Why You Shouldn't Add Coating To Cheese Balls Until You're Ready To Serve

Cheese balls can bring a delightful, festive presentation to grazing tables, and the snackable ease of dipping crackers into and coating bread with soft, flavored cheeses is an experience many guests can appreciate. Making the spheres of cheese in advance can help eliminate prep work on the day of your event, but there is one step you should leave until just before serving: Coating the balls in your choice of seasonings, nuts, seeds, crispy bacon bits, or crunchy chips. 

As tempting as it might be to roll the round balls of cheese into various toppings once you're already in the kitchen, placing cheese balls covered in bits of crackers and pretzels can result in a disappointingly limp dish come mealtime. Instead, plan on wrapping the mound of cheese and adding those extra toppings of crunch to offer a texturally more satisfying dish than one that has been left to sit in the fridge for hours beforehand.

When creating cheese ball recipes, opt for softer cheese varieties like Gouda, goat, Brie, blue cheese, and Monterey Jack, then look to pair crunchy, denser ingredients to add that extra satisfying layer of texture. Use room-temperature cheeses so that you have an easier time rolling ingredients into the shapes and sizes of your choosing. If you'd like to get your toppings ready before the event, pack sliced nuts, crumbles of pretzels, or smashed pieces of your favorite chips in plastic bags. 

Just before your guests arrive, coat the pre-made cheese balls with the toppings of your choosing, either by rolling the chilled hunk of cheese into a shallow dish covered with your choice of crunchy toppings or by using the plastic bag to help you coat smaller spheres of cheese with the added ingredients. Once your cheese balls have been covered in your choice of dried fruits or crunchy snacks, set out to serve your creation as soon as possible.