Butterscotch Cheese Ball

Shape this Butterscotch Cheese Ball into a basketball and you’ve got the perfect March Madness dessert! Creamy and sweet and loaded with butterscotch flavor.

Don’t forget to add a few savory snacks to your table too. This Spinach Artichoke Dip and this Pepperoni Pizza Dip are both perfect for game day!

This Butterscotch cheese ball is loaded with flavor and perfect for #marchmadness. Not a fan of basketball? Skip the chocolate lines and enjoy the treat!


March Madness Dessert

Do you watch March Madness? I love any occasion that gives me an excuse to eat lots of tasty snacks, including dessert.

Our Butterscotch Cheese Ball is a sweet dessert dip with buttery brown sugar flavor. We shaped it like a basketball to turn it into a March Madness themed dessert!

  • Butterscotch chips give it the perfect orange basketball color and delicious flavor.
  • Melted chocolate is drizzles on top to mimic the lines on a ball.
  • Fun to eat with all kinds of sweet and salty dippers.

This easy recipe would also be perfect for any basketball viewing party, sports themed birthday party or post-game celebration for hungry athletes!

Ingredient Notes

The ingredients for this cheese ball recipe combine to create a rich, creamy dip with unmistakable butterscotch flavor.

  • Cream Cheese – Always use full fat cream cheese and let it soften to room temperature first.
  • Butter – Unsalted is best in this recipe, but salted will work too if that’s all you have.
  • Butterscotch sauce – The ice cream toppings that come in jars or squeeze bottles are easy to find and taste great here.
  • Sugars – We use brown sugar to bring out more butterscotch flavor, along with powdered sugar to thicken and sweeten the dip.
  • Butterscotch morsels – You’ll use a half cup in the cheeseball dip itself. Another full cup is used to create the outside layer of the basketball cheeseball.
  • Chocolate chips – These are optional for melting and creating the basketball design.

With our without the melted chocolate, this is one tasty butterscotch cheese ball!

How to Make a Basketball

After assembling the dip ingredients, it’s time to shape it into a cheeseball. Not just any cheeseball–a cheeseball BASKETBALL.

STEP 1. Wrap and chill.

Drop the dip into a bowl lined with plastic wrap. Wrap the plastic around the dip to form a ball.

Let the cheeseball chill in the refrigerator overnight.

STEP 2. Add butterscotch morsels

Place the chilled cheeseball on a plate. Use your hands to press it into a circle. Now take the reserved butterscotch morsels and press them all over the top and sides of the ball.

STEP 3. Chocolate lines

Melt the chocolate morsels in the microwave, then transfer the melted chocolate to a zip top bag. Snip off one corner of the bag.

Pipe the chocolate through the bag to create thick lines. We did one horizontally across the center crossed with three evenly spaced perpendicular lines to make it look like a basketball.

This Butterscotch cheese ball is loaded with flavor and perfect for #marchmadness. Not a fan of basketball? Skip the chocolate lines and enjoy the treat!

Tips and Tricks

  • Short on time? Skip the shaping and chilling and just serve this cheeseball as a sweet butterscotch dip! It’ll still be delicious.
  • Serving suggestions. Butterscotch Cheeseball tastes great with dippers like animal crackers, Nilla wafers, pretzels and graham crackers. Fresh apple slices would be good too! Or whipe up a few batches of homemade cinnamon sugar tortilla chips, and homemade bagel chips.
  • Storage: Return any leftovers to the refrigerator. Keep covered and enjoy within 3-4 days.
  • Substitutions: Instead of semi-sweet morsels, try using melted milk chocolate or dark chocolate to change up the flavor. Chocolate bars or melting wafers can also be used in place of chocolate chips.
This Butterscotch cheese ball is loaded with flavor and perfect for #marchmadness. Not a fan of basketball? Skip the chocolate lines and enjoy the treat!

