Cherry Pie Smoked Cream Cheese – Perfect BBQ Dessert
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Danny makes bold backyard BBQ recipes packed with fun twists, smoky flavors, and easy comfort food ideas. From creative appetizers to hearty mains, his dishes are designed to bring people together, spark conversation, and turn every meal into a party.
I’m always on the lookout for desserts that work perfectly on the smoker, and this Cherry Pie Smoked Cream Cheese recipe has quickly become one of my favorites. It’s easy, sweet, smoky, and just unique enough to impress everyone at a cookout or holiday gathering. The mix of tangy cream cheese, warm spices, cherry pie filling, and graham cracker crunch makes it a perfect BBQ dessert that’s guaranteed to disappear fast.
I love this recipe for cherry pie smoked cream cheese because it brings that backyard smoke flavor into a dessert without being fussy. You don’t need to bake a whole pie or fuss with pastry dough. If you’ve made smoked cream cheese before, this is the next level. And if you haven’t, trust me – once you try this, you’ll want to make it again and again.
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Why you’ll love this recipe
It’s one of the easiest BBQ desserts you can throw together – just season, smoke, and top with cherry pie filling.
It’s versatile enough to work for cookouts, tailgates, or even holiday parties when you want something a little different.
It’s a recipe that gets people talking, kind of like when I first served bacon wrapped Oreos – unexpected, but everyone wants seconds.
Ingredients and tools you’ll need
Here’s everything you’ll need for Cherry Pie Smoked Cream Cheese.
- 8 oz cream cheese block form
- 8 oz cherry pie filling
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 5 dashes orange bitters
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup orange juice
Graham cracker seasoning:
- 4 whole graham crackers
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
For tools, you’ll want a smoker (I run mine at 225°F), a small saucepan, a food processor or blender for the graham cracker mix, and a sharp knife for scoring the cream cheese. I also like using a small cast iron skillet to hold the cream cheese – it makes it easy to pull off the smoker and serve right away.
How to make it
Preparation
Start by making your graham cracker seasoning for the cherry pie smoked cream cheese. Toss the crackers, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a blender or food processor and pulse until fine. You want a sandy texture, not big chunks, so it sticks to the cream cheese.
Next step for the cherry pie smoked cream cheese, grab your block of cream cheese and score it with a sharp knife in a crosshatch pattern. This helps the smoke penetrate deeper and gives the topping something to cling to.
Sprinkle a generous layer of the graham cracker seasoning over the three exposed sides of the cream cheese. The flavors for the cherry pie smoked cream cheese are starting to come together.
Preheat your smoker to 225°F while you finish prep. I recommend using a fruit wood like cherry or apple here since it complements the sweetness of the dessert.
Cooking
Let’s cook the cherry pie smoked cream cheese so place the cream cheese in your smoker and let it cook for about 1 hour. You’ll know it’s ready when it has a golden brown color on the outside and feels slightly jiggly but not liquid.
While the cream cheese smokes, make the cherry pie topping. In a saucepan, combine the cherry pie filling, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange bitters, salt, and orange juice. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 5 – 10 minutes until slightly thickened.
The timing works out perfectly because by the time the cream cheese is ready, your cherry topping will be, too. About one hour at 225°F is the sweet spot for smoked cream cheese – check it at 30 minutes, then again at 45.
Serving suggestions
Let the cherry pie smoked cream cheese rest for 5–10 minutes once it comes off the smoker. This gives it time to firm up slightly while still being creamy inside. Spoon the cherry topping over the top and serve it warm with graham crackers, vanilla wafers, or even cookies.
This dessert is best served fresh, but you can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Cherry pie smoked cream cheese is one of those recipes that surprises people but keeps them coming back for more.
Recipe notes and pro tips
- Don’t skip the scoring step – it makes a big difference in how the smoke flavor soaks into the cream cheese.
- If you don’t have orange bitters, you can leave them out or sub with a splash of almond extract for a different twist.
- Want to save time? Make the cherry topping the day before and warm it up just before serving.
- I’ve tested this with both name-brand and store-brand pie fillings, and both work. The key is letting it simmer to concentrate the flavors before topping the cream cheese.
Variations
You can easily swap out the cherry pie filling for blueberry, apple, or peach. Each one takes on a slightly different personality but works great with the smoked cream cheese base.
For a little more indulgence, drizzle the finished dish with melted chocolate or caramel sauce. It turns into something that feels like cheesecake meets s’mores.
Cherry Pie Smoked Cream Cheese fits right in with those fun, unexpected backyard recipes.
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- Bacon Cheeseburger Pickle Poppers Appetizer Recipe
- Viral Chopped Turkey Club in a Dill Pickle
- EASY Chopped Italian Sandwich Recipe in a Pickle Bun
- Crazy Puffs Recipe – Little Caesars Homemade Copycat
Ingredients
- 8 oz Cream Cheese block form
- 8 oz Cherry Pie filling
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- 5 dashes Orange Bitters
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 C Orange Juice
Graham Cracker Seasoning
- 4 Graham Crackers whole
- 1 TBSP Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat Smoker to 225F
- Make Graham Cracker Seasoning but combining all ingredients using a blender or food processor.
- Crosshatch the cream cheese with a sharp knife to get smoke flavor deeper. Add a liberal layer for graham cracker seasoning on the 3 exposed sides of the cream cheese.
- Place cream cheese in the smoker and allow to cook for 1 hour. Cream Cheese will be done when it's turned a golden color and is a little jiggly without becoming liquid.
- For the last 30 minutes of the cream cheese smoking, make your cherry pie mix. Combine the cherry pie filling, cinnamon, nutmeg, bitters, salt, and orange juice to a saucepan. Allow to come to a boil for about 5-10 minutes and then let simmer to reduce.
- Remove cream cheese from smoker and let rest for 5-10 mintues to cool. Add cherry pie mixrture on top and serve with graham crackers or cookies.
