Old Fashion Cheese Appetizer Recipes from my Hoosier Childhood

This is a group of old fashion recipes for cheese appetizers that are great as party food, finger-food pitch-ins, etc.  Hot Cheese Balls, Baked Olive Cheese Balls, and Evan’s Pineapple Cheese Ball should all be added to your party foods file.

HOT CHEESE BALLS
This old recipe is from the community where I grew up in Southern Indiana.

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grate cheese and bring to room temperature. Add butter, flour, salt, mustard, and paprika. Roll into balls the size of marbles. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

EVAN’S PINEAPPLE CHEESE BALL
This is an old Hoosier recipe.

2 8-oz pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups chopped pecans, divided
1/4 green onion, finely chopped, optional
2 tsp finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp garlic salt

Reserve one cup of the chopped pecans; set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients. Use hands to mix well. Shape mixture into 2 balls. Rolls balls in the reserved pecans. Chill until serving time. May be store in the refrigerator for a few days if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or tightly sealed in a zip-top plastic bag.

BAKED OLIVE CHEESE BALLS
This is another old recipe from my childhood.

1 cup cheddar cheese
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
dash of black pepper
25 medium pitted olives, well drained

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Drain the olives then lay out on paper towels to further dry.

In a mixing bowl cream together the cheddar cheese and the butter. When creamy, add the flour and black pepper; stir to blend well. Wrap a teaspoon of the cheese dough around each of the olives. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!