Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cheeseball

Plate with a cheeseball on it, for dessert, with cookies and pretzels around it on a white plate.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cheeseball

This Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cheeseball (dessert cheeseball) is an edible, no flour, egg-free peanut butter that's covered in mini chocolate chips. Sweet, smooth, and full of peanut butter flavor. Serve with an assortment of mini cookies, pretzels, or a spoon!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword dessert cheeseball, edible peanut butter cookie dough, peanut butter cookie dough cheeseball

Prep Time 10

Fridge Time 1

Total Time 1 10

Servings

Calories 373kcal

Author Jessica - Together as Family

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons salted butter softened
4 oz cream cheese softened
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Outside of Cheeseball/Serving

1 bag (10 oz) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (*see notes)
Mini Oreo Cookies, Nutter Butter Bites, Mini Chips Ahoy, Pretzels, Mini Nilla Wafers, Mini Graham Cracker shapes, Chocolate Chip Teddy Grahams, Mini Fudge Stripes, etc.

Instructions

Add the peanut butter, butter, and cream cheese to a mixing bowl. Use an electric hand mixer to beat until smooth and combined.
* It's important to use soft butter + cream cheese to avoid lumps in the mixture.
Add in the vanilla extract and beat just until combined.
Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed, increasing speed as needed, until everything is combined.
*At this point, if the cookie dough is too sticky and hard to form a ball using your fingers, or if you want it sweeter, you may need to add more powdered sugar. About an additional 1/4 cup.
Stir in the mini chocolate chips with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
Turn the cookie dough onto a parchment lined countertop, serving plate, or cookie sheet. Use your clean hands to form it into a ball. Cover the entire outside of the cheeseball with mini chocolate chips (or chocolate brown colored sprinkles work too).
* I suggest not doing this part on the serving plate you're using to serve, as it is messy with all the sprinkles or mini chips.
Transfer the cheeseball to the fridge, cover it with plastic wrap or foil, and let it refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Serve with mini cookies, pretzels, apple slices, or a spoon!
* I share lots of ideas for serving up in the ingredient section of the recipe card.
* The dip out of the fridge will be firm and hard to dip anything into it, let it sit at room temperature for several minutes before serving, and it will soften up perfectly.

Notes

Outside Coating : I frequently make this recipe using chocolate/brown colored sprinkles for the outside rather than mini chocolate chips. The mini chips have a harder texture which can be difficult for some kids. Using sprinkles on the outside is most often how I make this recipe.

Variations : Use mini m&m's or chopped peanut butter m&m's inside the cheeseball rather than the mini chocolate chips. You can also coat the outside of the cheeseball with chopped peanut butter m&m's, or try using peanut butter chips on the outside or inside the cheeseball in place of the mini chips.

I make this for the Super Bowl and shape the cookie dough into a football shape. I then use white cookie icing to make the laces on top.

Make this for any Holiday using the color themed m&m's for that Holiday and/or use Holiday themed sprinkles to coat the outside of the cheeseball.

Recipe Yield : This recipe yields approximately 2.5 cups of peanut butter cookie dough. I figure the serving size is about 1/4 cup each, so this cheeseball can feed 10 people. The serving number could be larger or smaller depending on how much each person eats. For my family of 6, this cheeseball is plenty and we always have leftovers.

Mini Cookies : I love serving this cheeseball with the mini sized cookies. Of course, you can use regular sized, but the minis are just so cute and they look great on the plate around the cheeseball. We also like this with pretzels, a spoon, apple slices, and even some bite sized graham cracker shapes.

Tip : Don't put the cookies or pretzels on the plate with the cheeseball, while it's refrigerating for 1-2 hours, before serving. Only refrigerate the cheeseball and then add the serving cookies and pretzels when you take it out of the fridge for serving.

This cookie dough cheeseball will firm up in the fridge, which might make it hard to dip or eat, leave the cheeseball at room temperature for several minutes before serving, and it will soften up perfectly for dipping and eating.

Leftover cheeseball needs to be stored, covered, in the fridge.

Use regular creamy peanut butter and NOT the kind that is all-natural, no-stir, or has that layer of oil on top. Those peanut butters tend to be drier and thicker, which won't turn out well in this recipe. But you can always experiment.

Nutrition Information : This is for 10 servings with each serving being equal to 1/4 cup of cookie dough. It includes the mini chips inside the cookie dough and mini chips on the outside. This information could vary greatly depending on what you put on the outside. It does not include any calories for serving dippers like cookies or pretzels.

Nutrition