Smoked Cream Cheese Topped with Pepper Jelly

Go ahead and save this one! Smoked Cream Cheese topped with Pepper Jelly has been a hit every time it's been served...whether at my house or any of my friends who have since fixed it at theirs. The photos show several different smokings. It cooks and tastes just as well on a pellet grill. Credit goes to my favorite sister-in-law Bettye Jo. We had a cookout back some time ago and this was a dish served courtesy of her. She prepped and we added it to the meats smoking on the backyard pit. My recommendations are to pick the most flavorful rub and to warm the pepper jelly so it can be easily spread. There are plenty of photos throughout this post showing how lumpy the jelly looks or spread out the base gets when it is added straight out of a room temp jar. Memory fails me, but someone said they heat their jelly up slightly in the microwave and it makes a better presentation.

INGREDIENTS:

8oz. block cream cheese

BBQ Rub of your choice

1 jar pepper jelly

Bettye Jo fashioned a "tray" out of aluminum foil to add to the pit. Plop your block of cream cheese and cover the top (at a minimum) with your favorite rub.

When I prepared this on the pellet grill, I dropped my tray in a foil pan for ease of transportation.

 

My pellet grill temp held steady at 275 degrees. At that temp, I had it smoking for about an hour and twenty minutes. I go by the tint of the cheese (a nice, light brown) and when the top of the cheese block starts to slightly crack.

This is a perfect example of what happens when you spread the pepper jelly and it hasn't been warmed up.

 The presentation wasn't pretty, but it still tasted really good!

Oh, yes! These photos are from the original smoking. Perfect color and so flavorful.

Here's my sister-in-law Bettye Jo getting her special appetizer prepared.

  

Red or green pepper jelly? You can't go wrong with either!