Go Back
Cranberry pecan cream cheese dip in white bowl.

Cranberry Pecan Cream Cheese Dip {Sweet or Spicy}

Yield: 8 Servings
Prep Time: 12 hours 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 12 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • About 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries
  • ⅓ to ½ cup (71 to 106 g) granulated sugar (see note)
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • ½ cup apricot jam, peach jam, or jalapeno/hot pepper jelly (for a subtly spicy version)
  • ½ cup (60 g) chopped, toasted pecans (see note)
  • 8 to 12 ounces (227 to 340 g) cream cheese, softened
  • Crackers, for serving

Instructions 

  • In a medium saucepan, add the cranberries, sugar and water. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often, and cook until the cranberries pop and soften a bit, about 10 minutes.
  • Off the heat, stir in the jam and pecans (see note). Let the dip cool; refrigerate 8-12 hours so the flavors develop and blend (I'm sure you can serve it sooner than that, but it'll be yummier if you can wait).
  • Spread softened cream cheese in a shallow dish or plate. Top with the cranberry dip mixture. Serve with crackers.

Notes

Sweet/Tart: the amount of sugar you choose to use is dependent on how tart you want the overall cranberry dip to be and also the brand/type of jam you are using. If the jam you use is already quite sweet or you like a more sweet/tart contrast, you may want to add the lower amount of sugar.
Doubling the Recipe: this dip easily doubles (but it makes a lot!). A doubled batch would easily spread over 2-3 packages of cream cheese. A lot depends on the cream cheese to cranberry dip ratio you want.
Pecans: I stir the pecans in before refrigerating, but if you want a bit more crunch in the dip (the pecans soften just slightly if stirred in to the hot mixture), you might try stirring the toasted pecans in right before serving. Also, here's an easy tutorial on toasting nuts in the microwave.