Cranberry Cream Cheese Cracker Spread
Dried cranberries, pecans, and orange in a rehydrated cheese spread. Cracker food for the first afternoon out.
- calories
- 320
- weight
- 2.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 145
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 45 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- No cook
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Day hike
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Cream cheese powder | 1/2 cup | stands in for an 8 oz block; no cooler needed |
|---|---|---|
| Orange drink powder or powdered orange juice | 2 tbsp | replaces the frozen concentrate |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried orange peel | 2 tsp | grate it fresh at home and dry it, or buy it jarred |
| Cinnamon | 1/8 tsp | |
| Dried cranberries | 1/4 cup | chopped fine so they soften |
| Pecans | 1/4 cup | chopped fine |
| Cold water | about 3 tbsp | |
| Butter crackers | 1 sleeve |
Method
- Put the cranberries and 1 tbsp of the water in the bag first. Let them sit ten minutes while you set up camp.
- Add the cream cheese powder, orange powder, sugar, orange peel, and cinnamon to the same bag.
- Work in the rest of the water a little at a time from outside the bag. Stop when it holds a shape. Too much water and it runs off the cracker.
- Add the pecans last and squish to mix. Cut a corner off the bag and squeeze it onto crackers.
The original is a fridge recipe: a block of cream cheese, thawed juice concentrate, and a bowl. Neither of those travels. Cream cheese powder rehydrates into the same thing at about a fifth of the carried weight and does not care how warm your pack gets, and orange drink powder covers the acid and sweetness the concentrate was there for.
Water control is the whole job. Add it slowly, because the powder keeps drinking for a minute after you stop stirring, and a spread that is too loose slides off the cracker. The cranberries get soaked first so they pull their water from the bag instead of from the finished spread.
Packing
Everything but the crackers and the water goes in one freezer bag at home, with the cranberries chopped small. Crackers ride in a rigid container or you are eating crumbs with a spoon.
Variations
- Walnuts or sunflower seeds work if pecans are out of budget.
- A splash of the water swapped for orange liqueur, if that is the trip.
- Skip the sugar and add black pepper for something closer to a savory spread.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/cranberry_delight_spread-1683.asp