Deb’s Cream Cheese Spread Recipe

or… How to Conquer the Boring Cracker

This time of year, the holiday season, can mean the need, or want, for cream cheese spreads, appetizers and dips recipes. Sometimes I look through all of the recipes I have and nothing grabs me. I love a cheese ball, yet I was not into a “harder” cheese appetizer and looked at my mom-in-law’s recipe because it is a cream cheese spread with a touch of grated cheese. It does not have many ingredients. I have a food processor now, making it very quick to whip up.

This is a cream cheese spread that is very easy to make to one’s taste. I have to admit that I did not like this spread decades ago because my mother-in-law used mayonnaise for the base. (scrapping tongue) Himself loved it… and he loves mayo. (gag) Most mayo is filled with soy, canola, corn-sugars, and other foul-to-me ingredients I will not ingest. Yes, I tried making homemade mayo. I wasted a lot of eggs doing so. Making mayo is not one of my skills. (shrug) I changed the recipe, making the spread more Deb-friendly by using sour cream instead of the mayo. Himself loves my version.You can, of course, use mayo if you prefer.

I included some addition suggestions at the bottom of the recipe so you can juice the recipe up to your tastes. I think that is the beauty of these types of recipes. You change the whole blend of flavors with the addition or subtraction of a seasoning, herb, pepper, a minced vegetable, and the list goes on.

I am waiting for my husband to want it on pasta, the heat of the pasta melting the spread onto the pasta noodles or on a sandwich with some sort of sliced meat. If you all see some of the combinations he eats… well… “Yuck!” tends to be my opinion, yet there are others who seem to like the same combinations he likes. I have a few bizarre ones myself. I have NO room to talk! laughing…

As usual, I use all organic and/or GMO-free ingredients. I hope you all enjoy my Cheese Spread recipe and have some fun with it to suit your own tastes! Enjoy!

Put the cream cheese into a food processor*. Use the Pulse to bring the cream cheese to a creamy state. Add the cheddar cheese and your preferred seasonings. Blend or pulse until fully blended and smooth. This will be stiff.

Optional: At this point you can make a cheese ball if wished, or skip this part and make the soft spread. If you want a cheese ball: pulse or knead in the pimentos, more seasonings and other ingredients you wish to add, then form the mixture into a ball. Chill until firm.

For the Soft Spread: Add a sploosh of whole milk, (maybe up to a 1/4 of a cup?), to the mixture and blend until the consistency of spread you prefer. Then pulse in the pimentos just enough to blend thoroughly. Scrap the spread into a glass bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

This is excellent on crackers, (my homemade ones, of course), and toasted nibblie-types of breads.

Note: The photo above of the spread does not include the pimentos. I had not liked them until I found that draining and rinsing them was more to my taste for some reason. It is still very good without the pimentos.

*The spread is easier to make in a food processor. A good blender may work, or you can make this by hand. I found the stick blender sucks at mixing this spread. By hand, it takes some time, and the cheese does not get as fine a shred as by using a food processor. Shredding the cheese finer than usual may help if mixing by hand, as I had made this recipe at first.

** You could also try onion powder, minced dry onion, minced chives, paprika, and so on. Dill would be great. Mince fresh garlic instead of powdered for a real punch. Spice it up with your favorite minced chile peppers.  Have some fun with the seasonings, herbs and minced vegetables. Enjoy!

We live in forested mountains, far away from family and friends. That does not mean we do not make fun foods for ourselves at times. My favorite dip is onion dip. I can eat it until I am almost nauseous. There is something about onion dip that is… I do not know, but I love it. I will share a homemade version of that recipe sometime in the future that does not use the boxed soup mix.

Enjoy!