Queso Blanco Dip

If I had to choose one type of food to live on for the rest of my life it would probably be Mexican food. I could hardly live without it. Lately I've been looking for a good Queso Blanco Dip recipe, just like what you get at a Mexican restaurant. Most of the recipes I found contained White American cheese in them. I'm not a big fan of processed cheese so I decided to go with one of my favorite cheeses that is commonly found in Mexican cuisine - Monterrey Jack cheese. It melts smoothly, it has a wonderful flavor and of course, it's not processed. 
I created my own recipe and decided to start the recipe out with a roux, not only to thicken the cheese sauce but to add a starch to the mixture to prevent it from separating and curdling. You can easily adjust this recipe to suite your taste. For example if you like a little heat you could saute some diced fresh jalapenos along with the onion or add pickled jalapenos at the end of cooking. If you don't like jalapenos you could just use cayenne pepper for a little heat. You could even replace the optional ingredients with a bit of chunky salsa (just strain of some of the liquids). And as noted below you can leave out all the chunky ingredients if you just want a simple and velvety smooth cheese sauce.
This dip is unbelievably good and it's surprisingly so simple to make. I'm pretty sure it would be hard to find someone who didn't love this dip at the next party you're hosting. Cheesy, carb heavy, Mexican food goodness. Enjoy! 

Queso Blanco Dip
Yields about 2 cups

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion*
1/4 tsp crushed garlic*
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups whole milk (for thicker sauce use lesser portion)
8 oz. finely shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Optional ingredients:
1 Roma tomato, seeds removed then diced
2 Tbsp canned, diced green chilis
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until soft about 4 minutes, adding garlic during the last 30 seconds of sauteing. Whisk in flour, and cook stirring constantly, about 30 seconds.  Slowly pour milk into mixture, while whisking vigorously. Bring mixture just to a gentle bubble stirring constantly, then reduce heat to low. Allow to rest over low heat 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in finely shredded Monterrey Jack cheese and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until cheese melts (it will take the cheese a minute to melt, at first it may look curdled but that just means the cheese hasn't fully melted yet so continue to cook until completely melted). Stir in optional ingredients. Serve warm with tortilla chips (or serve over tacos etc. Note that it will thicken as it rests so reheat to thin if desired).

*For a smooth cheese sauce without the chunky ingredients, omit the chopped onion and crushed garlic. Replace it with 1/2 tsp onion powder and a generous pinch of garlic powder. Since you won't need to saute simply melt the butter then add the flour, garlic powder and onion powder and continue as directed and omit the optional ingredients.

Apple Pie Dip

One pin down 1,000 to go. I love when I finally get around to trying that pin I've been wanting to make. I found this over at The Pea Kitchen a few months ago and have thought about making it many times since. I figured Thanksgiving season would be the perfect time. It's pie season! This dip is quick and easy and it tastes just like a delicious apple pie filling. So you get all the flavors of apple pie without the wait and without all that tedious prep work. I think this recipe has also inspired me to sprinkle my apple pie crust with cinnamon and sugar this year, yum!

There are many different ways you could serve this and I've listed in the recipe a few ideas. I left them out of the picture just so you could get a good glimpse of the actual apple pie dip, but If you were to serve it with the ice cream or whipped cream it would be even more like the real thing, and the caramel sauce would just take it over the top.

Also, the cinnamon sugar chips are such a simple and delicious Mexican dessert that can be used for other desserts or they are delicious all on their own. Many Mexican restaurants serve them drizzled with chocolate sauce, caramel sauce and sweetened whipped cream for a simple dessert that is sure to satisfy. Enjoy!

Apple Pie Dip

Yields about 3 servings

Ingredients:

3 cups peeled and diced Granny Smith apples (about 3 medium apples)*

2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp packed light-brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

2 Tbsp butter, diced

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

2 1/2 tbsp water

Fried cinnamon sugar flour tortilla chips for serving, recipe follows

Vanilla ice cream, sweetened whipped cream or caramel sauce, optional

Directions:

Heat diced apples, lemon juice, light-brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently, then reduce heat slightly and allow to cook until apples are tender. Then add butter and stir until melted. In a small bowl whisk together cornstarch and water until well combine, then while stirring, pour cornstarch mixture over apple mixture and stir until thickened (it should thickena quickly). Serve warm covered with optional sweetened whipped cream. ice cream or caramel sauce along with cinnamon sugar tortilla chips for dipping (alternately you can layer the chips followed by ice cream and finish with apple pie mixture rather than dipping).

*I'd recommend dicing them into very small pieces about 1/4 - 1/2-inch since this is for dipping, it will also help them soften faster.

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips

Ingredients:

6 flour tortillas, sliced into wedges using a pizza wheel (I did half flour half whole wheat)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and cinnamon, set aside. Line a baking sheet or several plates with paper towels, set aside. 

Fill a large saucepan or cast iron skillet with about an inch of oil and heat over stove-top set at medium to medium-high heat until oil reaches 350 degrees on a deep-frying thermometer. Drop tortilla wedges, about 8 at a time (they should fit in a single layer) in hot oil and cook until bottoms are golden then using metal tongs, flip and cook opposite side and cook until golden. Transfer fried chips to paper towel lined baking sheet then immediately and generously sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture (or the sugar won't stick). Best served day prepared.

