Hey! It’s throwback Tuesday! Throwback as in a recipe from last Christmas! This post has been collecting dust in the ‘Recipes to Blog About’ folder and I decided today was the day it would make its debut. Even though I made this during Christmas, it’s a recipe that can be made all year! That is, if you can find fresh cranberries in October…

One Thanksgiving, my dad and I decided to start this competition. A competition to see who could make the best dish given the secret ingredient. Think Iron Chef- The White Family version. This past Christmas, we decided the secret ingredient would be cranberry!

Cranberry can sometimes be a difficult berry to cook with, as it’s SUPER tart and you need a pretty hefty amount of sugar to offset the tartness. I imagine eating a raw cranberry would be like sucking on 5 lemon warheads at once (shout out to the 90’s kids). Anybody ever do that in middle school? If so, props to you.

This recipe, thankfully, is not the equivalent of sucking on 5 lemon warheads at once. It’s sweet, it’s tart, it’s spicy, it’s delicious…It’s a-maz-ing. Trust me. I won the competition. Hands. Down. Sorry, pops!

Cranberry- Jalapeño Cream Cheese Dip

Ingredients
12 oz. fresh cranberries
1 jalapeño pepper, diced*
5 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cumin
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp. salt
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
Crackers for serving

Directions
Pulse the cranberries in a food processor until coarsley chopped. Add the jalapeño pepper, onions, cilantro, sugar, cumin, lemon juice, and salt to the food processor. Pulse until well blended and finely chopped. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours (overnight is best). On the day you’re serving it, spread the cream cheese evenly on a dish or serving plate. Spread the cranberry mixture on top of the cream cheese and place in the fridge for an hour before serving. Serve with crackers (I used wheat thins) and enjoy!

*I kept the seeds in the jalapeño because my family loves spice. If yours does not, de-seed the jalapeño before adding it to the processor!

Enjoy!
Natalie