ENJOY.
Notes
- If you can’t find the Kraft Caramel Bits, you can use Werther’s caramels or Kraft Caramels and chop them up!
Nutrition
This sweet cheese ball recipe with all the components of turtle candy is sure to steal the spotlight next time you entertain!
Previously made as a spread and liked the taste but didn’t have to deal with the texture for a ball. This time trying to make a ball. It was very sticky. I was able to peel away the plastic wrap keeping most of the ball form in tact. To finish the ball I put the topping in 2 bowls, dropped in the ball and flipped the bowls several times to coat. It worked well. After reviewing several recipes and cheese ball tips, next time I will try with 1/2 C of powdered sugar.
I can see mine isn’t going to firm up either. Adding in another 8oz cream cheese. We will see. Will make again
using 2 8oz cream cheese and leave butter out altogether and add in powder sugar to taste. May try swirling in Carmel sauce instead of blending. Taste delicious though 😋
This was a hit!! But it didn’t firm up for me either? I thought maybe next time I will add more power sugar??
I wish I would have read the reviews because my Cheeseball didn’t firm up at all either. It’s for a shower tomorrow so I guess I’ll be serving it as a dip with the pecans and mini chocolate chips sprinkled on top. I’m thinking less butter would help. Maybe 1/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup. Very tasty though!
Mine didn’t firm up, but it didn’t matter. The entire thing was eaten, and everyone loved it. I made it for a baby shower and got a lot of compliments. I didn’t find caramel bits, so I improvised. After I put pecans and the mini chocolate chips on the outside, I drizzled some of the caramel sauce over it!!
I will be making this again, but will try 1/3 cup butter next time and see if that helps with consistency.
This was amazing. Definitely needed to put in the fridge to get it to be a little firmer. Delicious. Just delicious.
This will be my first cheeseball. I’m making it for a Thanksgiving app. I really hope I don’t meets it up and that everyone will like it.
It did not firm up for me either. I’m going to mix in the topping ingredients and put it in a pretty bowl for dipping.
What a bummer, not sure what to suggest! Although, using it as a dip is a great alternative!
I made the Turtle Cheeseball for my all girls weekend fun at the lake and it was a great BIG hit!
Thanks so much for sharing.
Wouldn’t recommend this. Couldn’t get the cheeseball firm. Others had this problem too
I can not seem to get the cheeseball firm. Any suggestions?
I had the same problem. Suggestions?
i had same problem too!
Since I couldn’t get it firm I made it into a dip! It was amazing!
Hmmm, others have had that problem as well. Glad you enjoyed it as a dip 🙂
I am considering making this but freezing a small ball of hot fudge first, then building the cheese ball around that? So it has a fudgey center. Of course I am considering doing that when (a) I have never even made the basic cheeseball and (b) it’s for a baby shower with dozens of people. May be a recipe for disaster! We’ll see!
Oh!! That sounds like a fun idea, be sure to let me know how it turns out!!!
I HAD to pin, save and drool over this cheeseball … then my hubby looked over my should and saw your Peanut Butter Cookie Dip … had to save and pin that recipe too! Now I must share my new finds 🙂 Thank you!
Are those hazelnuts I see along with the pecans and chocolate chips? Looks amazing! Thank you for sharing. Making this for Christmas!
Can’t wait to try this!