Whipped feta with homemade pumpkin puree

Many people will tell you canned pumpkin puree is better than homemade pumpkin puree. But that is simply not true. Here's what they mean:  There isn't a noticeable difference between the two when used in baked goods. And since homemade pumpkin puree takes more effort than opening a can, why bother?

I'm here to tell you homemade pumpkin puree tastes significantly better than canned puree. I actually enjoy eating straight homemade pumpkin puree. Can you imagine doing that with the canned version? 

But I'll admit, it's true—there isn't much of a difference in baked goods. So that brings us back to the initial question: Why bother making homemade puree? Well, I think there are some instances in which it does indeed make a difference in taste, particularly in no-bake recipes, like the pumpkin whipped feta dip recipe that you'll find in this post!

What is pumpkin puree?

Pumpkin puree is the cooked and blended flesh of the squash with the seeds and skin removed. 

What type of pumpkin should I use for pumpkin puree?

Use sugar pumpkins or pie pumpkins. It’s the same thing but with different names. They weigh a couple of pounds and are usually 8ish inches in diameter. DO NOT use great big jack-o-lantern pumpkins. They tend to be bitter and stringier. 

What is the difference between canned pumpkin and fresh pumpkin?

Canned pumpkin may be a combination of a few different types of pumpkins. It may even contain other types of squash. It is made by steaming the pumpkin, scraping out the flesh, and blending it.

Fresh pumpkin, on the other hand, is made from one type of pumpkin, and the flesh is roasted before it is blended. I think roasting yields the best flavor because excess water evaporates and the flesh slightly caramelizes in the oven resulting in a sweeter flavor. 

Visually, canned pumpkin is significantly darker in color than fresh pumpkin. Also, fresh pumpkin is thinner than the canned version.

Pros of using canned pumpkin

• It is a consistent product. Every can contains the same moisture, texture and color. 
• It’s convenient.
• Most people say they can’t taste a difference when used in baked goods

Pros of using fresh pumpkin

• It definitely tastes better on its own.
• It’s cheaper.
• You get pumpkin seeds which make a tasty snack.

When should I use fresh vs canned pumpkin?

I don’t think anyone will notice a difference in your baked goods as to whether you use fresh or canned pumpkin puree. I think it makes the most difference when using it uncooked, like in a dip. I think pumpkin puree straight from the can has a slightly metallic taste.

Homemade pumpkin puree

Yield: Makes 4 cups puree

Time: About 15 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking

Ingredients

• 1 pie pumpkin
• 1 Tablespoon avocado oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Wash and dry pumpkin and cut in half.
3. Use ice cream or cookie scoop to scrape out seeds and pulp. Set aside to make roasted pumpkin seeds if desired.
4. Brush avocado oil on flesh side of pumpkin halves.
5. Place halves flesh side down on baking sheet. Use knife to pierce pumpkin skin several times.
6. Place in oven for 60 minutes, flipping pumpkins to flesh side up halfway through cooking.
7. Remove from oven and peel skin off each half.
8. Transfer pumpkin to food process and process until smooth, scraping down bowl as necessary.
9. Place pumpkin puree in refrigerator up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 3 months.

Whipped pumpkin feta dip

Yield: 8 servings

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 10 ounces sheep’s milk feta cheese, block, drained from brine
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked

Directions

1. Put feta in food processor and blend until smooth, scraping sides as needed.
2. Add pumpkin puree, thyme, honey, and black pepper. Blend until smooth.
3. Transfer dip to refrigerator and chill until ready to serve.
4. Garnish with thyme leaves, honey, black pepper, and pumpkin seeds, if desired, and serve with toasted pita, crackers, or baguette.

Notes: Do not use feta crumbles. Manufacturers coat feta crumbles with anti-caking agents to prevent them from clumping together. That means they won't blend into a smooth dip. Also, use sheep's milk feta, which is sharper and tangier than cow's milk feta, which can be bland.

Blue bean dip

NFL games start this weekend, and the Colts' first game of the season is on Sunday! Many people will gather around their TVs to watch all the action unfold, and undoubtedly they’ll be snacking.

You all know I love to make themed foods, so I wanted to make a special “Colts blue” snack.

