Spinach and Cream Cheese Wontons

Happy New Years! For our party this year, I made these wontons from a recipe adapted from budgetsavvydiva.com. I use my own homemade wonton wrappers though (recipe to follow) which are actually super easy to make, a lot cheaper, and you don't have to wander around stores looking for them. I'll post that recipe next.

Here's what you need:

1. Cream Cheese  (8 oz.)
2. Frozen Chopped Spinach (8-12 oz.) 
3. Wonton Wrappers (30-35)
4. Olive Oil 
5. 1/2 Tsp. of Garlic Powder
6. 1/2 Tsp. of Salt
7. Dash of Cayenne Pepper
8. Dash of Pepper 

Instructions:

Thaw and drain the spinach.

In a large bowl,  mix together the spinach, cream cheese, garlic powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. The mixture should be creamy when finished.
 
Place a tablespoon of the mixture in the middle of the wonton wrapper.

Using your finger, rub either olive oil or water along the edges of the wonton wrapper. This helps the wrapper stick when you fold it.
  
Fold the wonton from corner to corner, creating a triangle. Then, take one corner and fold to the peak of the triangle, as shown in the picture.

Next, fold the other corner to the middle and seal with water. Your wonton wrapper should look something like the second picture. If this is a little too complicated, you can also just fold the wonton wrappers in half (from corner to corner) and leave it at that.

This recipe should make about 25-35 wontons, depending on how  much filling you use in each wonton.

To Bake:
Preheat oven to 375
Place wontons on a greased or parchment lined baking tray.
Brush olive oil over the tops and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

To Fry:
Heat oil in a medium size pan or kettle (enough to cover the wontons).
Let fry, turning occasionally, until the wontons are a nice golden color.

I must say that although baking is definitely the more healthy alternative, a wonton just doesn't taste right to me unless it's fried! I've made this recipe both ways, and the fried version was a lot crunchier and faster. You could also try adding chicken or bacon into these. I put some left-over chicken in the first time I made these, and they turned out pretty good!

Coming up: Homemade Wonton Wrappers