Fresh goat cheese is always a good idea! How to make a gorgeous DIY flavored goats cheese log for your next cheeseboard or appetizer, plus loads of goat cheese log recipe ideas.
I’m obsessed with goat cheese, and have always found it to be a pretty easy crowd pleaser when appetizer o’clock hits.
And while slapping down a Boursin and some Raincoast Crisps on an appetizer platter is never a bad idea, sometimes it’s fun to get a bit more fancy and DIY.
Enter, a DIY goat cheese log.
Sure you can buy a fancy dressed-up chevre log, but it’s much more fun to make it using the cheese log recipe and ideas below.
You’re sure to get far more oohs and aaahs from your guests if you follow these surprisingly easy DIYs.
One of the things I love about this DIY flavored goat cheese log is how easy it is to make.
The prep time and effort involved in making them is dwarfed by the results.
Easy to make, requiring less than 15 minutes of prep time, with maximum zhuzh.
Nothing short of goat cheese appetizer magic.
Easy, Fancy Goat Cheese Log Recipe
Because soft, fresh goat cheese has such a mild, fresh flavor, the sky really is the limit in terms of the toppings and flavor combinations you can use as a coating.
Below, I’ve shared 3 of my favorite combos, which work year round: toasted walnuts and honey; lemon zest and cracked pepper; and strawberry rosemary sea salt.
However, it’s worth noting the sky is really the limit with these! You can make cozy seasonal flavors for the holidays, color block some red, white, and blue around July 4th, and experiment with flavors, spices, and textures to your heats content!
Further down, I’ve shared my how to tips and recipe. But before we go there, here’s a few more ideas to inspire.
Festive Combos: Pistachio – Dried Cranberries / Pecan – Dried Cranberries / Walnut-Dried Cranberries
Around the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s), a classic combo of dried fruit and nuts are a festive, crowd-pleasing appetizer.
Think cranberry-pecan, cranberry-walnut or pistachio-cranberries with dried cranberries and plain, toasted, or candied nuts. You can add in seasonings, such as festive spices like cinnamon, or fresh herbs like rosemary, and add in some dried apricots, too.
Another unexpected combo? Dark chocolate! I like using dark chocolate covered fruits or nuts here, chopped up and combined with other nuts or dried fruit.
When working with dried cranberries, apricots, etc, and with nuts, chop them in advance into small pieces. You can also do this in a food processor.
Brunch Combos: Anything with Maple or Honey
Cheese logs aren’t just for cocktail hour – they also make a gorgeous addition to a brunch spread.
For brunch ideas, I love adding logs with honey and/or maple syrup drizzle, because they’re lovely with crackers, but also great spread on toast.
Roll a log in homemade quick candied pecans from your stovetop (butter, brown sugar, pinch of salt, pecans), and then drizzle with maple syrup.
Or candy walnuts with maple syrup (combine in bowl and roast in your oven, tossing often), and then roll a cheese log in the chopped maple walnuts.
And then of course, there’s my toasted walnuts and honey cheese log recipe below.
Fresh Combos for Summer
For Memorial Day or 4th of July, white not try a Red, White, and Blue theme with a plain or lightly herbed log (white) along with a cranberry log (red) and a honey, lemon, blueberry log (blue).
Other fresh summer flavours could include chives, dried apricot and mint, strawberry slices with mint, or stewed raspberries with mint.
Savoury Combos: Year Round Crowd Pleasers
Anything with garlic and fresh herbs, such as parsley, chives, tarragon, rosemary, or basil are a great year round choice.
For example, roasted bulbs of garlic with fresh herbs, sundried tomatoes and basil, tarragon and chive, or an Italian herb medley.
How to Make a Goat Cheese Log
If you can buy a goat’s cheese log from the store in your area, you can use the pre-made log forms as is for minimal effort.
However, if you can’t find a pre-formed cheese log in your local supermarket or cheese monger, you’ll need to prep your own.
The instructions are fairly similar to making compound butter.
Basically, you use a fork to mash up soft goat cheese in a mixing bowl, add flavoring (finely cut herbs, dried cranberries and nuts mixture, etc) if you want (this is optional), and use a fork to mash the mixture together.
Once you’ve got a consistent goat cheese mixture, place it on a sheet of plastic wrap/wax paper/parchment and roll it into a log shape, wrapping the wrap around the log shape and twisting the ends of the plastic wrap to seal it.
Chill it in the fridge for around 30 minutes, or the freezer for around 10 minutes, to set.
Then get it out of the fridge, and let it come to room temperature (or close) before rolling it into the toppings and adding a drizzle of something sweet or savory.
The nice thing about making your own is you can control the size vis-a-vis the number of guests you want to serve, and reduce the cost a bit.
A store bought log tends to be fairly large. If you want to prepare 3 to 5 different goat cheese log recipes for your cheese board, you can split one to two packages of goat cheese into multiple cheese logs.
