Strawberry Cranberry Dip with Cream Cheese
Strawberry preserves with fresh cranberries smothered over cream cheese is a perfect holiday appetizer dip that goes well with pretzles, crackers, and wafers.
Servings: 2 blocks of cream cheese
Ingredients
- 6 oz. fresh cranberries
- 1 cup strawberry preserves
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- 16 oz. cream cheese this is 2 blocks
- serving crackers or cookies
Instructions
- Pull the cream cheese from the fridge and open the package. Leave on the counter at room temperature to naturally soften cream cheese from its hardened state.
- Add fresh cranberries, strawberry preserves, white sugar, and water to a saucepan. Heat on medium high until boiling.
- Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to pop open and get mushy, about 5-7 minutes.
- Remove strawberry cranberry mixture from heat and let stand for 15-20 minutes, occasionally stirring until room temperature. This cools the mixture down so it doesnt melt the cream cheese.
- Place 1 softened brick of cream cheese onto a serving platter and place a divot into the center with a spoon.
- Pour half of the strawberry mixture on top of the cream cheese, top with pecans, and serve with crackers and pretzel chips.
- Reserve the remaining cream cheese block and berry mixture for a second appetizer.
Notes
This recipe produces enough strawberry sauce for two bricks of cream cheese.
Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. Please note that cream cheese rehardens back in the fridge, and you need to bring it back to room temp to serve easily without breaking chips/crackers.
This dip is a sweet strawberry dip and goes well with graham crackers, vanilla wafers, or strong chips like pretzles. Serving with a condiment knife is recommended for buttery crackers like Ritz to avoid a broken cracker.