Gingerbread Dip

In preparing for our annual Ladies Wine Night & Cookie Exchange I was well, unprepared. There I said it. Sick, bake sales and other life stuff slowed me down.

Our cookie exchange night is something I started 4 years ago. It’s a fun night for us moms/ladies to have a fun evening without kids. We typically all bring a bottle of wine, some bites to share and in this case a dozen cookies per attendee. Since I hadn’t given the night much thought, I started thinking about a cheese ball a friend use to make back in the 90’s. Simply made with cream cheese, butter and cheese. Tasty but not so healthy. As I was thinking about the cheese ball I was eating one of my Orange Gingerbread Cookies. See where I am going with this? Somehow an AHA moment happened. And the 2 ideas collided.

I used the spice list from my gingerbread cookie and started measuring and adding to taste, carefully writing down quantities. Didn’t want it to sweet. Didn’t want it to molasses-e. In the end it turned out delicious despite my suspicions it might not. I always like more feedback when I create a recipe, so I needed me some taste testers. The only ones available were Luisa, our German student and the ladies who were coming over that night. They are always pretty keen to taste my food. Thankfully. In the end, everyone who likes gingerbread liked it. One discovery that came after the fact…if you let it sit a day or two in the fridge, the flavour somehow improves.

This dip in all fairness is a little rich. Not something you could eat tons of but definitely an enjoyable addition to a table filled with goodies. I tried it with veggies and no go. Apples didn’t really cut it for me either. Plain crackers/crisps or macaroons/shortbread did work and tasted really good. This recipe is a keeper.

Gingerbread Dip

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Course: Appetizer, dips

Author: Wanda Baker

Ingredients

• 1 package cream cheese softened
• 3 tbsp butter softened
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg fresh ground
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• pinch of salt

Instructions

• Cream together cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Mix in brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and a pinch of salt.
• Pour into your serving bowl and sprinkle with a little more fresh grated nutmeg. Add some sprinkles if you really want to be festive.
• Serve with plain artisan crackers, flatbread crackers or shortbread cookies.