Game Day Recipes

Butterscotch Cheese Ball

5 from 2 votes
By: Aimee
Shape this Butterscotch Cheese Ball into a basketball and you've got the perfect March Madness dessert! Creamy and sweet and loaded with butterscotch flavor.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Additional Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 12 servings

Ingredients 

  • 1 package cream cheese, softened 8 ounce
  • ½ cup unsalted butter softened
  • 2 Tablespoons butterscotch sauce ice cream topping
  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar packed
  • 1 ½ cups butterscotch morsels divided
  • ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels optional for basketball
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Instructions 

  • In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until fully blended. Add butterscotch sauce and sugars, and beat until combined. Add in 1/2 cup butterscotch morsels.
  • Line a small bowl (about a 4 cup size) with plastic wrap. Drop the cheese ball mixture into the bowl and wrap it up. Refrigerate for about 4 hours or overnight.
  • Remove plastic wrap and place cheese ball on a small plate. Press down and shape into a 6-7 inch circle.
  • Press remaining 1 cup butterscotch morsels into the top and sides of cheese ball. Melt chocolate morsels in a small bowl, in the microwave for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds. Place chocolate in a small ziploc bag. Snip off the corner and pipe thick lines on the cheese ball to make it look like a basketball (optional).
  • ENJOY with pretzels, animal cookies, nilla wafers or graham crackers.

Notes

  • Short on time? Skip the shaping and chilling and just serve this cheeseball as a sweet butterscotch dip! It’ll still be delicious.
  • Serving suggestions. Butterscotch Cheeseball tastes great with dippers like animal crackers, Nilla wafers, pretzels and graham crackers. Fresh apple slices would be good too!
  • Storage: Return any leftovers to the refrigerator. Keep covered and enjoy within 3-4 days.
  • Substitutions: Instead of semi-sweet morsels, try using melted milk chocolate or dark chocolate to change up the flavor. Chocolate bars or melting wafers can also be used in place of chocolate chips.

Nutrition

Calories: 291kcal, Carbohydrates: 48g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 25mg, Sodium: 140mg, Sugar: 44g
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American
Did you make this recipe?Mention @shugarysweets or tag #shugarysweets!

A basketball shaped dessert that’ll keep everyone gathered around the table! This Butterscotch Cheese Ball is easy to make with an eye-catching appearance and irresistible taste.



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About Aimee

Aimee is a dessert lover (specifically rice krispie treats), workout enthusiast, self-taught foodie, and recipe creator.

Learn more about Aimee.

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Posted on February 22, 2015

Comments & Reviews

  1. Love it! So cute and butterscotch rocks! I’m not a huge basketball fan, but our team is #2 in the country at the moment so everyone is really getting into it 🙂

  2. I puffy heart love butterscotch, so I love that you created a cheeseball with it. I might be able to handle some sports as long as I had this cheeseball and some pretzels to keep me entertained!!!

  3. mmm, T love butterscotch! I don’t use butterscotch chips often enough. I have been know to let a few fall into my pancake batter from time to time…. 😉 Pinned!

  4. This is too cute! I HATE watching sports, but if there is enough sugar and cream cheese involved, I think I could get into anything! Pinned 🙂

  5. This is so cute! I don’t hate sports, but I love cooking and baking SO MUCH MORE 🙂 If it’s between watching the game and fussing in the kitchen, I’ll always choose the latter.

  6. Butterscotch! This is so cute! Would seriously snack on this – might not share, well maybe just a little! Love this!

  7. Even I, miss Anti-Sports, would watch basketball if it meant eating this cheeseball. HEAVEN!! And BTW, fun fact – I played basketball for three years and I still don’t like it! Haha.

  8. I love all of your cheese ball recipes and this butterscotch one looks fantastic! Basketball isn’t one of my favorites either but I’d gladly watch the game with this cheese ball nearby.

  9. This cheese ball looks fantastic, Aimee! Such a creative way to sneak in some butterscotch. Pinned!

  10. Well, this is the cutest thing I’ve seen all morning (other than my puppies of course)! You’re such a good sport for making March Madness themed treats, even if you don’t necessarily like basketball. I enjoy a baseball game on a warm summer night or a Sunday afternoon football game occasionally. However, I enjoy eating more! Horrah to butterscotch cheese balls!

  11. I’m so with you on basketball, Aimee. I get so tired watching those sweaty men running around. Aren’t they worn out? Wouldn’t they rather be hanging out watching Netflix somewhere on a comfy couch?
    If I’m at a March Madness party, you can bet I’m parked next to this cheese ball. Not even gonna pretend I’m there for any other reason. Butterscotch is the BEST.

  12. Best cheeseball ever!! I love butterscotch and between the butterscotch sauce and the butterscotch chips and the cream cheese, I would hog this 🙂

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