honeyed goat cheese, cranberry, rosemary, and prosciutto crostini

i’m counting down the days until chrimstas (IT’S EIGHT, how is it eight?) and heavily daydreaming about hopping on a plane to suburban minnesota next week to eat gingerbread cookies with my dad and squeeze my sister until she forces me to stop. one of our love languages is physical touch and I won’t make you guess much to everyone in my life’s chagrin, it’s me. i’m also planning my contribution to our christmas eve tradition of only eating appetizers and cracking open the wine around noon, and i’m pretty pleased that it’s going to be these crostini.

I mean, just loooooook at them. they are festive merriment personified, in miniature and in cute. SO CUTE.

to make them, we’re gathering sort of fancyish but not really ingredients that taste extra fancy all mixed up together (did i just define ‘cooking’ ?) a basic baguette, a little creamy goat cheese, honey for sweetness, dried cranberries for texture, orange zest and rosemary for wintery flavor vibes, and the G.O.A.T of charcuterie meats, prosciutto (!!!) for a salty bite on top. they make for a truly delightful appetizer addition alongside those mini meatballs that cook in jam in a mini crockpot that only sees the light of day this time of year (is this a midwestern thing or does everyone’s family do this?)

to me, they are perfect.

a few things before we get started:

- she’s a stunner, she's a crowd-pleaser, she’s you, you’ll want to eat 34 of these. do with that information what you will and perhaps get ready to do some math while shopping for your ingredients.
- the goat cheese mixture can be prepped in advance! truly perfect if you’re having a festive get-together and need to conduct a few nibbles and bites last minute.
- *you will have leftover honeyed goat cheese. this is a good thing.

honeyed goat cheese, cranberry, rosemary, and prosciutto crostini
makes: 12 crostini
prep time: 5 minutes
cook time: 10 minutes

1 baguette, sliced
6 slices of prosciutto
6oz. plain goat cheese
2tbsp honey
1/4c unsweetened cranberries
1 clove of garlic
zest from 1 orange
2tsp fresh rosemary
olive oil, to drizzle on the baguette
salt and pepper, to taste

preheat the oven to 375.
arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet and drizzle each slice with a small amount of olive oil - this will help the baguette get its crunch. toast the baguette for 5-7 minutes until the tops become golden brown.

while the baguette is toasting, add the goat cheese, honey, cranberries, garlic, most of the orange zest (save some for garnish), rosemary, and spice to a food processor. pulse on low until smooth and combined.

spread the goat cheese mixture over each toasted crostini, then top with 1/2 a slice of prosciutto. sprinkle each piece with any remaining orange zest.