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^[2]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 ^[3] has a good recipe for it. But you can also find it in the stores or on Amazon ^[4]. 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 ^[5]. I buy the Non-Hydrogenated Plain variety in the yellow tub ^[6]. 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.
• ^[7]Use any favorite gluten-free crackers or chips that don’t break too easily. Gluten-free rice crackers, Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers ^[8], and FoodShouldTasteGood Multigrain Tortilla Chips ^[9] (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.

^[10]Chocolate and Raspberry Variation. When I received a sample of FoodShouldTasteGood’s Chocolate Tortilla Chips ^[11], 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.)

^[12]If you haven’t tried the Chocolate tortilla chips ^[11], 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. ^[11]