Baked Cheddar Bacon Jalapeño Poppers

“I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Kraft Foods #FreshTake #cbias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own.” Summer is right around the corner which always means family get-togethers. There are barbeques, birthdays and holidays where there is lots of good food! The food might just be my favorite part about these gatherings. Every summer jalapeño poppers are a staple on our menu. This recipe is a twist on the poppers my mom makes and I promise you that if you try them you will make them all summer long too! For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

• 1 pound of jalapeños
• 1/2 pound of bacon – cooked until crispy
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 8oz of cream cheese
• 1 Cheddar Jack & Bacon Fresh Take package 

I found the Fresh Take packages in the shredded cheese section at Walmart. You can see my entire shopping trip HERE. Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Fry up your bacon. While it is cooking cut and remove the seeds from the jalapeño peppers.
• Once the bacon is done move it onto a paper towel to absorb the excess grease. In a medium bowl mix together the cream cheese, colby jack cheese from the Fresh Take package, garlic salt and crumble the bacon in and mix.
• Using a fork stuff the cheese mixture into the jalapeños and then dip into the breadcrumbs from the Fresh Take package.
• Put peppers on a foil lined baking sheet and bake according the the cooking times below.

Some say that the baking time of a jalapeño has something to do with how spicy hot it is. I have tried this and believe it. If the jalapeno isn’t cooked all the way and some of the vegetable is still raw it seems to be more spicy. If you let them cook for about 35-40 minutes then they seem to be cooked completely. Don’t get me wrong – they still have a kick but just not as much. Since my husband is a sissy when it comes to spicy food we usually go with 40 minutes.

• Hot – 25 minutes
• Medium – 32 minutes
• Mild – 40 minutes

Now this is when I totally wish someone would have already invented smell-o-vision because this bacon had my house smelling scrumptious. The boys were in the living room and I heard them talking to each other about how mommy must be making bacon and they were going to eat it all. If you are like me it is hard to practice self restraint so we all snuck 1/2 a piece. Secret – when I have filling leftover after I have stuffed all of the peppers I dip pretzels or crackers in because there is no way I am letting it go to waste! I really loved using the Cheddar Jack and Bacon Fresh Take for this recipe because it killed two birds with one stone and it was already measured out for me! The flavoring of the breadcrumbs also enhanced the flavor and brought them to a new level of deliciousness. Have you used a Fresh Take in your cooking before? Please share! So do they look amazing or what? AND they are not fried – they are baked! ALSO- You can find other Fresh Take recipes HERE Watch for the Kraft Fresh Possibilities Tour truck which will be making stops across the country from March through the end of July. To see if they are making a stop in your town you can check this website: Fresh Possibilities Tour: http://www.tryfreshtake.com/tour.html  There will be an IRC (immediately redeemable coupon) stuck on packages of chicken in the meat department. The coupon takes $1.00 off the price of one (1) chicken item with the purchase of Fresh Take. The coupons will run 5/1-7/31. Enjoy,
I party HERE