Baked Cranberry and White Cheddar Dip

This dip sounded super festive and unique, so I decided to make it for my holiday party. However, when I described it to my mom she had concerns – namely that the cranberries would be too tart and I would need to add something sweet

My main concern was that it would be kind of boring – simple recipe often means simple taste, and the recipe is very simple:
– Equal parts cream cheese and fresh cranberries
– Half as much shredded white cheddar
– All mixed together and baked at 375*f for ~30 minutes until it’s bubbly and brown

I decided to make a baby test-run (just a couple spoonfuls of the mixture in a tiny Pyrex)

Turns out the cranberries weren’t too tart, but it was a little bland…

I added pepper and a little salt, and then sat sprinkling different dried herbs on bites until I decided what it needed was:
– Thyme and sage

Added those to the version for the party, and it was very well received! Totally recommended