Turkey Dessert Cheese Ball

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This turkey dessert cheeseball is a unique sweet twist on the classic Thanksgiving appetizer. Go give it a try!

Prep Time30

Chill Time2

Total Time2 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 672kcal

Equipment

Mixing Bowls
Hand/Stand Mixer
Spatula
Serving Tray
Plastic Wrap

Ingredients

16 ounce Cream Cheese softened
¼ cup Butter softened
½ cup Brown Sugar
1 ½ cups Pecans chopped & separated
1 ½ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolates seperated
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Candy Corn for the nose
2 Candy Eyes
1 M&M plain red
Candy Melts red, orange, yellow-about ½ cup of wafer each, before melted
¼ cup Semi Sweet Chocolates for attaching the turkey’s face.

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, cream together softened cream cheese and softened butter. Next, beat in brown sugar, vanilla and ½ a cup of chopped pecans along with ½ a cup of semi-sweet chocolates until just combined.
Using a spatula, scrape the cheese ball mixture into a mound onto a large piece of plastic wrap and shape into a ball. Place the cheese ball into the refrigerator for at least two hours (or overnight if preparing the day before).
While the cheese ball is chilling, make the candy melt feathers. Melt orange, red and yellow candy melt wafers in separate bowls according to the package instructions.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and add a small dollop of melted chocolate and form a leaf shape using a spoon. I recommend making as many as will fit on your baking sheet (but at least 12-15). Place the feathers on the baking sheet in the refrigerator to harden.
Once the cheese ball has completely set, take it out of the refrigerator and mix together the remaining cup of semi-sweet chocolates and pecans and pour them out on a tray or plate. Then carefully roll the cheese ball in the chocolates/ pecans and cover all over. You might need to use your hands to pack extra on and fill in the sparse areas.
Now press in the feathers to the back third of the cheese ball to look like turkey feathers.
Melt a few semi-sweet chocolates in the microwave to attach the nose, eyes and gobbler to the front of the cheese ball to create a face! (I recommend that you use kitchen tweezers to dip the facial pieces into the melted chocolate and to attach them to the cheese ball since they are so small!

Notes

Notes:

Service with pretzels, fruit, graham crackers, nilla wafers, etc.
Do not overbeat the cream cheese mixture, if you do, it will combine and over-soften and the ball will be harder to form.
I always use paper plates and plastic spoons when working with candy melts because they're much easier to toss than clean up!
I recommend that you assemble the turkey ball on the tray or plate that you plan to serve it on because it's not easy to move once made.
If you are planning to make this ahead of time, just make the covered cheese ball and keep it in plastic wrap separate from the feathers, eyes, nose and gobbler and assemble an hour before serving!
Make sure to keep the dessert cheese ball refrigerated until you serve it because it can begin to sweat a bit if left out very long.

Storage and Reheating Instructions:

The turkey dessert cheesecake can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated until it is ready to be served. Any leftovers can be covered and refrigerated for the same time. Just remember to get the cheeseball out and let it soften a bit before you serve.

Other FAQ Suggestions:

What Else Can I Use As a Topping? You can actually try out many other variations too. Pick any chopped nuts of your choice or use M&Ms or even mini marshmallows.
What Can I Use Instead of Chocolate Feathers? If making the chocolate feathers from scratch seems too time consuming for you, you can make use of pretzel sticks instead. They can serve as the make-believe feathers of the turkey.
How Do I Serve the Turkey Dessert Cheeseball? This creamy turkey dessert cheeseball can be served with pretzel sticks, apple slices, Nilla wafers, graham crackers or any cookies of your choice.

Nutrition