Strawberry Cheesecake Balls

This easy recipe for Strawberry Cheesecake Balls makes delightful little bite-size bursts of pink sweetness full of strawberry flavor.

Easy Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Sweet strawberries and creamy cheesecake are a classic dessert combo that’s always a huge hit. But when you roll those flavors into festive, chocolate covered cake balls, you have irresistible, bite-sized treats that are as much fun to make as they are to eat! Your guests will love them too!

Rolled and chilled cake balls are dipped in a chocolate coating that sets up and gives the exterior the perfect snap when you bite into them, giving way to the smooth and creamy center. Not only are they delicious, but they also make a beautiful presentation anytime you want to add a pretty pop of pink to your dessert table.

If you love cheesecake and enjoy bite-sized desserts, you should also try these Red Velvet Cheesecake Balls or these Strawberry Cake Balls that is a similar recipe but uses a baked cake to make the dough.

💓 Why We Love This Recipe

• Festive: They are a festive and delicious treat, perfect for Valentine’s Day, Easter, birthday parties, or just for when you need a quick snack to cure a sweet tooth.
• Easy recipe: Strawberry cheesecake balls are super easy sweet treats using just a few simple ingredients.
• Perfect mini desserts: These mini strawberry cheesecake bites are the perfect size for satisfying cheesecake cravings without having to prepare a whole cheesecake.

🛒 Ingredients

• Strawberry cake mix
• Cream cheese – softened to room temperature
• Cream cheese chips-chopped
• Ghirardelli vanilla melting wafers (or white chocolate wafers)
• Pale pink candy melts
• Bright pink candy melts
• Festive colored sprinkles (optional)

🥄Recommended Tools

• Medium mixing bowl
• Piping bags
• 1 ½  tablepoon cookie scoop
• Electric mixer
• Baking tray
• Wire rack

🧑🏻‍🍳 How to Make Strawberry Cheesecake Balls

Step One: Heat Treat the Cake Mix

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Once the oven is heated, spread the dry cake mix onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Step Two: Blend Cream Cheese

• While the cake mix is cooling, place the softened cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy.

Step Three: Add the Cake Mix

• Add the cooled cake mix into the bowl and fold it in with the cream cheese a few times with a rubber spatula.
• Finish mixing with your hand mixer on medium-high speed until the cake mix and cream cheese mixture combined, and you get a dough consistency.

Step Four: Fold in the Cream Cheese Chips

• Using a rubber spatula, fold the cream cheese chips into the cake mixture until evenly combined.

Step Five: Chill Cheesecake Ball Mixture

• Cover the cheesecake mixture with plastic wrap and allow it to chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Step Six: Form the Balls

• Once the dough has chilled, line two baking sheets with parchment paper and use a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough and place onto the baking sheets.
• Roll each of them into smooth and even balls with your hands.
• Set aside and allow them to expand, about 15 minutes.

Step Seven: Melt the Candy Wafers:

• Prepare a double boiler to melt the vanilla candy wafer melts on the stovetop over low heat.

Note: Alternatively, you can use a microwave safe bowl and microwave on a low setting for 30 second increments, stirring between each time, until fully melted.

Step Eight: Coat the Cheesecake Balls

• Place one dough ball on a fork and dip it fully into the melted vanilla wafers. Lift it out and tap the fork gently on the edge of the bowl or pot to help remove any excess coating from the dough ball, then place the coated balls onto the lined baking sheet.
• Repeat for the rest of the strawberry bites and space each one 2 inches apart. Before the coating dries, sprinkle your choice of sprinkles on top of just half of the prepared dough balls.

Step Nine: Add Pink Chocolate Drizzle

• Place the two pink candy melts separately in microwave-safe small bowl piping bags and microwave on a low setting until fully melted.

• Cut a small hole in the tip in each piping bag or a Ziplock plastic bag and then drizzle onto the remaining already coated cake balls.

Allow the coated cheesecake bites to set completely before serving. Enjoy!

Variations of Strawberry Cream Cheese Balls

• Cake mixes: You can use any flavor cake mix you like to make these delicious treats. Red velvet is great for Valentine’s Day and Christmas. Funfetti cake mix is perfect for birthdays. You can use regular and chocolate for any occasion.

• Chocolate wafers: While you’ll want to use high quality melting wafers, you can change colors to match the occasion. You can also use white almond bark or candy wafers with gel food coloring to make them any color you prefer.

• Chocolate chips: We used cream cheese chips, but you can use any flavor you prefer. Mini chocolate chips taste wonderful with the strawberry cake mix center.

• Graham cracker crumbs: If you really want them to taste like creamy strawberry cheesecake bites, you can sprinkle some crushed graham crackers over the top of dipped cake balls before they dry.

Tips for Perfect Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Balls

• Treating the cake mix: If you do not want to heat treat the cake mix in the oven, you can also heat treat it using the microwave. Microwave it in a microwave safe bowl for 3 minutes, stirring the cake mix in 30-second intervals to ensure it is evenly heated and to avoid any hot spots.

• Room temperature cream cheese: To make sure you end up with smooth filling without any lumps of cream cheese, make sure it has come to room temperature before beating it.

• Chill the dough: Don’t rush chilling the dough because it helps to make it easier to roll into smooth balls.

• Rest the dough: When you remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out, the cheesecake balls will continue to expand a little. Make sure to give them about 15 minutes to rest before you dip them in the melted wafers. This prevents them from cracking the chocolate coating.

What Does Heat Treating Dry Cake Mix Do?

You may have heard that eating raw cake batter isn’t safe to eat because it contains raw eggs. While that may be true, the real issue is the raw flour in cake mix can contain harmful bacteria. By cooking the dry cake mix, you kill any bacteria, making it perfectly safe to eat raw in dessert recipes, like these little strawberry cheesecake bites.

How Do I Store Cake Balls

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze them using these simple steps:

1. Allow the chocolate coating on the cake balls to dry completely.
2. Place the balls, unwrapped on a sheet pan and place in the freezer for about an hour or until they are firm.
3. Remove them from the tray and wrap them in parchment paper or wax paper. Avoid plastic wrap because it tends to stick when thawing.   Try to get the paper wrapped as closely as you can to the cake balls without mashing them. You want to get as much air out as you can.
4. Drop the wrapped cake balls in a gallon sized freezer bag and place them in a safe place in the freezer so they do not get smushed.

Want More Mini Dessert Recipes?

• Chocolate Rum Balls
• Valentine Pretzel Bites
• Oreo Cheesecake Balls
• Peanut Butter Balls
• Mini Fruit Tarts
• Valentine Brownie Truffles
• Chocolate Mint Cookie Cups