This Dessert Cheese Ball (brownie batter dip) is a no-bake treat that’s perfect for an easy dessert or entertaining guests.
Dessert Cheese Ball
I love a good cheese ball or a savory veggie dip, like this Baked Potato Dip—so why not enjoy dessert cheese balls too?!
That’s where this brownie batter dip comes in. It’s got all the fun elements of a cheese ball but in dessert form. Instead of savory cheeses, this one uses sweet cream cheese.
This is one of my favorite desserts to bring and share. It’s a total showstopper and always the first thing to disappear!
Rich, sweet, and packed with texture from toffee bits and mini chocolate chips, it’s perfect for dipping all kinds of treats—just like Chocolate Fondue.
Ingredients
- Full-fat cream cheese: Make sure it’s fully softened to room temp.
- Unsalted butter: Use room-temp butter to blend well with the cream cheese.
- Vanilla extract: Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Powdered sugar: Sift the sugar if it’s clumpy to avoid gritty spots in the dessert.
- Chocolate fudge brownie mix: Heat-treat the mix to eliminate any risk.
- Mini chocolate chips: Creates a crunchy, chocolatey coating.
- Toffee bits: Adds a sweet, crunchy texture.
How To Heat Treat Brownie Mix
This dessert uses a boxed brownie mix with “raw” flour. If you’re worried about bacteria, heat-treat the mix to make it safe. Here are two easy ways:
Microwave Method: Put the brownie mix in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat it in 30-second bursts, stirring after each one. Check the temperature with a thermometer—it should reach 165°F. If it hasn’t, heat for another 30 seconds.
Oven Method: Preheat the oven to 300°F. Spread the brownie mix on a parchment-lined baking pan. Bake it, stirring every 1.5 minutes, and check the temperature until it hits 165°F.
Quick Tip
Make sure you give the brownie mix time to cool to room temp before using in the dessert cheese ball.
Dessert Cheese Ball Tips
- I recommend full-fat cream cheese for this recipe. When using lower fat cream cheese, it doesn’t hold together as well and can actually get a bit watery.
- Since the brownie mix does have salt in it, I recommend using unsalted butter so the total amount of salt in this Dessert Cheese Ball can be managed.
- Use a fudge brownie mix. We like Pillsbury® chocolate fudge brownie mix or Betty Crocker® fudge brownie mix (neither sponsored). Avoid brownie mixes with chocolate chips in them if you are heat-treating the mix.
- Toffee bits are a game changer! We add milk chocolate English toffee bits and they bring such a great flavor and texture to the dessert.
- Use room-temperature cream cheese and butter. It’s really important that the cream cheese and butter are at room temperature. You don’t want to melt either of them, or this dessert cheese ball won’t set up properly. Leave cold ingredients out for 45 minutes to an hour, or use some of these tricks to bring them to room temperature quicker.
- The whole ball gets rolled in a delicious coating of miniature chocolate chips, but you could also roll it in the toffee bits if you’d prefer that.
Dessert Cheese Ball Dippers
While I’m partial to a nice big spoon…here are a few of our other favorite things to dip into this dessert cheese ball:
- graham crackers
- Oreos/Oreo thins (basically any variety of Oreo® cookies are delicious!)
- pretzels/pretzel thins
- vanilla sandwich cookies
- fresh fruit
- animal cookies
Quick Tip
When wrapped and stored correctly, this Dessert Cheese Ball will stay fresh in the fridge for 4-5 days. Because of the dairy in this dessert (the cream cheese), it is not a great candidate for freezing and thawing. The chocolate chips and toffee also get too soft and mushy.
More Brownie Treats
- Brownie Trifle with vanilla cream and berries
- Peppermint Brownies with chocolate ganache topping
- Cosmic Brownies with fudge sprinkles
- Miniature Brownie Bites
- Mini Brownie Bites with Rolos using a brownie mix!
Dessert Cheese Ball
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese full-fat
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter equivalent of 1/2 cup or 1 stick
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-1/2 cups chocolate fudge brownie mix dry
- 1-1/2 cups miniature chocolate chips divided
- 1/2 cups toffee bits
- Dippers of your choice
Instructions
- It’s important that the cream cheese and butter are at room temperature. Leave cold ingredients out for 45 minutes to an hour, or use some of these tricks to bring them to room temperature quicker. Do not melt either; soften in the microwave for 10–15 seconds if needed.
- In a large bowl, beat the room-temperature cream cheese and butter until completely smooth. Add in the vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and dry brownie mix (see note 1). Mix until completely smooth.
- Stir in 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and the toffee bits. Mix until incorporated. The mixture will be fairly soft/wet/sticky, but don’t worry; it firms up a lot during the chilling process!
- Spread out a very large piece of plastic wrap. Using a spatula, scrape and scoop all the mixture into a ball on top of the plastic wrap. Wrap around the dessert ball, form into a ball, and place in the fridge to chill for 3–4 hours or until completely firm.
- Spread 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips on a large plate. Unwrap the cheesecake ball and put on top of the chocolate chips. Use the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips to coat all the rest of the cheesecake ball.
- Serve with dippers of your choice.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Heat treat in the microwave: Add brownie mix to a heat-safe bowl. Microwave on high in bursts of 30 seconds, stirring between each burst. Take your time, stirring well to make sure none of the flour burns. Use a thermometer to test the flour in a few places to make sure it has reached 165°F throughout all the flour.
- Heat treat in the oven: Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line a large sheet pan (with sides) with a nonstick liner or parchment paper. Spread the brownie mix on the pan. Bake the brownie mix, removing and stirring it every 1 and 1/2 minutes. Every time you remove the brownie mix, test it with the thermometer. As soon as it reaches 165°F, it’s safe to use.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This brownie batter cheese ball looks absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to try it for my next get-together. Love the idea of pairing it with pretzels and fruits for that perfect sweet and salty combo. Thanks for sharing such a fun and creative recipe!
I’m so excited for you to try it!