The problem: it is very hard to find naturally blue foods! Of course, I could use blue dye, but that is unappealing (no one wants a blue mouth).

But thanks to science, we can use red cabbage and baking soda to make blue bean dip!

Red cabbage (sometimes called purple cabbage) is a natural pH indicator because it contains anthocyanins—chemicals that change color in response to pH changes. Anthocyanins turn red when mixed with acids and blue when mixed with bases.

So if we add a little red cabbage and baking soda to our dip, it will naturally turn blue!

The key is you cannot use any acid in the recipe because then it won't work. A lot of bean dip recipes use lemon juice, but lemon is an acid, so it will mess with the color if we add it to this recipe.

Blue bean dip

Yield: Makes about 1 1/2 cups of bean dip

Time: About 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons tahini
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• Optional: Fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, and  parsley
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup (50 to 100 grams) red cabbage, chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1. Add beans to bowl of food processor or high-speed blender and blend until smooth, creamy, and lighter, about 1 minute. Add up to 2 tablespoons water if necessary to keep blades moving.
2. Add garlic, olive oil, tahini, salt, cumin, black pepper, cayenne, paprika, and herbs. Blend until smooth.
3. Add 1/2 cup red cabbage and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and blend until smooth. Be sure to blend for a full minute to allow for the color to develop. Add more red cabbage and baking soda (a little at a time) if necessary to adjust color. 
4. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with pita chips, pretzels, tortilla chips, etc.

Pimento cheese and scallion dip

This is a sponsored post by Challenge, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible! 

I love snacking on chips and dip while watching a big sporting event. And the NCAA tournament is definitely my favorite sporting event each year. That’s why I thought it would be fun to make my chip dip look like a basketball. My first thought was to make a pimento cheese dip because it’s already orange like a basketball, and anything with cheddar cheese and cream cheese will obviously be delicious.

Pimento cheese is a staple in the south. At its simplest form, it consists of cheddar cheese, pimento peppers, and either cream cheese or mayo or a combination of the two. It’s creamy, tangy, a little sweet, and obviously, cheesy. It’s often used as a dip or a sandwich spread.

Many people in the south have very strong opinions on what ingredients should go into “authentic” pimento cheese spread. But the reality is the best pimento cheese dip is what you think is tastiest. That’s why I encourage everyone to continuously taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

This recipe uses a lot of cheese. It is cheese dip, after all. It is very important to only use block cheese that you shred yourself. Shredded cheese is certainly convenient, but most shredded cheese contains additives like potato starch, natamycin, and powdered cellulose. The additives prevent shredded cheese from clumping in bags, but they can also affect the taste and texture. You can easily shred cheese with a box grater or the grater attachment on a food processor.

When choosing the cheese for this dip, make sure to buy extra sharp cheddar cheese because we want the cheddar flavor to shine above everything else.

Not every pimento cheese dip has cream cheese, but I prefer the texture of the dip with cream cheese. Also, I think it enhances the flavor of the cheddar along with providing an additional tangy element. I only use Challenge cream cheese when I’m cooking and baking. Challenge cream cheese is made with real milk, cream, and other natural ingredients. You can definitely taste a difference.

The last thing I want to address is the pimento peppers. They are not the same as red bell peppers. Pimentos are small, heart-shaped peppers with subtle sweetness. You can buy them  diced in jars at your local grocery store. I’ve typically found them near the olives or in the canned vegetable section.

Pimento cheese and scallion dip

Yield: 4 cups

Time: About 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 16 ounces extra sharp yellow cheddar cheese, shredded (reserve 4 ounces)
• 8 ounces Challenge cream cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 7 ounces pimentos, small dice
• 4 green onions, green and white parts, small dice
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar 
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup blue corn tortilla chips, crushed

Directions

1. Combine 12 ounces cheddar, cream cheese, mayonnaise, pimentos, green onions, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and black pepper in large mixing bowl and use stand mix or electric hand mixer to beat until combined. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary
2. Spread mixture in pie dish or other circular pan.
3. Spread reserved extra sharp cheddar cheese over surface.
4. Sprinkle blue corn tortilla chip crumbs over top of dip in basketball design.
5. Serve with crackers or chips.

