These cute little bats are made with cream cheese, taco cheese, taco seasoning, blue corn chips, and black olives for a super fun and tasty Halloween appetizer or snack.
This post and recipe were created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I was
sent samples by the sponsor company to help in recipe
development, but as always all opinions are 100% my own.
I'm sharing one savory Halloween recipe this week and they are these little bats! Bats are a favorite animal of mine, so I love incorporating them into my Halloween recipes (like this Hidden Bat Cake). These mini taco cheeseballs coated in blue corn chips are fun for a Halloween party snack, or to add to a taco dinner night around Halloween.
Making these little bats is easy, too. You only need a few ingredients and they don't take long to put together (minus the chilling time, which is hands-off).
Simply mix together the cream cheese, taco cheese, and taco seasoning, with a pinch of salt. Then roll the cheese into balls and chill them for a couple hours or overnight.
Right before servings, roll them in the crushed blue tortilla chips, stick in the blue tortilla chip wings, and press on the black olive slices for eyes. Then the bats are ready to put on a platter and serve!
If you are not going to eat all of the cheeseballs at one time, then wait to add the corn chip coating, wings, and olives until serving. Keep the prepared balls in the fridge in a covered container or under plastic wrap until you are ready to eat and serve.
If you put the corn chips on too far ahead, they will get all soggy, and you want them to stay nice and crunchy. You also want to make sure when you are crushing them up for rolling that you get them to a fairly fine texture so that they stick and cover the cheese well.
I used sliced black olives for these bats, but you can use sliced green olives with the pimento inside if you prefer. Either will make fun bats and your preference or whatever olives you have on hand will work. I chose the black because I liked keeping the bats dark in color, but the green and red will also have a fun and spooky effect and make cool looking eyes!
Serve these bats with extra blue tortilla chips and a small spreading knife (like the vampire in the photo below), so that each person can break apart their cheeseballs and have more chips for spreading their cheese onto for eating. You probably want to plan about two cheeseballs per person for an appetizer or party food.
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Halloween Mini Bat Taco Cheeseballs
Ingredients
- 1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup finely shredded taco (or Mexican) cheese blend
- 3 teaspoons taco seasoning
- pinch of salt
- blue corn tortilla chips
- black olives, sliced
Instructions
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Then mix in the taco cheese, taco seasoning, and a small pinch of salt.
- Use a tablespoon cookie scoop or a spoon to scoop the mixture. Use your hands to roll it into about ping pong ball-sized balls until you've used all the cheese.
- Place them on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight (they get more flavorful as they sit a bit).
- Decorate the balls with the corn chips and olives right before serving. Place a couple hand fulls of blue corn tortilla chips in a plastic freezer type bag (one that is thicker and won't rip easily).
- Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible, and use a rolling pin to crush the chips until the are finely ground up. Pour into a small bowl (you want about 1 cup of finely crushed chips).
- Roll each cheeseball into the crushed chips, lightly pressing to get good coverage. Place on a serving platter and then push a whole tortilla chip into each side (long side first), to look like wings.
- Place two olive slices, gently but firmly, onto each bat for eyes.
- Serve immediately with extra corn chips and small spreading knives.
Notes:
You may substitute green olives if you prefer those over black olives.
I hope you give these fun mini bat taco cheeseballs a try! Let me know in the comments below.
Don't forget to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Check out these other Halloween recipe ideas:
Halloween Hidden Bat Loaf Cake
Spider & Monster Face Halloween Pizza
Jack O' Lantern Cheese Quesadillas
White Chocolate Mummy Crispy Rice Treats
Check out all of these great #HalloweenTreatsWeek recipes for today:
- Jack-O-Lantern Apple Slice Pops from Big Bear’s Wife
- Monster Eyeball Cupcakes from Semi Homemade Recipes
- Ghost Meringue Cookies from Jen Around the World
- Apple Cider Donut Whoopie Pies from Pint Sized Baker
- Graveyard Pudding Cups from Fresh April Flours
- Churro Cookies from Devour Dinner
- Halloween Monster Donuts from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Witches' Brew Whiskey Sour from The Redhead Baker
- Witches Hat Cheese Ball from 4 Sons ‘R’ Us
- Pumpkin Swirl Brownies from Eat Move Make
- Layered Halloween Jello from from House of Nash Eats
- Mummy Wrapped Brie from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Mummy Cupcakes from The Flour Handprint
- Halloween Candy Cracker Toffee from Sweet ReciPEAs
- Old Fashioned Apple Fritters from It’s Shanaka
- Pumpkin Mint Patties from Sweet Beginnings
- Butterfinger Ice Cream (No-Churn) from Pastry Chef Online
- Chocolate Frogs from The Spiffy Cookie
- Halloween Cupcake Treat Board from Strawberry Blondie Kitchen
- Skull Cake from Lemon Blossoms
- Halloween Brownie Pizza from Back To My Southern Roots
- Halloween Mini Bat Taco Cheeseballs from Savory Moments
- Ghostly Poptarts from An Affair from the Heart
- Deadly Dark Chocolate Layer Cake from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Welcome!!! It is almost Halloween which means it is time for this year's #HalloweenTreatsWeek recipe and giveaway event!!
#HalloweenTreatsWeek is a yearly Halloween blogging event that is hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife & its a creepy and haunting week-long event is filled with some amazingly wicked Halloween treats, recipes and some frightfully fun giveaways.
“When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers ‘tis near Halloween.”
For the 4th annual #HalloweenTreatsWeek event we have 28 hauntingly talented bloggers that are sharing their favorite Halloween recipes throughout the week!
Follow the hashtag #HalloweenTreatsWeek on social media and look at the bottom of each post to see all of the Halloween recipes that we’re sharing!
Prize #1 from Dixie Crystals
41 Pieces Silicone Bakeware Set
3 Piece Halloween Silicone Spatula Set
Nordic Ware Haunted Skull Cakelet Pan
Giveaway open to US Residents 18 years or older. All entries will be verified. No PO Boxes Please. Prizes will be sent directly from sponsor to winner, bloggers are not responsible for prizes. This giveaway runs from October 11th - October 15th at 11:59PM EST. Winners will be selected soon afterward and contacted by e-mail. Winners will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. There are a total of 1 (ONE) prize pack and therefore we will have a total of 1 (ONE) winners. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.
Disclaimer: These posts and recipes are part of the week-long event, #HalloweenTreatsWeek but all opinions are 100% mine! We would like to Thank our amazing brand sponsors: Dixie Crystals that provided a prize pack for our giveaways and also sent some samples and products to the #HalloweenTreatsWeek bloggers to use in their recipes.
These are some super fun appetizers!
ReplyDeleteYou are knocking it out of the park with these cute Halloween recipes. They are all so fun!
ReplyDeleteThese are super cute and I bet they are delicious. Perfect for Halloween!
ReplyDeleteI'm just batty for these cheeseballs! How fun! And perfect for individuals who don't want to share the dip.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun and easy Halloween recipe.
ReplyDeleteSuch a fan-- these are so fun!
ReplyDeleteWow, SO creative! Really fun -- and delicious! -- stuff. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteA very creative and delicious idea!
ReplyDeleteI added tiny pimento to the center of the black olive "eyes". I placed orange tissue paper on the serving plate topped with a sheet of cling wrap. A cute presentation. I would skip the additional salt as the taco seasoning provides enough. Everyone loved them.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of adding the pimento! Sounds like a super fun presentation. Thanks so much for sharing!
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