Four Easy Five Minute Holiday Appetizers

I love to cook. I really really love to cook. What I don’t love is the cleanup after cooking. And I don’t love being stuck in the kitchen the whole time while I’m supposedly entertaining people in my home. So, I try my best when I have a get-together, to make sure that I make as much as I can ahead of time. Or, I rely on recipes like these four five minute holiday appetizers. I can easily whip these up as my guests arrive and be out there to enjoy the conversation in no time. 

Welcome to the third annual 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop!

Stop by every day from December first through the twelfth for new ideas you can use to make your season brighter! Today we are all sharing fun ideas for food perfect for holiday entertaining! 

Meet Your Hosts

They have all been busy as Elves creating, decorating, cooking and crafting tons of new ideas for you to try this holiday season!

Shirley~Intelligent Domestications I Alli~An Alli Event I Michelle~Our Crafty Mom I Marie~DIY Adulation 

Erlene~My Pinterventures I Beverly~Across The Blvd. I Debra~Shoppe No. 5 I Victoria~Dazzle While Frazzled

Megan~C’mon Get Crafty I Michelle~Michelle James Designs I Amanda~Domestically Creative

Deborah~Salvage Sister & Mister I Jeanie~Create & Babble I Sherry~Olives & Okra

Jenny~Cookies Coffee & Crafts I Emily~Domestic Deadline I Bonbon~Farmhouse 40 

Leanna~Of Faeries & Fauna I Pam Larmore~P.S. I Love You Crafts I Kelly~North Country Nest I Marie~The Inspiration Vault

Gail~Purple Hues and Me I Lynne~My Family Thyme I Karen~Dragonfly and Lily Pads I Trisha~Blowing Away Out West

Tomika~Life In Pumps I Rachee~Say it, “Rah-Shay” I Lorrin~Embrace The Perfect Mess 

Jaime~Love Jaime I Serena~The Weekend Jaunts I Terri~Christmas Tree Lane I Jessica~A Southern Mother 

Sam~Raggedy Bits I Cyn~Creative Cynchronicity Valeria~Val Event Gal

Yami~The Latina Next Door I Jeannee~Centsably Creative I Tania~Little Vintage Cottage

 Lauren~Wonderfully Made I Vanessa~DIY 180 I Kimberly~A Wonderful Thought I Kim~Everyday Parties 

Dru~Polka Dot Poplars I Erica~Erica Ever After

Four Easy Five Minute Holiday Appetizers

I first made this appetizer (option 1) for Thanksgiving. It was a huge hit with my guests and an even bigger one with my daughter. In fact, she’s been begging me to make it again ever since. Funny thing is that she’s not a big fan of cream cheese. Or caramel sauce. Or walnuts. And yet she loved this and keeps asking for it again.

It’s not an overwhelming request. These take 5 minutes to put together and are incredibly delicious. For each one of the options, you need a brick of plain cream cheese. In this case, I cut the bricks in half to make smaller batches of more varieties. 

How to Make Easy Five Minute Holiday Appetizers with Four Options:

Option 1: Brick of cream cheese, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of caramel sauce, about 1/3 cup of walnuts (pecans are also good here)

Option 2: Brick of cream cheese, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of maple syrup, about 1/3 cup of walnuts or pecans

Option 3: Brick of cream cheese, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of honey (I used a savoury buckwheat honey), about 1/3 cup of sliced almonds

Option 4: Brick of cream cheese, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of whole berry cranberry sauce (heat it up slightly to make it a little bit runnier), about 1/3 cup of sliced almonds

Dipping options: Thinly sliced pears or apples, crackers, pretzels are our favourites

See? Easy peasy! 

Be sure to visit our fellow 12 Days of Christmas Bloggers below for even more creative ideas this holiday season!