5 Delicious Ingredients For DIY Flavored Cream Cheese

Though picking up a carton of cream cheese from the store is a quick, convenient way to start spreading the stuff onto your favorite baked goods, making your own cream cheese is a lot easier than it sounds. One of the main benefits of mixing cream cheese at home is that you can separate one cream cheese-making effort into several dishes and mix a variety of flavors in one go. Then, instead of having to scoop through the one flavored cream cheese you purchased, you'll have several to choose from the next time cravings strike. Plus, with all of the ingredients in your hands, the flavors are left in your control as you look to season and adjust ratios to make up each batch.

With sweeter cream cheeses made with honey and Nutella to fresher tastes of the current season — think pumpkin, apple, and berry cream cheeses — you'll have plenty of options when you're ready to start snacking. After you have flavored cream cheeses with the ingredients of your choosing, you'll have a convenient ingredient at the ready when you want to roll up cheese balls or serve pinwheels to tonight's dinner party guests. 

If you're looking for a savory spread, our maple-cinnamon candied bacon recipe is up for the task. Simply crumble up pieces of the cooked bacon and stir directly into a softened bowl of cream cheese. You can add herbs of your choosing, like chopped chives, sprigs of dill, or basil leaves plucked right from the garden. Feel free to punch up flavors with a quick crack of black pepper or a sprinkle of garlic powder to pair with a specific meal or snack in mind. If you would prefer to play up the sweeter notes of the candied bacon, dash in some extra cinnamon powder or a quick swirl of maple syrup for a cream cheese spread that could be mistaken for adult candy. This is the kind of stuff that can be easily spooned onto bagels, sandwiches, and crostinis at any hour of the day.

Once mixed and made, bacon cream cheese is the kind of ingredient that will quickly bring richness to tomato sauce or add mouthwatering tanginess to a bowl of mashed potatoes. We also encourage adding a spoonful to a batch of scrambled eggs for a rich dish that will disappear quickly once presented to those sitting around the breakfast table.

Stir in molasses, honey, or agave syrup to add a touch of sweetness to your cream cheese. Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and your sweetener of choice until they are smoothly combined. Depending on which sweetener you choose, you may need more or less of the ingredient. Start conservatively and taste the result before you continue to pour more sweetener into your creamy mixture, and don't forget that an extra drizzle of honey on top of the combined mixture can be the pretty garnish this sweet creation deserves.

You can also add depth to your sweet cream cheese with a few drops of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. This is an easy hack that also brings extra flavor to cartons of plain store-bought cream cheese, so you have a flavor variation to enjoy without having to make another dash to the grocery store. Serve this simply delicious and sweetened cream cheese as part of your next stuffed French toast recipe or as a quick accouterment to offer alongside bowls of freshly cut fruit, stacks of buttery pieces of homemade pita chips, or just-out-of-the-oven cinnamon-dusted pretzels.

A spoonful of homemade strawberry jam, preserves, or fresh berries can invite the taste of the current season to your creamy spread. Whether you have just opened up a new jar of fruit preserves or carried home goodies from the local farmers market, blending fruits and fruit items into a bowl of cream cheese takes the spread into a fresh territory. Depending on which kind of fruit you intend to add to the cream cheese and whether you enjoy a smoother or chunkier spread, you can make adjustments to your recipe as you see fit.

Set aside a few extra berries to plate and garnish the cream cheese after you have combined the ingredients, or look to pair different kinds of fruit for delicious pairings, like peach cream cheese topped with a handful of blueberries or strawberry cream cheese garnished with toasted coconut flakes. Not only can this tasty mixture brighten up a midweek breakfast, but your fruit-flavored cream cheese can also be presented as a dip or be smothered onto breakfast biscuits for a fresh take on a classic favorite.

If you've tried making a sandwich with Nutella and cream cheese, you understand the contented luxury this pairing provides. Nutella can bring that perfect creaminess to a container of plain cream cheese, and if you'd prefer an even deeper layer of chocolate, you can sprinkle cocoa powder into the mixture to turn up the dials of decadence. The end result is an ingredient that will delicately walk the line between dessert and spread. Whip the spread into a mousse-like texture or add toasted and chopped hazelnuts and almonds for a more texturally-satisfying dip. 

This is the kind of delicious ingredient that will elevate your next batch of cream cheese frosting with little effort on your part, or you can use Nutella cream cheese to convert your next PB&J-making attempts into something that tastes like a treat enjoyed next to a roaring campfire. We highly encourage garnishing pieces of toast covered in Nutella cream cheese with shavings of dark chocolate, cookie crumbles, or broken pieces of chocolate brownies for the sweetest snack to quickly spark up a dull afternoon.

Add homemade pumpkin butter or honey apple butter to your cream cheese for a taste of autumn and use a sprinkle of freshly ground pumpkin pie spice to carry all of your favorite fall flavors to the breakfast table, regardless of the month written on the calendar. Mix pumpkin puree with softened cream cheese and sweeten your creamy creations with brown sugar or maple syrup. A spoonful of this cream cheese nestles in nicely when smoothed across warm pieces of cornbread or when swirled into a homemade mac-n-cheese recipe. 

With this flavorful ingredient at the ready, your next baking projects will be that much easier to whip together. Bars can be spread with either homemade apple butter or pumpkin cream cheese, chocolate cupcakes can be topped with the stuff, or cheesecakes can be put together in a snap once you have this cream cheese blended. For a quick nosh, dip graham crackers or apple slices into the spread — or simply enjoy this creation straight off the spoon. We certainly don't judge.