It's so easy to make these adorably cute Baby Chick Cheese Balls for Easter. Each fuzzy-looking cheese ball is coated in shredded cheddar cheese and is decorated with olive eyes and cheese wings, beaks, and feet.
NEW video tutorial.
Since I started blogging and creating festive food for parties, I've shared ideas for transforming a simple cheese ball into mini monsters, a Halloween cat, warm fuzzies, a wedding cake, and a woman getting a facial.
I couldn't let Easter go by without adding chicks to my list of crafty cheese balls.
My Baby Chick Cheese Balls are tiny, yellow, and fuzzy, just like real chicks. Won't they be a cute addition to your Easter dinner table?
To make these tiny cheese balls you can use your favorite cheese ball recipe, the bacon cheddar cheese ball listed below, my Roasted Garlic Parmesan Cheese Ball Recipe, or Taco Cheese Ball Recipe.
Just be sure that the cheese ball mixture is not loaded with large chunks of meat, vegetables, or nuts. Chop everything finely so that you can scoop and roll a tiny cheese ball to make these cute baby chicks.
Baby Chick Cheese Balls
Instructions
Most packaged shredded cheese has long strips of cheese. I wanted the chicks' fuzz to be shorter so I poured the packaged shredded cheese into the food processor and pulsed it a few times, just to make the cheese pieces shorter.
You can also do this with a knife if you prefer, or just leave the cheese long.
Use a mini ice cream scoop or spoon to scoop out about ½ tablespoon of the cheese ball mixture. Drop it into the shredded cheese. Roll around, pressing on the cheese, creating a ball. Reserve a small amount of the cheese ball mixture to use as edible glue to attach the decorations. It's best to scoop out some of the cheese ball mixture before adding anything chunky like bacon.
Cut 2 mini daisy shapes, 2 mini teardrops, and 1 mini triangle out of slices of cheddar cheese for each chick you are making. Brush the daisy shapes (which will become the chick's feet) and the beaks with orange food coloring.
Use some of the reserved cheese ball "glue" to attach the feet and beak to the cheese ball.
Attach the wings to the side of the ball.
To make the eyes. Slice thin slivers off the sides of black olives. Press the small end of a pastry tip or straw into the olive. Twist and pull up. To remove the eyes from the pastry tip, turn it so the large opening is down and tap it a few times until the eyes fall out. If using a straw, push it out the open end. Attach the eyes to the cheese ball chicks by just pressing them into the cheese.
Set the chicks on crackers and they are ready to serve.
To store, place just the decorated chicks in an airtight container. Just before serving, set the chicks on crackers.
Items used to make this project are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales).
NOTES:
- Do not refrigerate the cheese ball chicks on the crackers. The crackers will get too soft.
- If you prefer not to use food coloring you can use carrots for the orange beaks and feet.
- If you don't have the tiny cutters, use kitchen shears or a knife to cut out the decorations.
- You'll notice in the video below that I brush the orange food coloring over a slice of cheese, allow it to dry, then cut out the flower shaped feet and beaks. This technique works great and I prefer it to the technique I used in the tutorial above.
- In the video I use a different daisy cutter to make the feet, but either cutter works fine. You can get all three cutters you need in one Premo Clay Cutter set from Amazon or the craft store in the clay aisle.
Video
Recipe
- 1 8 ounce block cream cheese, softened
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup very finely chopped bacon
- 6 ounces finely shredded cheddar cheese cut into small pieces
- 4 slices cheddar or American cheese
- orange food coloring
- 4-6 black olives
- crackers
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Stir together the cream cheese and cheddar cheese.
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Reserve 2 tablespoons of this mixture.
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Stir the bacon into the remaining cheese ball mixture.
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Scoop out ½ tablespoon size scoops of the cheese ball mixture.
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Roll into the small pieces of finely shredded cheddar cheese shaping into balls.
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Cut 2 tear drop shapes, 2 flower shapes, and one tiny triangle from the cheddar cheese for each cheese ball chick you have made.
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Brush orange food coloring over the triangles and flowers (or brush the coloring over the slice of cheese, allow to dry, then cut out the shapes).
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Cut thin slivers off the edges of the black olives and cut into tiny circles.
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Attach two tear drop shaped wings to the sides of each cheese ball using the reserved cheese ball mixture.
