Halloween Mini Bat Taco Cheeseballs

Turn cheeseballs into adorable Halloween bats with easy wings and olive eyes!

Medium

Our own summary of the original by Amy (Savory Moments) — the full post and photos live at savorymomentsblog.com.

These Halloween Mini Bat Taco Cheeseballs are a fun and savory party snack. Cream cheese, taco cheese, and seasoning form the base, rolled into balls, chilled, then coated in crushed blue corn chips and decorated with chip wings and olive eyes. Serve with extra chips for dipping.

Ingredients

1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened

1 cup shredded taco cheese blend

3 teaspoons taco seasoning

pinch of salt

blue corn tortilla chips

black olives, sliced

Directions

Beat softened cream cheese in a stand mixer with paddle attachment (or hand mixer) until light and fluffy. Add shredded taco cheese, taco seasoning, and a small pinch of salt, then mix thoroughly.

Using a tablespoon-size cookie scoop or a regular spoon, portion the cheese mixture. Roll each portion between your palms into balls roughly the size of ping pong balls, using up all the mixture.

Arrange the balls on a plate, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least two hours (overnight works well and deepens the flavor).

Right before serving, prepare the coating. Put a couple handfuls of blue corn tortilla chips into a thick freezer bag that won't tear easily. Press out as much air as possible, seal the bag, and crush the chips with a rolling pin until they become a fine powder.

Transfer the crushed chips to a small bowl (you'll want about 1 cup of finely crushed chips).

Roll each chilled cheeseball in the crushed chips, gently pressing so the chips adhere evenly. Place on a serving platter, then insert a whole tortilla chip into each side of each ball (with the long side first) to form bat wings.

For each bat, gently press two sliced black olives onto the front to serve as eyes.

Serve the bats immediately, accompanied by extra tortilla chips and small spreading knives.