This will save a bit of cash as opposed to buying 3 to 5 packages of goat cheese.
The other bonus is you can mash in some additional flavor, if you want.
Goat Cheese Log Ingredients
The ingredients for a dressed up goat cheese log really depends on the toppings you decide to use, but the main components are pretty simple:
- Enough goat cheese logs for whatever flavors you want to try. A cheese board with 3 to 5 small logs is nice.
- Toppings.
- Crackers, etc for serving.
I made 3 different flavor combos for this cheese board, so I had 3 separate logs of goat cheese, plus toppings for each.
Toasted Walnuts and Honey Goat Cheese Roll
- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1 tbsp honey
Cracked Pepper and Lemon Goat Cheese Roll
- 2 lemons, zested
- 1/2 tsp fresh pepper
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
Strawberry Rosemary Goat Cheese Log
- 1 strawberry, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves washed, peeled from the stem, and minced
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
How to Make a DIY Flavored Goat Cheese Log Recipe
Place each set of ingredients on a plate, spread out fairly evenly over the surface of the plate and prepared as noted above.
For example, at this stage your lemon should be zested, and your strawberry sliced, using the flavor combos noted above.
Remove the goat cheese from packaging or wrapping, and place on the plate, rolling the cheese log back and forth to cover the surface with the toppings.
You want to cover the goat cheese evenly with toppings, and once you have fairly good coverage, you can use a spoon or your hands to pick up straggler toppings, and sprinkle them over the cheese log.
Use the back of a spoon or your fingers to press them into the cheese surface as needed.
For some fussier ingredients, you might want to use your hands.
For example, the strawberry slices work well when placed by hand, and the same goes for things like edible flowers.
If you find the ingredients aren’t sticking, you can wait until the cheese log warms up a bit to room temperature (if it came straight from the fridge).
Alternatively, drizzle it first in either honey (for a sweet cheese log) or olive oil (for something more herbacious or savoury).
Love Goat Cheese? # More Goat Cheese Log Recipes and Flavor Ideas
How to Serve Goat Cheese Logs on Your Cheese Board
I love goat cheese on a cheese board!
You can always add these cheese logs to a cheese board with other cheeses, but you can also serve an exclusive cheese log board.
- Homemade baguette crisps or crostini
- An assortment of crackers
- Fresh apple or pear slices
These goat cheese logs are gluten free, so long as you double check ingredients ahead of time and are careful not to cross-contaminate during prep and serving. This makes them a great appetizer option for celiac friends, so long as you serve with gluten free accompaniments.
Serving Size
Store bought goat cheese logs in my area are about 4-ounces in size, which translates to about 3 to 4 inches long.
The general rule of thumb for charcuterie and appetizer boards is to serve 1 to 2 ounces of cheese per person.
If you’re planning on serving other cheeses and appetizers, each roll should be good for 2 to 4 people.
Final Thoughts
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do. These are such an easy appetizer, and really are a guaranteed hit!
DIY Flavored Goat Cheese Log
Goat cheese is always a good idea! How to make a gorgeous DIY flavored goats cheese log for your next cheeseboard or appetizer, filled with goat cheese log recipe ideas and flavor combos!
Ingredients
- At least one goat cheese log. For an appetizer, I think 3 to 5 goat cheese logs, each with a different coating, is perfect.
- Toppings, according to the recipes and topping ideas shared in the blog and the notes section below.
- Crackers, baguette crips, etc. for serving.
Instructions
- Place each set of prepared ingredients on a plate, spread out fairly evenly over the surface of the plate.
- Remove goat cheese log from packaging or wrapping, and place on the plate, rolling the cheese log back and forth to cover the surface evenly with toppings.
- As needed, use a spoon or your hands to pick up leftover toppings from the plate, and sprinkle them over the cheese log, using the back of a spoon or your fingers to press them into the surface of the cheese log.
Notes
Some ingredients may require you to place them by hands. For example, if you're working with berry slices, blossoms, flower petals, you can put them on my hand.
If you find the ingredients aren't sticking, try letting the cheese log warm to room temperature. If you still need help getting each topping to stick, you can use a light coating of honey (for sweet cheese logs) or high quality virgin olive oil (for savoury cheese logs) on the cheese, to facilitate sticking.
Topping Ideas and Flavor Combinations
Toasted Walnuts and Honey
- Goat cheese log
- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1 tbsp honey
Cracked Pepper and Lemon
- Goat cheese log
- 2 lemons, zested
- 1/2 tsp fresh pepper
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
Strawberry, Rosemary and Honey
- 1 strawberry, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves washed, peeled from the stem, and minced
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 270Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 552mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 13g
CheeseandSuch.com offers estimations of nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators via a third-party plugin, and may be inaccurate. It is meant as a best guess, and not intended to provide dietary advice of any kind. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.