Checkered flag dip

 

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

I'm not sure non-Hoosiers fully grasp how big a deal the Indianapolis 500 is to locals. I didn't fully understand until I moved to Indianapolis. Many families display checkered flags outside their homes and neighbors host porch parties. There are parades, concerts, and festivals in the weeks leading up to the race. It's truly a month-long celebration! And it all culminates with the largest single-day sporting event in the world, the Indy 500. Many fans are eager to head to the track this year after the 2020 race ran without fans due to COVID-19 concerns. 

As you can imagine, tailgating is a big part of race day, and I love making Indy 500-themed snacks. This year I'm really excited to debut my checkered flag dip. It looks tricky to make because of the checkerboard design, but it's actually quite simple! I started by making a whipped feta dip, which consists of feta, cream cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, and seasonings. Feta and cream cheese are the primary ingredients in this recipe, so it's important to use good-quality products. I don't recommend using low-fat or fat-free feta cheese because it can be quite dry and the dip won't be as creamy. For cream cheese, Challenge Dairy is the only brand I use. It's made from the freshest milk and cream from happy cows at family-owned dairies. You can really taste the difference.

After making the dip, create a checkerboard pattern with a few pieces of paper cut into squares and black sesame seeds. Lightly lay the pieces of paper on the dip so it resembles a checkerboard and fill in the empty spaces with the black sesame seeds. When you finish, carefully lift up the pieces of paper. And that's it!

You can serve the checkered flag dip with pita chips, regular chips, or vegetables. I actually found really fun green, yellow, and red tortilla chips at Trader Joe's that I think resemble the IndyCar start, caution, and stop flags.

 

Checkered flag dip

Ingredients

• 10 ounces feta cheese
• 4 ounces Challenge cream cheese
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 Tablespoons black sesame seeds

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients except the black sesame seeds in a food processor or with a mixer until smooth and airy. Taste and adjust pepper if necessary.
2. Transfer dip to platter or serving dish (preferably square, but it's okay to use round dish) and smooth the top in an even layer. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
3. Cut blank sheet of paper into 1-inch squares. Lay squares across dip in checkerboard pattern.
4. Fill in empty spaces with black sesame seeds. Carefully remove paper squares. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Buffalo chicken monkey bread

This is a sponsored post by Challenge, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Exactly one week until Stuff-Your-Face Sunday—I mean, Super Bowl Sunday! If you want to serve up a winning recipe, look no further! I combined two favorite classic snacks—buffalo chicken dip and monkey bread—into the ultimate crowd-pleasing creation. (And by "crowd" I mean "family members" because large gatherings are obviously discouraged this year.)

For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept of monkey bread, the recipe involves sticking biscuits in a bundt pan, pouring a buttery syrup on top, baking it, and then inverting the pan onto a stand. This is very similar, except instead if using a bundt pan, I made a football-shaped pan out of an aluminum foil casserole dish. Certainly, you could purchase a football cake pan, but this worked just as well. In the picture below, you can see how I bent the pan to look like a football.

In order to make a buffalo chicken version of monkey bread, I flattened each piece of biscuit dough, added 1.5 teaspoons of buffalo chicken dip to the center, and pinched and sealed the edges together before rolling them into balls. I used four 7.5-ounce cans of biscuit dough, and it was enough to fill the bottom of the football-shaped pan, plus a few extras in the center.

Like I mentioned, normally with monkey bread a buttery, sugary syrup is poured on top of the biscuits before baking. In this case, I mixed melted butter and buffalo sauce together and poured that on top of the biscuits before baking.

Once the monkey bread is done baking and it has cooled off a bit, there is one last finishing touch! Draw in the "football laces" with cream cheese.  I only use Challenge brand cream cheese because it's rich and tangy with no greasy aftertaste. Also, their products are 100% natural, without the use of the synthetic hormone rBST.

I recommend serving the monkey bread with ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, and / or buffalo sauce for dipping.

