Strawberry Cheeseball

"Sometimes they're tiny, sometimes they're tall but friends are the 'berry' best people of all! ~Strawberry Shortcake

I grew up in a world of Strawberry Shortcake where friends were important. Even in the age of technology where the value of friends have been lessened and have been turned into a matter of convenience, I still value friendships. Letters are now be emails. Notes are now texts. It is the little things that we do because we care that maintains our friendships and means so much.

In my world food and friendship goes hand in hand. Holiday dinners where we all pitch in. Parties to celebrate successes. Dinners to celebrate promotions. Comfort foods when failure, loss and disappointments occur.

There are some foods that are good to share with friends anytime. A food I love to share with friends is strawberries. This time of year strawberries are ripe, sweet and plentiful. A sweet treat that I make using fresh strawberries to share with friends and neighbors is “Strawberry Cheeseball”. This sweet fruity treat is very simple to make, inexpensive and enjoyed by all (in my experience anyway).

I hope you and your friends enjoy!

Strawberry Cheeseball
Soften 16 ounces of cream cheese and ½ cup of butter, mix well. Mix in 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and ¾ cup of powdered sugar. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Fold in 1 cup chopped fresh strawberries.

This is the part where you can be versatile.

-You may put the mixture in a bowl in the fridge for an hour and let it set up so you may roll it into one large ball. Roll the large cheeseball in crushed graham cracker crumbs. An easy way to cover the large ball with graham cracker crumbs is to pour the crumbs in a deep bowl or cake pan. Place the large cheese ball in the center of the crumbs and lightly toss the crumbs around to coat the ball.


-After refrigerating the mixture, you may use a cookie dough scoop to make small balls before rolling in crushed graham cracker crumbs. An easy way to cover the small balls with graham cracker crumbs is to pour the crumbs in a deep bowl. Place the small cheese ball in the center of the crumbs and lightly toss the crumbs around to coat the ball.

-After mixing, you may pour the mixture into a graham cracker crust and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs before refrigerating. It is really cute to use the small graham cracker crusts and makes for easy serving at a large gathering.

- You may store the mixture in a covered bowl and use to dip graham crackers or animal crackers into it for a yummy treat.