Cranberry Orange Cream Cheese Spread

When it comes to packaged English Muffins, I'm pretty much a Bay's brand girl. That said, I really have to hand it to the Thomas English muffin people for coming through this holiday season with, first, pumpkin spice, and second, cranberry. These two are mighty tasty, and put a whole new spin on breakfast for me. No, this is not a sponsored post. No, I did not get these for free. This is just a heads up about seasonal deliciousness and a clever segue into the cranberry-muffin-inspired cream cheese spread that I whipped up this morning and want to share with you.

Having recently made Spirited Cranberry Sauce as a part of my early Thanksgiving prep (into which I stirred a quarter cup of Calamondin Marmalade -- delish), I decided to combine each of these components with some toasted chopped pecans and softened cream cheese. Talk about breakfast heaven, and so simple. Imagine how wonderful this would be for Thanksgiving breakfast. Imagine how impressed your guests will be when presented with this lovely, light meal to enjoy while you're ~~slaving~~ working away in the kitchen.

Spread it on a muffin, slather it on a bagel, or spread it onto a slice of bread with which you plan to make a turkey, chicken, or ham sandwich. It is wonderful, and wonderfully easy.

Cranberry Orange Cream Cheese Spread

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) whole cranberry sauce

2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) orange marmalade

1 tablespoon finely chopped, toasted pecans

Place all ingredients into a medium mixing bowl. With a hand mixer, beat at high speed until ingredients are thoroughly blended, 1-2 minutes. Serve with bagels or English muffins.