Buffalo Chicken Monkey Bread

Ingredients

• 6 ounces Challenge cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup buffalo sauce or hot sauce, divided in half
• 1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4, 7.5-ounce cans refrigerated biscuit dough
• 1/2 cup Challenge butter, melted
• Optional: Ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, and / or buffalo sauce for dipping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
2. Mix together 4 ounces cream cheese and 1/2 cup buffalo sauce. Stir in chicken, blue cheese, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper.
3. Separate and flatten the biscuits. Add 1.5 teaspoons of buffalo chicken dip to the center of each piece of biscuit dough.
4. Pinch to seal the edges of the biscuit dough and roll into ball. Arrange evenly in pan.
5. Mix together melted butter and 1/2 cup buffalo sauce and pour over the top.
6. Cover pan with foil and bake for about 1 hour, or until biscuit dough is golden brown and cooked through.
7. Let cool for 5 minutes before inverting onto serving platter.
8. Snip corner of plastic bag, fill it with cream cheese, and decoratively pipe "laces" onto football.
9. Serve with ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, and / or buffalo sauce for dipping.

Recipe inspired by Arlyn Osborne

Cheesy Graveyard Taco Dip

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Cheesy Graveyard Taco Dip
Ingredients

• 8 ounces Challenge cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
• 1 (1 ounce) envelope of taco seasoning 
• 1 pound ground beef, cooked and fat drained
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups salsa
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped (optional) 
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
• Tortillas
• Black edible marker (like this one)

Directions

1. Mix together cream cheese, Mexican cheese, and taco seasoning
2. Stir in ground beef, diced tomatoes, and black beans
3. Prepare 8×8-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer mixture to dish and smooth the surface
4. Evenly spread salsa on top. 
5. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes
6. While dip is baking, cut tortillas into tombstones, ghosts, and trees
7. Place shapes onto baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes
8. Remove dip from oven and sprinkle with green onions and cilantro.
9. Use black edible marker to write on tortilla tombstones and stick them upright into dip so it looks like a graveyard.
10. Serve with tortilla chips.

Idea for graveyard dip inspired by The Chickabug Blog

Cookie Dough Football Dip

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

I think we can all agree, one of the best things about fall is the start of football season. Even if you don’t like the sport, everyone can appreciate the camaraderie among fans and delicious food at tailgates.

I’ve certainly made a lot of dips for game days, but surprisingly, I’ve never made one that was actually football-themed! I needed to change that. 

I've seen a lot of cheeseballs in the shape of footballs, but I wanted to do more of a dessert dip. As I was thinking about it, for some reason my mind went straight to cookie dough. I NEEDED to make a cookie dough dip.

I came up with a concoction that I thought would taste like cookie dough, and indeed it did! I only used Challenge butter and cream cheese of course. I prefer Challenge over every other brand because I know there are no hormones, additives, or fillers in their products.The taste is also superior to other brands because they use real cream.

The next stage of my plan was to mold the dip into a football. However, the dip was not firm enough to make any type of semi-spherical shape. So I refrigerated it for an hour and tried again. Nope. So I refrigerated it for 3 hours. Still nope.

I was pretty frustrated. It tasted delicious, and I definitely didn’t want to scrap the recipe. So I improvised. I spread it on a piece of plastic wrap and shaped it into something that resembled a football. But it needed a little something more, so I improvised once again and dyed shredded coconut green with food coloring by shaking it up in a plastic bag. I spread spread the coconut along the sides of the dip, and after adding a little melted white chocolate for the laces, it definitely looked like a football!

I wanted to tell you that long story about my dip struggles because it just goes to show that the internet can be deceiving. We only ever see everyone’s best pictures, and never the struggles and the mistakes that occurred before the picture was posted.  So even though this dip didn’t turn out the way I originally imagined, it was still delicious and cute.

Cookie Dough Football Dip

Ingredients

• 8 ounces Challenge cream cheese
• 1/2 cup Challenge butter 
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup white chocolate, melted
• 1 cup shredded Coconut, green food coloring (if desired)

Directions

1. Use mixer to combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth. 
2. Stir in 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.
3. Lay piece of plastic wrap on plate or platter. Dump dip onto plastic wrap and shape it so it looks like a football.
4. Completely cover dip with remaining chocolate chips.
5. Use melted white chocolate to draw on football laces
6. Combine shredded coconut and a few drops of green food coloring in plastic bag and shake until coconut turns green
7. Spread the coconut along the edges of the football so it looks like grass and chill until ready to serve
8. I recommend serving it with pretzels or Vanilla Wafers.

