Yippee-Ki-Yay Holiday Vegan Cheese Ball

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I’m feeling Die Hard this year and this Yippee-Ki-Yay Holiday Vegan Cheese Ball lives up to its movie reference.

Many would argue that Die Hard is the best Christmas movie of all time. Sometimes, I agree. Other times, I think it’s Christmas Vacation – it depends on my mood.

This Vegan Cheese Ball is simple to make, you can do it in your high-speed blender or your food processor. This is a no-bake recipe.

Ingredient Notes

Raw Cashews

Raw cashews aren’t actually raw. Referred to as raw cashews when they are unroasted and unsalted, actual raw cashews are not suitable for human consumption. Cashews are steamed to remove an outer toxin, here’s a more elegant explanation. This recipe uses unsalted, unroasted “raw” cashews. Oh, and cashews are seeds, not nuts.

The Nooch

I always use and recommend unfortified nutritional yeast. The fortified stuff can taste synthetic or vitamin-y. I take this B12 supplement instead of getting it through nooch. Both vegans and non-vegans may have difficulty getting enough B12.

Refined Coconut oil

I recommend steam-refined organic coconut oil for this recipe. Some refined coconut oils use chemicals to refine them. I recommend refined coconut oil because it has a more neutral flavor, unrefined tastes very coconut-y. The consistency of coconut oil is great for creating the perfect cheese ball texture.

Sliced Almonds

Sliced almonds are a classic cheese ball ingredient. You could leave your cheese ball naked or put herbs on the outside. Part of the reason I love dividing this into 3 balls, is that doing so creates a higher sliced almond to cheese ratio. When we eat this as one bigger ball, I serve extra sliced almonds on the side. Oh and almonds are not nuts, they’re drupes. I know. To me, Pluto is still a planet.

Yippee-Ki-Yay, let’s get this Cheese Ball Party Started

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups “raw”, unroasted, unsalted cashew pieces soaked overnight or boiled, then soaked while you load up the blender with other ingredients. Drain before adding to the blender. If using whole cashews go with heaping or weigh 170 – 175 grams. Measure the cashews before soaking or boiling, then drain before using.
• ¼ cup unfortified nutritional yeast I recommend unfortified, the fortified kind tends to taste a bit synthetic and vitamin-y
• 1 TBSP raw apple cider vinegar
• 1½ TBSP mellow white miso sub chickpea miso if you or yours have a soy allergy
• 2 TBSP tomato paste
• ¾ teaspoon salt fine
• 1 teaspoon white onion powder
• ½ teaspoon dry ground mustard powder
• ⅓ teaspoon smoked paprika I recommend smoked, not sweet
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ cup steam refined organic coconut oil placed in a hot water bath to get it to liquify
• ½ cup (approximately) sliced almonds *optional, but I think is a requisite addition

First, if you haven’t soaked your cashews overnight, boil them in water and then let them sit in the warm water while you do other things.

Next, put the jar of refined coconut oil in a hot water bath.

Load your blender or food processor with everything except the cashews, coconut oil and sliced almonds.

Drain your cashews. Then add your drained cashews to the blender.

Confirm that the coconut oil is in liquid form. If it is liquid, add it to the blender. If it’s not liquified, let the jar sit in hot water longer.

Blend or process until smooth, using a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender or food processor.

Transfer from blender into plastic wrap lined bowl or rounded container or parchment-lined pan and chill, see notes below.

Chill Baby

It will chill in 5 – 6 hours in the fridge if you are making one ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in a bowl or round container.

This time, I left mine in the fridge overnight and then I shaped it with the plastic wrap still on it, into a better ball. It doesn’t need to look flawless, because we are adding sliced almonds to the outside.

Sometimes, I make two or three smaller balls

Smaller balls chill more quickly, I wrap them individually and put one in the freezer for about 15 minutes (checking for firmness) if I want to serve it more quickly.

For the quickest cheese ball chill

Take two pieces of parchment paper and put them in a square pan going in vertical and horizontal directions. Then use a spatula and spread out the cheese ball mixture onto the parchment. Next, put it in the freezer for around 30 minutes. Then, remove from the pan freezer, pull the parchment paper up and around and shape it into a ball, keeping the parchment paper around the cheese ball mixure to prevent the cheese ball mixture from getting on your hands.

Assembly

I put the almonds in a bowl and I pushed the almonds into the ball. Then I added some sliced almonds individually by pushing them in with my finger. If you let your cheese ball sit, it will get softer and the almonds will stick even better.

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Recipe adapted from Somer McCowan’s Kick Ace Raw Cheese Ball Recipe on Vegged Out.

If you are doing some holiday entertaining these Easy Stove Top Pecans or this Zucchini Bread are sure to yum up your winter gathering!

Did you make this Yippee-Ki-Yay Holiday Vegan Cheese Ball?

Was it delicious? Any variations? Is Die Hard your favorite Christmas movie? Tell me about it in the comments below.