Dec

12

By Heather ·  Print This Post

You’ve probably tried Pepper Jelly over Cream Cheese with crackers, right? When we get together with my husband’s family, we almost always have it for an appetizer. My mother-in-law makes a wonderful pepper jelly every year. Sorry, I don’t have that recipe to share with you. Simply Recipes has a good recipe for it. But you can also find it in the stores or on Amazon. Just be sure to check the labels to make sure they’re gluten-free.

Here’s the very simple non-recipe: Place your cream cheese on a plate or serving dish and pour the jelly over the top. Then, spread gluten-free chips or crackers around it, for a nice presentation. How easy is that?! Now check out my notes and my new twist on it below.

Additional Notes and Ideas:

• I like to use whipped cream cheese (or whip it myself) because it’s a little easier to dig into with crackers.
• If you’re like me, and don’t tolerate dairy well, then try Toffutti’s non-dairy cream cheese. I buy the Non-Hydrogenated Plain variety in the yellow tub. With the jelly on top, you won’t notice the difference. OK, maybe you will, but it still tastes really good.
• Another fun option is to buy the blocks of cream cheese (Tofutti’s works, too) and cut them into holiday shapes with cookie cutters. You can make a whole tray of cream cheese Christmas trees, stars, holly leaves, etc.
• Use any favorite gluten-free crackers or chips that don’t break too easily. Gluten-free rice crackers, Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers, and FoodShouldTasteGood Multigrain Tortilla Chips (in the photo above) are my favorites for this.
• Sometimes I get jelly or jam that is too solid, and doesn’t want to pour or spread easily. In this case, I usually just put the jelly  into the microwave for 20-30 seconds and stir well. Then, pour/spread it over the cream cheese.
• For a festive holiday look, use both green and red pepper jelly. Add sweet pepper slices, cranberries, or raspberries for garnish.
• Use any kind of jelly. Pepper jellies have a nice spice and flavor that complements the cream cheese, but you can use any favorite jelly. In fact, that’s just what I did by combining two flavors that always taste good together: chocolate and raspberry.

Chocolate and Raspberry Variation. When I received a sample of FoodShouldTasteGood’s Chocolate Tortilla Chips, I knew what I wanted to try: Cream Cheese and Raspberry Jelly served with the Chocolate Tortilla Chips. Delicious treat! (It looks nice with a couple fresh raspberries on top, but I didn’t have the raspberries or the raspberry jam for the photo. Fortunately, the triple-berry jam I used in the photo turned out just as tasty.)

If you haven’t tried the Chocolate tortilla chips, you really should. They have a rich cocoa flavor, and are just lightly sweetened. The flavor really works well with the creaminess of Tofutti, and the tart, sweetness of the jelly.