As I was trying to find something unique, delicious, and easy for this year’s Wine and Cheese Party, I stumbled across some rolled goat cheese balls on Pinterest. I got to thinking about how the flavors of cranberry and pistachio go well together, and went with it. (This post contains affiliate links.)

These little nuggets of deliciousness were a lot easier to make than I anticipated. I was worried the goat cheese would be tough to roll, or that the cranberries and pistachios wouldn’t stick, but they worked like a dream… so easy!

In fact, I’m excited to try other combinations to roll the goat cheese balls in, ranging from sweet to savory. I’m thinking cocoa powder, chives, herbs, bacon, bacon, bacon would be good, why didn’t I think of bacon earlier?!

Anyway, I hope you’ll give these a try (and if you decide to try some with bacon be sure to let me know how it goes).

How to Make Cranberry & Pistachio-Crusted Goat Cheese Balls

For the Crust:

You’ll need craisins and pistachios. Trader Joe’s has these shelled pistachios which I am ALL about.

In a food processor (we use a multi-tasking food processor that also converts into a blender), chop up the craisins and pistachios until fairly fine. I used about 60% craisins and 40% pistachios.

Once everything is chopped fairly fine, pour it out onto a plate and get your goat cheese ready.

To Make the Goat Cheese Balls:

Just pinch off a little bit and roll it around between your hands like play-doh.

Then roll the ball around in the plate of chopped craisins and pistachios.

Once you’ve got your goat cheese balls all rolled out, put them in the fridge until about 15 minutes before you’re ready to serve them.

To serve them, you can either put them on a platter next to the crackers…

Or you can make it easy on your guests by doing little pre-made bites.

Now go eat some cheese!

Oh, and here are some cool accessories you could use to serve your festive cheese balls:

p.s. LET’S STAY IN TOUCH! PREVENT FOMO AND SIGN UP HERE FOR AWESOME UPDATES TO YOUR INBOX.