Recipe Source: apple pie dip adapted slightly from The Pea Kitchen

Pumpkin Pie Dip (A 5 Minute Recipe)

Some of you may be thinking, what is with this girl? Does she only eat pumpkin? I know I've posted a lot of pumpkin recipes lately, but it's just that time of year =). Also the other reason, I always buy the huge can of pumpkin puree because I can get it for the price of what the small can costs. So why would I buy the small can? It just wouldn't make sense. I hate wasting though, so I buy the large can and then I can get two, sometimes even three different pumpkin recipes out of it (unless of course I'm making pumpkin pie). 

I saw this Pumpkin Pie Dip floating around Pinterest so I thought, ooh yes I must try that! I liked that this recipe didn't use cool whip as some of the pumpkin pie dips do. I changed a few things from the original recipe. I thought it needed a little more pumpkin flavor so I added an additional 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (to the 1 cup listed).  I omitted the pumpkin pie spice and rather just increased the cinnamon, added nutmeg and cloves then left the ginger as listed, then I added a little caramel sauce of course. I love pumpkin and caramel. I love anything with caramel. 

This simple 5 minute dip is has just the right amount of sweet and spice, it's fluffy, creamy and yes even dreamy. Basically it's pure goodness. It tastes so much like pumpkin pie (different texture obviously, but same amazing flavor). So when you want a quick dessert with all the flavors of pumpkin pie that everyone will love, then this is definitely what you'll want to make. You'll quickly lose track of just how much you've actually eaten. Enjoy and Happy Fall!

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Yields about 4 cups

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves (optional)

1/4 - 1/2 cup caramel sauce, store bought or homemade (optional, but highly recommended)

graham crackers, chocolate crackers or gingersnap cookies for servings

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer on low speed, blend together cream cheese and powdered sugar until combine, then increase mixer to medium and beat for 1 minute until smooth and fluffy. Add in pumpkin, sour cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves and mix until well blended and fluffy, about 1 - 2 minutes. Drizzle with optional caramel sauce (and marble if desired), serve with crackers. Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.

Tip: for cleaner edges on your graham crackers, simply cut them along indentations with a sharp knife rather than breaking them into individual pieces.

Recipe Source: adapted from Taste of Home

Two Ingredient Fruit Dip (A 60 Second Recipe)

How can such an incredibly simple recipe be so fantastically good? I absolutely love this fruit dip! I got the recipe from my sister whom got it from her mother in law whom got if from I don't know where. Basically what I'm saying is this recipe is not my creation, so if you know who came up with it please let me know because I would love to credit them. They seriously came up with something genius. This recipe literally can be made, ready for dipping in 60 seconds. It doesn't get much easier than that. It's creamy, fluffy, sweet and oh so delicious. It will have you doing the finger swipe to any remaining streaks straggling behind in the bowl. If there's any left the next day (which is very very rare) I always want to eat it for breakfast, well it is served with fruit after all so that's healthy right =)? Enjoy! Oh and if anyone tries this with honey or blueberry cream cheese please let me know if you like it, I've always wanted to try a different flavor but am too comfortable with the yummy strawberry version to try something new.

Two Ingredient Fruit Dip (A 60 Second Recipe)


Ingredients:
8 oz strawberry cream cheese, at room temperature
7 oz marshmallow creme


Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, using a fork, whisk together strawberry cream cheese and marshmallow cream until well combine. Serve with fruit for dipping (my favorites are strawberries, apple slices, blueberries or diced pineapple. This is also delicious with mini pretzels). Store in refrigerator up to three days, stir again before serving.

Caramel Cheesecake Apple Dip (3 Ingredient 3 Minute Recipe)

Cheesecake, caramel, apples - love all the above so why not put them all together? I wanted a simple dip for my apple one day and caramel apples are one of my favorite desserts, as is cheesecake, so I thought I may as well combine them all into one quick and ridiculously easy dip. To say this dip is good is speaking much too lightly. I'm totally in love with it! It makes a great last minute treat for a party because, really it can be made in just a few minutes (and if you have an apple slicer things are almost too easy to be true). Serve it with your favorite kind of apples (I think it would also be delicious with bananas and maybe a drizzling of chocolate mmm) and enjoy! 

Caramel Cheesecake Apple Dip
Yields enough for a small crowd (half a recipe would be enough for about 5 people)

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, chilled
1 cup caramel ice cream topping, chilled (I used Hershey's in the glass jar)
1 store bought graham cracker pie crust, crumbled

Directions:
Place cream cheese in a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese until smooth and fluffy for about 1 minute. Stir in caramel ice cream topping. Break graham cracker pie crust into pieces and place pieces in a ziploc bag, then seal bag and using a rolling pin crush graham cracker crust pieces until finely broken (there should no longer be chunks). Serve with apple slices. Dip apple slices into caramel cheesecake dip then into broken graham cracker crust. Store cheesecake dip in refrigerator up to one week.

Note: this dip is also delicious with a bit of cinnamon (about 1/4 tsp) and a few dashes of nutmeg mixed in.

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy