I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for a dear friend recently. Aren’t showers great fun? There’s so much joyful anticipation floating around…not to mention FOOD: little sandwiches with no crust, petit fours and at least three items whose main ingredient is cream cheese.
Speaking of cream cheese, here’s one of my favorite shower recipes. I get more requests to share this recipe than any other. The best part? It’s super simple and can be made a day or two ahead of time.
Ingredients:
2 8-oz pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 6-oz pkg. dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, divided
Instructions:
In mixer, blend cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Fold in cranberries.
Dump half of pecans into a round bowl with high sides. Dump cream cheese mixture into bowl, on top of pecans. Mold into a ball-like shape (it will be messy). Sprinkle and press remaining pecans on top and sides of ball. It’s okay if it’s a mess; you can reform it better after it firms up in the fridge for a few hours.
Refrigerate until firm (or overnight). Form into a more presentable ball.
Serve with gingersnaps, butter crackers or graham crackers.
You can substitute low-fat cream cheese, but the original version is worth every calorie, I promise!
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