Festive Holiday Cranberry Cheese Toasts
Boujie On A Budget
Festive Holiday Cranberry Cheese Toasts are the perfect savory and sweet holiday bite for your get-togethers. These are easy to make and can be prepped ahead of your event.
Goat cheese and cream cheese is combined with classic cranberry sauce, spread on top of toasts, and topped with caramelized onions and crispy prosciutto. These look fancy and expensive but are quite affordable to make.
Impress Every Guest
These seem super fancy, but as you will see from the recipe card at the end of this post, these festive holiday cranberry cheese toasts are simple to make and even easier to prep a day or two in advance of your gathering.
I have served these hot or cold and while they are a little bit more special served with the onions and toasts warm, it’s just as good room temperature or colder.
Saving Time
To help your holiday prep, make the onions, cheese, and prosciutto ahead of time. Then before your party, when that annoying guest shows up super early as usual, show them my finished picture of this appetizer and have them assemble these for you.
It will give them something to do and keep them out of your hair. And if you haven’t met a guest like this before well… maybe you’re showing up to parties too early…
Aldi Or Bust
I got all of the ingredients for these at my local Aldi Grocery Store. Everything was super affordable.
I especially love the prosciutto from Aldi. It is reasonably priced and it is packaged really well.
I am never trying to peel it apart when I buy it from Aldi. It comes out of the package perfectly.
I use this same prosciutto for my Ultimate Picnic Sandwich. You should make that recipe as well.
Better Than Bacon
I love crisping this prosciutto. It is so flavorful and thin and crispy.
Some would say it is better than bacon, but I will never put down bacon.
That being said, prosciutto does go really well with the onions and goat cheese in this recipe. It adds a crisp saltiness that is perfection.
Take Time For Onions
The onions will take time to caramelize.
Many people tell me they do their onions in a slow cooker. I have not tried this but I am sure it works.
The pan is what I use. You can make the onions a day in advance and then warm them when you are ready to assemble.
How To Use Extra Cheese
If you have extra cheese leftover, you can use this for another get together. Just put the spread out with some crackers.
You can also crumble any extra prosciutto on top if you have some left. The cheese can be stored in your fridge for at least a week.
This cheese would be really good on Triscuit Crackers.
Festive Holiday Cranberry Cheese Toasts
Festive Holiday Cranberry Cheese Toasts are the perfect savory and sweet holiday bite for your get togethers. These are easy to make and can be prepped ahead of your event. Goat cheese and cream cheese is combined with classic cranberry sauce, spread on top of toasts, topped with caramelized onions and crispy prosciutto. These look fancy and expensive but are quite affordable to make. Delicious for every holiday get together.
Ingredients
- 2 four ounce packages of Goat Cheese or Goat Cheese with Honey (from Aldi)
- 1 eight ounce package of whipped cream cheese
- 2 three ounce packages of prosciutto (from Aldi)
- 2 tablespoons of canned, jellied cranberry sauce
- 1 French baguette, slice into thinner slices
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder *optional
- black pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons of dried parsley
Instructions
- It is important to use a good, non stick skillet for this recipe, if you do not have one, make sure to use some non stick spray or a little bit of butter or cooking oil of your choice. If you are using non stick, you don't need spray, butter or oil.
- Working in batches, add a few slices of prosciutto to a medium heat skillet and let the prosciutto crisp up before flipping to the other side to crisp. They will look golden brown but still be slightly pliable when you remove them from the pan and will crisp and dry as they rest. Remove them from the pan and place on a paper towel as you continue to fry the other slices.
- After you have crisped all your prosciutto, set this aside. Add the two tablespoons of butter to the same skillet as the prosciutto was in, do not clean it first, then add your diced onions. These will need to cook low and slow for a good 30 minutes to one hour. Place the lid on the pan and stir occasionally as they caramelize and turn golden brown. Keep a close eye and adjust heat and give it a stir here and there. *you can make these and the prosciutto a day ahead of time, I stored mine on the counter in a Ziploc bag.
- When the onions are golden brown and as caramelized as you like them, add some garlic powder and black pepper. Sauté another 10 minutes or so until the excess liquid is evaporated out of the pan.
- In a bowl or stand mixer, add your goat cheese, whipped cream cheese and beat on high until light and fluffy. I add a little dried parsley to this for color. Add your cranberry sauce a little at a time, taste and add more if you want a stronger cranberry flavor. You can also make this a day ahead of time and keep in fridge until ready to assemble. If you are not making in advance, let the cheese mixture hang out in the fridge for at least one hour. If you forget this step, it is not the end of the world, just let the bread toasts cool a little before spreading so it doesn't melt off.
- In the same pan as the onions you can add a little more butter if needed, and then add the French baguette slices and toast up on both sides.
- When it is time to assemble, you can spread the cheese mixture on the toasts, add the warm onions and then break up the crispy prosciutto into bite sized pieces and arrange on top and secure them by pressing them a little into the cheese. Top with a sprinkle of dried parsley and or dried rosemary. *if you have prepped this ahead of time you can warm the onions in the microwave and the bread slices in a warm oven. I have made this and served cold and it is just as delicious. Warm is just extra special.
