Gourmet Cream Cheese

One morning at Youth Conference we served Bagels and a variety of Gourmet Cream Cheeses for breakfast. We discovered that people prefer either plain or sweet bagels and plain or sweet cream cheese over herb, garlic or cheese flavored of either one (Bagels or Cream Cheese). The herb, garlic and cheese flavored are probably better for lunch. We served five different flavors of cream cheese, Maple Pecan, Fresh Strawberry, Honey Cinnamon, Caramel Apple, and Orange Cranberry Pecan. The Fresh Strawberry was the first to be gone (but I think that was mostly because it was a very pretty color of pink that looked delicious) but the Honey Cinnamon was my favorite. Gourmet Cream Cheese is rather expensive at the bagel shops and it is very easy to make. You can get creative and make what ever flavors sound good to you. It's also better because it's fresher!

Maple Pecan Cream Cheese

1 8oz brick Cream Cheese (softened)
3 T. real maple syrup (or to taste)
1/4-1/2 cup chopped pecans

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add syrup and chopped pecans. Mix well. Store in refrigerator.


Fresh Strawberry Cream Cheese

1 8 oz brick Cream Cheese (softened)
2-3 T. powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries

Beat cream cheese until smooth, mix in powdered sugar. Gently stir in strawberries. Store in refrigerator.


Honey Cinnamon Cream Cheese

1 8oz brick Cream Cheese (softened)
2-3 T. honey (runny but not hot)
1/2 - 1 t. cinnamon

Beat cream cheese until smooth, mix in other ingredients. Store in refrigerator.


Caramel Apple Cream Cheese

1 8 oz brick Cream Cheese (softened)
3 T Mrs. Richardson Caramel Topping (divided)
1/2 apple chopped

Beat cream cheese until smooth, mix in 1 1/2 T. caramel topping until it is well mixed. Fold in apple and the rest of the caramel topping leaving streaks of caramel running through the cream cheese.


Orange Cranberry Pecan Cream Cheese

1 8 oz. brick cream cheese
1 1/2 T. orange juice concentrate
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. sugar
2 T chopped craisins
2 T chopped pecans
zest from 1 orange

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Mix in other ingredients. Store in refrigerator