Cranberry Hummus with Sage Pita Chips

This Cranberry Hummus is served with Sage Pita Chips and makes for the perfect holiday appetizer or solution to those Thanksgiving leftovers!

One week until Christmas! And you know what that means… The reindeer and elves are arriving! Seriously, though. When I was in second grade, my friend told me that during the week leading up to Christmas, if you left a carrot in your shoe and put it outside your bedroom door, elves would come, take the carrot for the reindeer, and leave you gifts. Obviously this was pretty much the best news in life. I no longer had to wait for December 25 to get presents?? Game on. My mom looked kind of skeptical when I described this new revelation to her, but that didn’t stop me. I put a carrot in my shoe and put it outside my door before bedtime. When I woke up the next morning and stepped outside my door, the carrot was gone and a fun new trinket was in its place.

The second night, the same thing happened. Success! But as I was getting ready for bed on the third night, my mom sat me down and told me that the reindeer wouldn’t be bringing the elves anymore due to the fact that there was a two gift limit on this whole shebang. What?! My friend hadn’t told me that part and I was pretty sure the elves were still bringing her gifts… But considering Santa was arriving in just a few days, I had to suck it up and go with it.

Years later I realized how annoying some parts of parenting must be. The stories your kids’ friends tell them. And the troubles you have to go through to not burst your kids’ dreams and crazy imaginations.

Luckily, I now understand that the carrot in the shoe ploy is simply a tactic to up your gift count in the days leading up to Christmas. And these days, instead of leading up to Christmas day with gifts, I do it with food! If I left a carrot in my shoe and the elves brought me a cheesecake or a chicken pot pie, I’d so be testing that out. But for now, I’m holiday cooking and baking to my little heart’s content. Today’s post involves a festive dish that would make the perfect appetizer at any of your holiday gatherings… Cranberry Hummus!

CRANBERRY HUMMUS WITH SAGE PITA CHIPS RECIPE

The best thing about this recipe is the simple ingredients! This is especially perfect for making with that leftover cranberry sauce you always have after Thanksgiving. Sure, you could just eat it, but why not repurpose that cranberry sauce into something even better? To be perfectly honest, this hummus is also totally worth making your own cranberry sauce for on any random day of the week. If you're looking for a recipe, I highly recommend my Mojito Cranberry Sauce (which would also give this hummus an extra little kick!), but I also love this Roasted Cranberry Sauce from Bon Appetit.

If you haven't made your own hummus before, you should know that it's SO easy. Basically just put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend away. There are a ridiculous amount of ways and flavors you can make hummus, which means you'll probably be wanting to have a batch in your fridge ready to go at all times. Also, my husband's dream is for me to always have homemade pita chips in the home. I'm trying because I love having them around, too.

I am OBSESSED with the color of this cranberry hummus! Honestly, I'd probably make it for the color alone... But luckily, it's also delicious, so I can make it for both looks and taste!

Obviously, you should serve the cranberry hummus with the sage pita chips. And drizzle a little extra extra-virgin olive oil on the hummus, if you’d like. I love that EVOO swirl!

And spend A LOT of time talking yourself out of eating the entire batch of chips with the hummus. Because there are a lot of them. And you really shouldn’t eat an entire batch of hummus with pita chips in one sitting. Unless, of course, it’s going to be your dinner for the night like it was mine. Then that’s totally acceptable. Right??

Especially if you’re doing so while watching cheesy holiday movies on the Hallmark Channel. Then I know you’re truly in the holiday spirit.

I was pretty thrilled with how this hummus came out. The cranberry flavor wasn’t overpowering, but was definitely there. Same with that pretty pink color.

And the sage pita chips? Like I mentioned, I couldn’t stop eating them. I totally would have gotten better gifts if I had left these in my shoes instead of carrots. I have a feeling reindeer love pita chips.

I’ll likely be serving this cranberry hummus at every holiday party I ever have for the rest of my life. And if the elves want to take some with them, then by all means… Just make sure they leave me something good in return. And now you know what to serve at your next holiday party and what to do with leftover cranberry sauce after Thanksgiving.

What’s your favorite festive party app?

If you're looking for more delicious holiday appetizer recipes good for serving at parties, check out my Dark Chocolate Dipped Figs with Gorgonzola or my Guacamole Deviled Eggs.