Lemon Meringue Skillet Dip

Lemon meringue pie was always my grandfather’s favorite pie, but the only version I ever remember having was from Marie Calendar. Very few people make homemade lemon meringue pie anymore, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it seems like such a daunting task.

So in honor of my grandpa and Lemon Meringue Pie Day, I came up with a recipe that you can whip together in no time at all. There are just two easy steps to this Lemon Meringue Skillet Dip, and the ingredients are minimal.

The first thing I want to address are the eggs. With this recipe, and with most all meringue pie recipes, you will need to separate the egg yolks and the egg whites. Eggs separate most easily when they are cold, but egg whites whip best for the meringue when they are room temperature. So before you do anything else, I recommend first separating the egg yolks and whites so the whites can sit out at room temperature while you prepare everything else.

As you can see in the ingredient list below, there are very few ingredients in the filling. And it comes together just with a whisk. Which is good because you’ll need to save your muscles for the meringue.

So the way the meringue comes together is basically magic. Well, technically it’s science. You see, egg whites are 90% water and 10% protein. When you beat them together, air bubbles are distributed and the proteins cluster together causing it to foam. But the meringue is very delicate and at risk of deflating. So an acid like cream of tartar steps in to help stabilize the meringue by keeping the air bubbles in place. Even though you add just a small amount of cream of tartar, it’s very important for the structure of the meringue.

I’ve said this before (just a few sentences ago, in fact) and I’ll say this again — the meringue is very delicate! When it’s time to add the sugar, it’s important to only add it one tablespoon at a time so you don't knock the air out of the meringue. The meringue is done when you lift the beaters and the tip stands straight up. This is called a stiff peak.

For my last meringue tip, I want to talk about giving the meringue texture. Rarely do you see meringue spread smoothly on a pie. One of the things that makes it so beautiful is the texture, or curled peaks. You can create the curled peaks by using the bottom of a spoon to create an indent in the pie and then lift up. The meringue should lift up with the back of the spoon and curl up.

My intention for this recipe was that it would be eaten like a dip, but after trying it I realized it’s with something as delicious as this, there’s no shame in grabbing a spoon and digging in.



Lemon Meringue Skillet Dip
Ingredients
For the filling

• 28 ounces sweetened condensed milk 
• 2/3 cup lemon juice
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest

For the meringue

• 4 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 8 Tablespoons of sugar

Directions
For the filling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Mix together sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, egg yolks, and lemon zest; set aside

For the meringue

1. Combine egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar
2. Using an electric mixer, beat at medium speed until soft peaks form
3. Switch mixer to high speed and add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time
4. Continue beating until sugar dissolves and stiff peaks form

Assembly

1. Spread filling into bottom of 10-inch prepared cast iron skillet
2. Spread meringue on top of filling; use back of spoon to form peaks
3. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the meringue peaks start to turn brown
4. Serve immediately with graham crackers 

Slow Cooker Big Mac Dip

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

The Big Mac is an iconic American food consisting of "two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." And we all know the sauce is what makes the Big Mac so special.

For years, the sauce recipe was a big secret, but now if you search "Big Mac sauce recipe" online, it yields nearly two million results. It's the contrasting sweet and tangy flavors that make it taste so good. That's why I decided it would make a perfect dip!



Chips and dip are my favorite part of parties, and they're a great centerpiece for social interactions.

I decided to make this a slow cooker recipe for several reasons. If you use  a slow cooker, you don't need to do worry about prep work or mixing because everything just melts together. Also, you can take the slow cooker with you to the party to keep your dip warm.

This dip is thick and meaty and could double as a meal. Not necessarily a healthy meals. But a good splurge meal nonetheless.

I used tortilla chips as my dipper, but you can definitely use any kind of chip. Actually, I saw these dill pickle-flavored potato chips recently that I really want to try with it next!



