The only reason I'm not giving this recipe five stars is because I don't follow it exactly. I have made it several times and NEVER use the butter. It turns out beautifully without it. I used a 4 oz container of blue cheese, which is plenty. I also skip the chives unless I'm going to be using them for something else (no reason to buy a packet of them just for this.) After gathering the mixture (mixed well in my stand mixer) into a ball, I roll in chopped walnuts. I wrap it in plastic and then stick it In bowl so it retains its shape in the refrigerator. Definitely make it the day before so that the flavors meld together and the ball sets up. I usually make two cheese balls for parties...this is the most popular one.

Reviewed On: Dec. 26, 2012

The recipe was very easy to follow (easier than finding the Madeline pans...Wilton Pro at select BB&Bs). I used eggbeaters instead of eggs, since that was what I had (I very rarely have real eggs on hand.) So, I'm not sure how much that affected the outcome. I doubled the recipe and came out one short of filling my two trays. The cooking time was shortened to around 12 minutes...which I think may have been too long as they came out pretty dense. They were very eggy smelling and tasting. I think they would be an excellent savory item with a little modification. Other than the eggbeaters, I followed the recipe except for the lemon zest (not a fan of lemon flavoring.) The Madelines were edible and I would try the recipe again, but maybe with some of my own modifications and the use of real eggs instead of eggbeaters.

Reviewed On: Jul. 26, 2009