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If needed, warm the reserved cheese ball mixture in the microwave on the defrost setting for about 10 seconds.
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Attach a triangle beak and two flower shaped feet to each cheese ball then attach two black olive eyes.
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Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container until ready to serve.
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Set cheese balls on crackers just before serving.
Related Recipes
You might also like to add these other festive Easter appetizers to your holiday menu.
Hard Boiled Egg Carrots Deviled Egg Daisy
Deviled Egg Bunny Paws Deviled Egg Bunny Paws
Peeps Appetizer • Hatching Hard Boiled Egg Chicks
Crescent Roll Carrots • Veggie Pizza Easter Egg
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Anonymous
What would a large one look like? Going to be very busy tomorrow and the small chicks look a little time consuming....hmmm
beth
It would look cute too. Some of my readers made a large one with some babies and it looked adorable. Here's a link - http://joandsue.blogspot.com/2014/04/easter-2014.html
Heather - Chickabug
Adorable! Too cute to eat(maybe)! Thanks for sharing this wonderful idea! : )
Rachel Harwood
Love these!!! Featuring you this week at For the Kids Fridays at SunScholars!!!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer
Thanks for the feature, Rachel. Have a happy Easter.
Amanda Paulos
saw these on the TGIF linky -- adorable 🙂
KC Coake
Those are so stinking cute! My girls just saw them and were ohhhing and awwwing over them.
KC
Sue Boyer
Adorable...but to cute to eat. Great idea and the cheeseball recipe sounds delish. Thank you for sharing.
We may have met by chance...but we become friends by choice.
http://simpleesue.com/top-tip-for-today-10-household-uses-for-milk/
Brenda @ChattingOverChocolate.blogspot.com
OH SO CUTE!! Pinned 😉 Thanks for sharing!! Happy first day of Spring 🙂
Beth Jackson Klosterboer
Thanks, Brenda. I hope it feels like spring where you live! I'm dreaming of sunshine and warm weather, but it's below freezing here right now.
JJ @ BentoUSA.com
This is SOOOOOOOOO cute... shared and pinned!!! <3
Милана Ишутина
Какие милые цыплята! И наверное очень вкусные!
Anonymous
Ahhh.....they are too cute. I will definitely use your cheese ball recipes, all of which sound good. Haven't read them yet, but it seems the cheese recipes won't have to be refrigerated.
Sometimes people put decorated crackers in the refrigerator for hours and the crackers get soggy, so I'm gonna store my chicks in an air tight container as you suggested, having saved a bit of cheese for the glue & then set them on crackers just before serving.
I see you used Sculpey cutters. BACK to the store I go.
Thanks for holding the little chick in your hand as it gives a good idea of it's size. Sometimes things on the internet look bigger than they actually are. A whole flock of these could be made in just a few minutes. Peep-peep.
Tavette
Brenda @ SweetSimpleStuff
I am so sorry, but I could never eat one of these chicks ... they are just too cute! I would keep them in the refrigerator and talk to them every time I opened the door 🙂 Loved them ... pinned them!
Patsy
I love these chicks...and your blog! I am a new follower. Patsy
Vanessa
You always have such cute ideas!
Anonymous
I love these. The best thing is that they are already on their cracker. Let me try to put something on a cracker and it will end up in the punch or something else on the table. Again you have come thru with flying colors. Thank you so much. Trish Butler
Beth Jackson Klosterboer
Funny! Trish, you can "glue" them to the cracker, if you'd like, with some of the reserved cheese ball mixture. Then they'll only fly into your mouth, not the punch!
Leela
They are lovely 🙂
AndiWinslow
They are so cute, you clever girl. I pinned a chick. Thanks andi
Beth Jackson Klosterboer
Thanks for the pin, Andi!
Michelle | Creative Food
Love the baby cheese chicks!! They are so cute and easy to make!!
Sue
How do I get the recipe
Beth
The recipe is in the post above.
Loris Glassworks
What a cute idea, thanks for sharing! I pinned your post to my Easter board. Cheers!
Lori in Atlanta
Beth Jackson Klosterboer
Thanks, and I appreciate the pin!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust
These are TOO cute. I want to eat these for dinner. 🙂
Jill @ KitchenFunWithMy3Sons.com
Oh Beth...these are so cute!!