Lemon Cheesecake Cheese Ball
Lemon Cheesecake Cheese Ball – lemony, creamy, luscious cheesecake in the fun shape of a cheese ball! Perfect for parties or holidays, this heavenly dessert recipe is made with only 4 ingredients! Serve this delicious cheesecake ball with graham crackers or your favorite dipper.
I have to warn you. This Lemon Cheesecake Cheese Ball is so good, it’s dangerous. Like Lay’s chips, you can’t have just one [bite]!
I love cheese balls so much, I have several of them on the blog: Jalapeno Bacon Swiss Cheese Ball, Ghost Pepper Cheese Ball (for those that like a little heat), and a Cheddar Jalapeno Taco Cheese Ball.
They’re all wonderful, savory cheese balls, but what about dessert?
I decided to take something I love, cheesecake, and make a dessert cheese ball with my all-time favorite flavor, lemon. Boom. Instant winner!
This dessert cheese ball has the rich, creamy flavor of decadent lemon cheesecake, all rolled in a wonderful graham cracker coating. So good!
Check out this chocolate chip dip for another fun & easy dessert!
Ingredients needed for this recipe (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):
- Cream cheese
- Powdered sugar (also called confectioners sugar)
- Lemon
- Graham crackers/crumbs
- Dippers (Nilla Wafers, Graham crackers, Teddy Grahams, etc)
What is powdered sugar?
Powdered sugar, also called confectioners’ sugar, is granulated sugar that has been ground to a very fine powder. According to Food Network, some countries call it “icing sugar”.
This sweet, sugary ingredient also contains a touch of cornstarch to prevent clumping.
How to serve this dessert cheese ball?
To me, graham crackers are great dippers for this cheesecake cheese ball for several reasons.
One, cheesecake often has a graham cracker crust, so this seemed like a natural fit.
Secondly, if you’re making your own graham cracker crumbs for the exterior, you’re going to have extra! Perfect way to use up the leftovers!
Other good dippers: Nilla Wafers, Teddy Grahams, animal crackers.
How long will the cheese ball last?
The cheese ball should last up to a week in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.
Love lemon like I do? You’ll love this collection – 8 Recipes for Lemon Lovers!
From main courses and desserts, to sides and sauces, they’re all full of lemon flavor!
Looking for more dessert recipes? Here are some favorites:
- Blueberry Skillet Cake (shown below)
- Lime Cheesecake Sugar Cookie Bars
- Lemon Raspberry Bundt Cake
- Torched Twinkie Strawberry Short Cake
- Mini Biscoff Cheesecakes
NOTES:
- A real lemon is a must here. The plastic, lemon-shaped squeeze bottle is not a substitute for real lemon juice. Plus, we need the zest of the lemon for this recipe.
- You can use store-bought graham cracker crumbs or make your own with graham cracker sheets. If you buy the ready-made crumbs, you need 1/3 cup. If you make your own, you’ll need 3 graham cracker sheets to = 1/3 cup.
- I recommend using full-fat cream cheese as a low-fat version may make the cheese ball not set correctly.
Lemon Cheesecake Cheese Ball
Equipment
- Hand mixer
Ingredients
- 8 oz full-fat cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp powdered sugar also called "confectioners sugar"
- 1 lemon the zest of
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs approximately 3 whole sheets
Instructions
- Add softened cream cheese and powdered sugar to a mixing bowl. Zest the lemon into the bowl with the cream cheese. Cut the zested lemon in half and get 1 tablespoon of juice, then add it to the cream cheese.
- Using a hand mixer, beat the mixture until everything in incorporated. I like to use a rubber spatula and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure everything is combined well.
- Use the rubber spatula to push the mixture together into a general ball form. We're not going for perfection here, we just want to mold the beginning of the ball while it's soft and malleable. Refrigerate the cheese ball for at least an hour.
- If you are making your own graham cracker crumbs, you can either break 3 sheets of graham crackers into a food processor and pulse them or put them in a plastic bag or go over them with a rolling pin. You need 1/3 cup.
- After the cheese ball has rested in the fridge for at least an hour, pick it up with your hands and roll it into a ball. Some people like to use plastic wrap to do this, but I don't buy plastic wrap, so I do it with my hands. After you have gotten it into a nice ball shape, roll it in the graham cracker crumbs. The longer the cheesecake ball sits out, the softer it will be for serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- A real lemon is a must here. The plastic, lemon-shaped squeeze bottle is not a substitute for real lemon juice. Plus, we need the zest of the lemon for this recipe.
- You can use store-bought graham cracker crumbs or make your own with graham cracker sheets. If you buy the ready-made crumbs, you need 1/3 cup. If you make your own, you'll need 3 graham cracker sheets to = 1/3 cup.
- I recommend using full-fat cream cheese as a low-fat version may make the cheese ball not set correctly.
Did you make this recipe? Rate it and let me know in the comments below! ♥
I also have a fun Facebook group for us foodies to share recipes and talk about food. I’d love to have you! Request to join HERE. Cheers!
This recipe is delicious. I only buy low-fat cream cheese, and after reading the note about that, I just put the mixture straight into a serving dish and called it a dip. lol I didn’t top it with graham crackers because I didn’t get a chance, my family scooped right in with animal crackers. Again, absolutely delicious and not too sweet. Thank you!
I’m so glad this worked out for you! It is my favorite dessert to pull together because it’s so easy and everyone loves it! Glad you liked the low-fat version!
My wife loved them! Delicious
Best cheeseball EVER
Made this for a New Year’s Eve party and everyone loved it!