BAKED CRANBERRY & BLUE CHEESE WONTONS.

It's been a little bit since I've shared a recipe on this here blog, so I figured I'd start the end of a hiatus off with a bang- with THESE:

If you've hung out at this blog for a while, you may remember me sharing this Pecan/Cranberry/Blue Cheese Spread a while back. The other day I had some wonton wrappers to use so I figured- why not make this spread into a wonton? Is there anything that DOESN'T taste good in a crunchy wrapper? I think not.

Plus, you need just a few ingredients:

What you'll need to make it happen:

- Wonton Wrappers

- 8 ounces of cream cheese

- 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries

1/3 cup chopped pecans

- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

- Olive Oil Spray

How to make it happen:

Watch out- these are suuuuuper tough:

Step 1: Mix in your cheese, cranberries, and pecans into your softened cream cheese.

Step 2: Take 1 Tbsp of your mix and fold it into your wonton- pinching the corners in to seal.

Step 3: Spray lightly with olive oil spray and put onto an ungreased baking sheet.

Step 4: Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, checking every 5 to make sure they're not burning! Bake until golden brown, let cool slightly, and enjoy!

These wontons have so much flavor there's no need for a dipping sauce at all. They're salty and sweet and creamy and crunchy. Best of all the worlds!!

I love these wontons because they're completely unexpected - if you want to totally mess with your guests heads - don't tell them what's inside and let them guess! I mean...unless they have a nut allergy. Then, geez- please tell them.

Any other blue cheese lovers out there?

If you're a blue cheese fan, try this dip, and if you're just a wonton fan, you must try these!

xo, lp

BAKED SRIRACHA CREAM CHEESE WONTONS +spicy soy sauce

I love cream cheese wontons- which is strange, because I don't really like cream cheese on anything else...but maybe it's because they're usually deep fried?

Well a while back a friend made these amazing baked wontons with a whole bunch of delicious ingredients in them... and I knew I had to make some myself.

I wasn't sly enough to steal her recipe with the abundance of ingredients- so I just went the simple route and made my own with just 3 main ingredients, and then whipped up a dipping sauce. Oh man, they're good. Like, REALLY good.

Sriracha Cream Cheese Wontons (Makes about 25)
1 brick of cream cheese (8 oz)
Wonton wrappers (I used Nasoya)
3 teaspoons chopped chives
5 teaspoons Sriracha chili sauce (more if you like things extra spicy)
Olive Oil cooking spray

Spicy Soy Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons stone ground mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1  1/2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons Sriracha chili sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice

This is pretty foolproof, but here are a few notes:
1. Mix together your chives, cream cheese, and Sriracha really well for the mixture:

I'm sure the images below are pretty clear, but here are a few steps for ya:
1. Use about a tablespoon of the mixture- too much will just explode out the side!
2. All you need it water to wet the edges- it'll glue the sides together really well.
3. When you fold it in half, make sure to push all the air bubbles out! You also could stop at this step and bake them like this- but the edges burn really easily...
4. Spray both sides before baking at 350 for 7 minutes. Now, this TOTALLY depends on your oven. When I make them at home they take 7 minutes. When I make them at my friend Dani's house they take 16. Watch 'em carefully!
5. For your dipping sauce? Just mix it all together & dip!

There you have it! Golden brown, crunchy, creamy, ooey gooey wontons!

The best part about them is they aren't greasy at all- I'm not saying they're healthy AT ALL, but it's nice to not have your hands full of grease while you're eating an appetizer. I can't recommend these enough. If you don't like spicy things- DON'T pass this recipe by! Just add less (or no) sriracha, and you have a still delicious crunchy snack!

 I'm making these again this weekend for a night of darts & beer with some friends...and it can't come soon enough!

What's your go-to appetizer/snack to make?
This is hands down my favorite. Did I mention they're great to make them ahead of time & just pop in the oven when you're ready?

xo, lp


Other favorites? 
Healthy Chili Garlic Broccoli
Sweet Crunchy Asian Salad
Cranberry Pecan Bleu Cheese Dip


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You can find me here---> @lpodlich

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