<p>Once again I call on my CC friends for help. I am going to a brunch tomorrow, and was hoping to bring appetizers (having just gotten several great suggestions from CC posters that I took to Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, was hoping to re-do some of them). Instead, I’ve been asked to bring bite-size desserts, since there are already 2 cakes coming. I usually make cakes or pies, can’t think of anything bite-sized right now, and am short of shopping/cooking time. Any ideas?</p>
<p>Little lemon tarts are always a good choice… uses the same filling as lemon pie - just in a little tiny crust. </p>
<p>Cookies are also bite sized - how about starting the Christmas cookie season?</p>
<p>MINI CHERRY CHEESECAKES </p>
<p>2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese
2 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon juice
Dash of salt
16 to 18 vanilla wafers
1 can cherry pie filling (or you can use blueberry)
Cool Whip</p>
<p>Beat together all above (except vanilla wafers and pie filling) until creamy. Place 1 vanilla wafer in bottom of each cupcake liner. Fill each 3/4 full with cream cheese mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 16 to 18 minutes. Cool, refrigerate or freeze. Before serving, top with cherry pie filling (or any flavor) and Cool Whip. Servings: 16 to 18.</p>
<p>Put frosted flakes a small (teaspoon size pile) on wax paper on a cookie sheet. spoon melted chocolate on top, coating it pretty well and refrigerate for a few hours. They are really great!</p>
<p>And if your audience is of the older generation, you can substitute Fiber One instead of frosted flakes!</p>
<p>Here’s a dish I got from some show on the Food Network (can’t remember which), but it has proven extremely popular whenever I’ve taken it. I always have to make an extra batch for my family.</p>
<p>Cut sheets of puff pastry dough into 12 equal portions. Mold them into a muffin pan. Put a small dab of brie cheese in the center of each one and top with a teaspoon full of cooked cranberries. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 min.</p>
<p>I think I have a winner! I just made a double batch of a great cranberry/cherry/almond chutney an hour ago. I think I can use this for tango14’s recipe! </p>
<p>The lemon tarts and cherry cheesecakes sound great, but I can’t face that amount of work between now and mid-morning tomorrow. </p>
<p>Chocolate-covered Fiber One gave me a good laugh!</p>
<p>tango…that sounds amazing!!!</p>
<p>A fool proof if you have a Trader Joe’s near you: the rolled lox and cream cheese (roulades) in the refridgerator section, 1 jar of lumpfish caviar, cocktail bread (pumpernickel) Slice roulades into thin slice, put on black bread, put a dab of caviar on top…and if you have some chives (like 3 tiny pieces) go for it.</p>
<p>Recipe for cranberry/cherry/almond chutney tasty bits, please, sir…</p>
<p>OP needs a dessert–how about jarred lemon curd dolloped into the small phyllo cups found in the frozen section? Maybe a squirt of ReddiWip on top.</p>
<p>I thought tango’s recipe was a dessert, but I guess with the Brie it’s an appetizer? No problem; i will use silvervestermom’s suggestion and use the phyllo cups, filled maybe with sweetened cream cheese/ricotta and topped with the cranberry chutney, which is quite good. </p>
<p>Here is a link to the recipe, ellemenope. I reduced the amount of sugar by half and it was still sweet enough. I also used toasted almonds instead of walnuts, because S1 is allergic to most nuts, but not to almonds (which are a pit). It is probably better with walnuts. I used TJ’s dried tart cherries.</p>
<p>[Cranberry</a>, Cherry, and Walnut Chutney Recipe - Fruits - MyRecipes.com](<a href=“http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1120284]Cranberry”>http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1120284)</p>
<p>ellebud, that appetizer sounds delicious!</p>
<p>Phyllo cups are a little easier to deal with than puff pastry and almost as good. I’ve filled them with just about everything imaginable. Vanilla yogurt with berries, tapanade, creamed mushrooms or spinach, lemon curd - it’s all good!</p>
<p>Probably too late but I’ll offer our latest easy, but always popular dessert small-bite…
Inside-Out Oreos!!!</p>
<p>Take one package of Oreos and pulverize in the food processor. Add one 8oz. package of softened cream cheese and food process till mixture comes together kind of dough-ish. Form 1 inch balls with the mixture and stick toothpicks in them (like you would a cocktail meatball or something) - freeze on wax paper for an hour or two. Melt some dipping chocolate (we buy a container in the produce section that is often used for dipping strawberries) and dip each toothpicked ball, 3/4 of the way. Freeze again till ready to eat. Serve on a pretty plate!</p>
<p>They don’t have to be frozen to eat, but are good that way.</p>
<p>Super easy, few ingredients!</p>
<p>Loved by kids and adults as well!</p>
<p>I have found that if I don’t have time to make lemon curd and have to use the jar type that adding a squeeze or two of fresh lemon juice and stirring it well makes it almost as good as home made.</p>
<p>Thanks for recipe. I suppose if one is in a hurry, TJ’s probably already has some great chutneys already made…</p>
<p>abasket,
Our secretary makes those oreo things, but she dips them in melted white chocolate. She calls them crack balls.</p>
<p>I thought they sounded awful, but I took one just to be polite, and I was surprised that I liked it…we all need a good sugar high now and then.</p>
<p>bake brownies from a mix,add choc chips to the batter. when cool, cut in smaller pieces than usual. everybody loves a good bite of a brownie.I use the Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate box, its the best by far.</p>
<p>Just an FYI…those mini cheesecakes are one of the easiest things to make…on the planet. The hardest part is shopping for the ingredients. If you have a food processor or good mixer…it takes all of 10 minutes to assemble them…then they bake. I don’t bother with the cool whip…the pie filling on top is plenty.</p>
<p>The cranberry-filled phyllo cups were a big hit at the brunch! Thank you so much to everyone who posted suggestions so quickly. I’m glad to know about the phyllo cups. I can imagine using them for appetizers with all sorts of filling. </p>
<p>I used the cranberry-cherry chutney that I linked above, but I have to say that if I were making it for this dessert recipe, I would have used more sugar. I cut the amount in the recipe in half, and that was perfect to serve with turkey, but it was a little tart for a dessert. Under the chutney, I used a mixture of cream cheese/ricotta/sour cream and mixed in sifted confectioner’s sugar.</p>