Cranberry jalapeno Cheese Spread

Creamy cheddar cheese spread filled with sweet cranberries and spicy jalapeno flavor.

Cranberry Jalapeno Cheese Spread

By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime

My recipe of the day is for cranberry jalapeno cheese spread which utilizes one of my favorite things to mix into cheese spreads, which is jalapeno jelly. The dried cranberries work with the sweet and spicy character making this perfect for crackers.

I make my own sugarless jalapeno jelly but you can use the kind from the store- just give the green jelly a wide berth.

All of this comes together in just a few minutes once you get the cream cheese to room temperature (set it out an hour earlier).

There isn’t a whole lot to say about this except that it is really good. You’ll get just over three cups of this but don’t expect it to hang around since it moves fast. I think you’ll find it perfect for holiday parties as well as game day snacking. You can make this ahead and most certainly can keep it refrigerated in tubs for about a week. I’ve never tried to freeze it though and don’t think I would go there, as most cheese doesn’t fare well being frozen.

Before this chills up it works well as a dip but once it chills it is more of a spread consistency.

You can make melba toast ahead. Have you tried my recipe for it? And sorry I don’t have my jalapeno jelly posted. I ran out of time to do that when peppers were in season. And red ones can be so hard to find otherwise. I promise to get to it next year.

Cranberry Jalapeno Cheese Spread

Servings: 12
Time: 15mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

Yield: 3-1/4 cups

Ingredients:

12 ounces cream cheese (at room temperature)
2 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup red jalapeno jelly
2 ounce jar diced pimento peppers, drained
1/2 cup dried cranberries (craisins), chopped smaller
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Method:

Place cream cheese, cheddar, Parmesan, and pepper jelly in a food processor fitted with a chopping blade and run until smooth.
Fold in the diced pimentos, chopped cranberries and pepper flakes.
Chill until it is spread consistency, or serve at room temperature as a dip (thickens as it chills).
Serve with crackers or crudite.

From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com