This easy baked Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip is the perfect holiday appetizer this season. Only a few simple ingredients (cheese, cream cheese, leftover cranberry sauce, cranberries and spices) to this savory hot dip. Ever wondered what to make with leftover cranberry sauce? This is the answer!

This cheese dip is one of my favorite holiday dip recipes! I love that it looks as festive as it tastes and the kids love that it’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty!

The holiday season is here and that means a lot of parties, get-togethers and food. From the family Thanksgiving dinner to the “favorite things party” with girlfriends, our calendar is packed. When I need to bring a dish to share, quick and easy recipes are the way to go… like this Baked Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip.

We Love Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip!

Our family has a list of recipes that are a tradition every year. It’s not the holidays without our best cheeseball, soft and chewy gingerbread men cookies, peanut butter balls, and the best Christmas cookies ever! So why do we love this savory cranberry dip?

• Easy to make: There are only a few simple ingredients so no running to a million different stores to get what you need.
• Sweet and Cheesy: The tangy flavor of the cranberries are balanced with the savory cheeses and then you get that hint of sweet from the cranberry sauce.
• Everyone Asks For the Recipe: I love that this is the dip we often get asked for the recipe, guests just love it!
• Uses Up Leftovers: I don’t know about you, but I’m often googling “what to make with leftover cranberry sauce” This festive recipe solves that problem!
• Make Ahead: This dip is easy to make ahead of time, so you can spend more time with your guests. See more below.

Ingredients for our Holiday Dip Recipe

• Extra-Sharp White Cheddar Cheese, grated
• Mozzarella Cheese, grated
• Cream cheese, 

Easy Halloween Snack Board

You know we love a good snack board around here — especially one that brings the fun! This Halloween Snack Board is everything I want in a festive treat: easy to assemble, a little spooky, and full of sweet and savory bites that everyone will love.

Whether you’re throwing a big party or just making a fun after-school snack for the kids, this board is guaranteed to bring smiles (and maybe a few giggles).

Why We Love a Halloween Snack Board

The best thing about a snack board is that everyone can find at least one thing that they like! There are sweet and salty snacks, chewy and crunchy snacks, light healthy options and super indulgent options…everyone is happy!

For this Halloween charcuterie board, we like to keep it fun with kid-friendly Halloween treats. We include fun shapes, colorful candies, and bite-sized foods like pretzels, grapes, and cheese puffs. The kids love it!

The Best Ingredients for a Spooky Snack Board

We have most of these on our snack board pictured here, but it’s really open for whatever your friends and family will love!

Cheese: Wensleydale pumpkin spice cheese, string cheese “ghosts”

Deli Meats: salami or pepperoni rolled up

Salty Snacks: pretzels, crackers (I found some that are pumpkin shaped at Trader Joe’s), cheese puff balls or popcorn

Halloween Candy: candy corn and candy corn pumpkins, M&M’s, Reese’s pumpkins

Fresh Fruit: mandarin “pumpkins,” apple slices, green grapes

Dips: hummus, caramel, ranch

Olives: black olives or green olives

Sweet Snacks: yogurt-covered pretzels or cookies

Decorative Touches: googly eyes, candy bones and skulls, plastic spiders, festive sprinkles

How to Arrange a Snack Board

I’m sure professional charcuterie board masters will scoff at this, but I let the kids help me fill up our Halloween snack board and there’s no real rhyme or reason to it. I like to distribute the colors and textures around the board, but it honestly doesn’t matter. Once people start digging in, it all gets mixed anyway.

One thing to keep in mind when arranging a snack board is that fresh ingredients like fruit will release moisture and make crispy ingredients soggy over time. Also, refrigerated ingredients shouldn’t sit out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

Add pops of orange and black, fun Halloween props, and themed treats…the kids loved creating this spread! My favorite addition to this board of easy Halloween snacks was this Wensleydale pumpkin spice cheese. Holy moly, it was delicious!

How to Make It Ahead or Store Leftovers

Most of the snack ideas for this board don’t need any prep at all…just open a bag and scatter on the tray. The ingredients that do need some prep can be