Cranberry Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip

I first heard about this dip several years ago in a Facebook group that I'm a part of. One member of the group raved about how addicting this dip is and how it was a hit at her holiday party. I saved the recipe but had forgotten all about the dip for many months. Then I started seeing this dip pop up in all the Facebook groups that I'm in. Each time it was posted, everyone said that the dip is addicting. Since I recently bought a big bag of fresh cranberries from Costco for Thanksgiving, I decided to try the recipe myself and OMG am I so disappointed that I took soooooo long to make it. It's  a sweet, tart, spicy, and creamy goodness and I'll admit to eating half of this by myself while standing in the kitchen. Now I fully understand why everyone raves about this appetizer and I know I'll be making this every year during the holiday season!! Dr. Sweetpea was blown away by how good this appetizer was too!

Cranberry Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip

(Source: www.sparrowsandlily.com)

12 oz fresh, uncooked cranberries

1/4 cup green onion

1-2 fresh jalapeño peppers

2 Tbsp. cilantro (I omitted the cilantro) 

3/4 to 1 Cup sugar (according to taste)

1 Tbsp. lemon juce

1/8 tsp. salt

16 oz. cream cheese (whipped)

Use hand food chopper to chop cranberries. (This process is a bit time consuming, but it is best to not use a food processor to chop these as the cranberries liquify too much.) Chop green onion, jalapeño peppers and cilantro. In a medium-sized bowl, add chopped cranberries, green onion, cilantro and jalapeños. Add sugar, lemon juice and salt on top of cranberry mixture and stir gently until blended.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight. Take cranberry mixture out of the refrigerator and stir all ingredients together. Strain out all liquid using a collander with small holes.

Whip softened cream cheese with hand mixer until smooth (about 2 minutes) and spread cream cheese over bottom of a pie plate or 9x9 dish. Pour cranberry mixture atop cream cheese and keep in refrigerator until ready to serve. Use a spoon to spread over Ritz crackers and enjoy!

**Note: instead of spreading the cranberries on the cream cheese, I just spread some cream cheese on the crackers and topped the off with the cranberries.