Slow Cooker Big Mac Dip
Yield: Comfortably serves 6 to 8 people
Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound Velveeta 
• 8 ounces Challenge cream cheese
• 3 Roma tomatoes, diced and seeded 
• 1/4 cup onion, diced (you can add more if you like a lot of onion)
• 1/2 cup French dressing
• 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar

Directions

1. Brown ground beef in skillet and drain; add to slow cooker
2. Cut Velveeta into small cubes and add to slow cooker
3. Add cream cheese, tomatoes, French dressing, relish, and vinegar to slow cooker.
4. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour or on low for about 3 hours
5. Stir and serve with chips

Spinach Artichoke Pretzel Skillet

This is a sponsored post by Challenge Butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Dips are undoubtedly the heart of every Super Bowl party. If you search the definition of Super Bowl in Merriam Webster, the actual definition is “an excuse to have a party with lots of dips.”

But with so many people bringing dips to your Super Bowl party, how do you make your dip stand out?

Your cast iron skillet is currently in the back of your cupboard raising it’s hand and saying “Pick me! Pick me!” That’s right—a cast iron skillet is the secret to transforming an ordinary dip into the coolest appetizer at the party.

Cast iron skillets have obviously been around for centuries. But I’ve noticed that they have become very very popular in the past year. They are extremely versatile, and I love that the skillet is used as both the baking dish and the presentation dish.

I made my first dip with a cast iron skillet last month and it was a huge hit. My favorite part about the Spicy Cheese Pretzel Skillet is that the dip and the pretzels baked together in the same skillet. The soft pretzels were extremely easy to make (store bought biscuit dough for the win), and ultimately that’s what made the dish look deceptively stunning. So I decided to try the same concept with this skillet artichoke spinach dip. The creamy and cheesy dip with baked-in pretzel dippers is what dreams are made of.

In my last skillet post I went into great details about the science behind homemade soft pretzels. So this week, I’m going into great detail about the best practices for taking care of your cast iron skillet.

First of all, the best time to clean your cast iron skillet is immediately after using it. You can’t be a set-aside-to-soak kind of person. Soaking the skillet is one of the worst things you can do to it because it will rust.

Instead, immediately after you’ve removed all the food from it, wash your skillet by hand using a sponge or a stiff, non-wire brush. Don’t use soap! If there is food stuck to the pan that won’t come off with water, scrub it with a mixture of salt and hot water.

Completely, dry our skillet immediately after you’ve finished washing it so it doesn’t rust. I recommend heating the pan over your stovetop burner on high for about 5 minutes to ensure it’s completely dry.

After drying, add a thin layer of oil to the pan to keep it well-seasoned.

Store your cast iron skillet with a paper towel on it to absorb any moisture and protect it from dust.

I realize this entire post is about cast iron skillets, but I do want to point out that you can still make this delicious dip as well as the pretzel bites without a cast iron skillet. Just bake the dip in an oven safe dish and bake the pretzel bites separately on a baking sheet.

Or if pretzels aren’t your thing, you could buy a big loaf of bread, hollow it out to make a bread bowl, and then use the inside scraps to dip—similar to what I did with this Buffalo Chicken Stuffed French Bread. Enjoy and Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Spinach Artichoke Pretzel Skillet

Ingredients

For the dip

• 4 cups baby spinach
• 14 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained
• 8 ounces Challenge cream cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons dill
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce

For the pretzel bites

• 1 can refrigerated biscuit dough
• 4 cups water
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• Egg wash (1 egg mixed with 2 Tablespoons water for brushing on dough)
• Sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions

For the dip

1. Place spinach in a bowl with 1 Tablespoon water and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
2. Microwave on high for 1 minute; leave covered 15 minutes to cool. Drain spinach well and add to medium bowl.
3. Chop artichoke hearts and add to bowl.
4. Add remaining dip ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

For the pretzel bites

1. Generously oil or butter your cast iron skillet.
2. Open can of biscuit dough, cut each pre-sliced biscuit into quarters, and roll into balls; set aside.
3. Bring water and baking soda to a boil in a small saucepan. Drop biscuit dough into boiling water and let cook for one minute. Remove biscuit dough from water with slotted spoon and transfer to cast iron skillet, forming a ring along the inside edge.
4. Brush biscuits with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt.
5. Transfer spinach artichoke dip to center of skillet.
6. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until pretzels are golden brown and dip is bubbly.
7. Let skillet cool about 5 to 10 minutes before serving.