6 Five-Ingredients or Less Appetizers

Super Bowl is coming up and if you're planning a party, you've probably got a lot to think about. These appetizers are perfect for laying out for Super Bowl Sunday and they all have 5 ingredients or less. Plus, they are pretty elegant. Who says you can't have a Super Bowl party with style?

Here's a list with amazing recipes. The links are in the picture and title description:

- Bacon Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Blue Cheese:

So if you've never had bacon wrapped dates, YOU ARE MISSING OUT!!! They are amazing! Here we've got bacon wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese. I have never tried them but plan to make these to take to my father's house for his annual Super Bowl party. I think I will make half with blue cheese and half without since there are many people who don't care for bleu cheese. I will stuff my face with these babies, seriously.

- Wrap-Party Apps:

This is pretty straight forward. It isn't even really a recipe as much as it is a description. Buy some mozzarella cheese balls and wrap basil leaves around them. Then wrap thin deli meat or thin pieces of roasted red peppers. Secure with toothpick. Easy enough for a last minute appetizer!

- Pigs in a Blanket

This appetizer is just a must. It's so good and so freakin' easy, you'd be crazy not to serve it. Now why it's categorized under "low cholesterol" foods on the site is a mystery. Don't be fooled, these babies aren't low anything.

- Monster Meatball Sandwiches:

I included these for two reasons. First they look good and they are easy to make. Second, they have the word "monster" in the title of the recipe. Enough said.

- Peach and Blue Cheese Bites

Okay, so I really like blue cheese. Is that a crime??? I'm sorry, but the combination of blue cheese and sweet fruit is amazing. Even if you don't typically enjoy blue cheese, you MUST try it with the sweetness of honey, fruit, or fig spread before you make the final decision to never eat it again. It's truly an experience.

- Crostini Combinations to Die for:

I admit that this is from this blog but it fits the post so I'm adding it in. Click on the link to find a few different combinations to top crostinis with- all five ingredients or less!

UPDATE: I made the bacon wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese and they were amazing. However, next time, I'd probably leave the blue cheese out. To be honest, the flavor of the cheese gets lost in the overpowering taste of bacon and the dates. One thing that I did differently was to sprinkle a little brown sugar over the bacon before baking these. It added a little extra something that made them ever-so-slightly better.

Crostini Combinations to Die For!

Okay, New Year's Eve parties are coming up and I've already provided some ideas for jello shot cocktail concoctions. Now that the drinks are taken care of, time for the food. These little crostinis are easy to make, look super classy, and are amazingly yummy.

I used goat cheese and bleu cheese (because they are my favorites in terms of matching them with toppings).

You could do a few combos with just these ingredients:

Like:

-Roasted garlic + goat cheese (roasted garlic how-to below)

-Roasted grapes + Crumbled Bleu cheese +drizzle of honey (roasted grape how to below)

-Bleu cheese + Fig spread (always a winner)

-Goat cheese + Fig spread

-Bleu cheese + honey

You'll need:

- Baguette sliced thinly and toasted

- Cheeses of choice

- Toppings of choice

How to Roast Garlic:

1. Cut off top of garlic head with sharp knife. Make sure all cloves are cut through. You can cut some on the sides shorter if need be. They just all need to be exposed.

2. drizzle top with olive oil

3. Wrap in aluminum foil and seal top by folding over multiple times

4. Bake at 375 degrees F for around 30-40 mins

5. Remove from foil. To extract cloves, either use a fork to pull them out, or break apart the garlic head and squeeze them out by pinching lightly at the base of each clove.

How to Roast Grapes:

1. Follow steps 2 and three from above using about 10 grapes. Line them up on foil and wrap tightly.

2. Unwrap and slice in half. Add to desired crostini topped with cheese.

Alternatively...

You can use pretoasted little toasts. I found these at my local Sprouts/Henry's. They are awesome since they are so easy to use and are miniature (which automatically makes them fall into the 'cute' category!).

YUM!!! ENJOY!!!

Pumpkin Dip for Gingersnaps

This was really, really good. It tasted almost like pumpkin pie but had the zing of the gingersnaps to make it something uniquely special.

I didn't have electric beaters so I used a whisk and sheer womanly strength to make it as creamy as possible. Still, there were small pieces of cream cheese throughout which didn't affect the taste but did make the presentation less awesome. So, use electric beaters or an electric mixer for this if you have them!

Pumpkin Dip for Gingersnaps

Servings: Dip for around 6-8 people as an appetizer or snack

Time to prepare: about 5-10 minutes (if you have electric beaters or an electric mixer, longer if whisking)

Ingredients:

- 4 ou. cream cheese, softened

- 1 cup powdered sugar

- 1/4 cup heavy cream (I used half and half since I am not a big fan of the richness of heavy cream)

- 3/4 cup pureed canned pumpkin

- 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spices

- 1 TBSP maple syrup, plus more to top

- lots of gingersnaps (around 40-50)

Directions:

1. Using beaters or an electric mixer, whip together cream cheese, pumpkin, powdered sugar, and heavy cream for about 2-3 minutes.

2. Add pie spices and maple syrup and whip 2-3 more minutes until smooth. The longer you whip, the more fluffy it becomes.

3. Pour into serving bowl and top with maple syrup and a crushed gingersnap. Dip gingersnaps in and enjoy!