This $6 Frozen Appetizer Is So Good, I Wish I’d Discovered It Sooner (I’m Serving It All Month!)

On a recent Target run, I spotted what looked like crab rangoon in the frozen section. I’m a crab rangoon connoisseur (my tried-and-true rangoon recipe is here at The Kitchn) and, in my excitement, I grabbed a box without reading it and high-tailed it home to pop them in the air fryer. To my surprise (and dismay), they were actually cream cheese wontons, sans crab and scallions. 

I wasn’t about to let this small oversight deter me. I’ve had only-cream-cheese rangoons before, and the crispy-creamy combination usually doesn’t disappoint. However, I could tell just from the scent in the air that something was different. It smelled like pie crust baking, with a gentle sweetness perfuming the air like a bakery. 

When I took my first bite, I realized why: these wontons are more sweet than savory, and with a little imagination, they’d make an absolutely amazing holiday dessert.

These cream cheese wontons are one of the many frozen appetizers Target carries under its store-brand: Good & Gather. They’re sold in counts of 10 and come with a sweet chili sauce for dipping — or not (more on that in just a few).

When heated in the air fryer (or oven) the exterior becomes flaky, light, crisp, and layered in a way that wonton wrappers typically aren’t, almost like puff pastry or a pie crust. The cream cheese filling is plain and slightly sweet with a signature tang.

A dip into the sweet chili sauce that it came with was sweet and spicy in an unsettling way, so I thought to myself: Why not just go sweet? I pulled a few jams out of the fridge and did just that. And let me tell you, the results were incredible — a total 10/10.

To first taste-test my theory, I thinned out a mix of different jams with a splash of hot water to dippable consistency. Fig jam gave a punch of sticky sweetness that enhanced the dessert vibes and added texture from seeds like sprinkles. I then tossed the cream cheese wontons in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar (1:4 ratio) to make them into a churro cannoli situation before dipping further. 

Apricot preserves made it taste like a surprising pie (sur-pie-sing?) à la mode, without the cold. The slightly tart fruit mingled with the cozy cinnamon sugar nicely, especially when the cream cheese joined the party for more texture and flavor. The best one yet was Golden Plum Mirabelle, a hard-to-find flavor from Bonne Maman, which has a juicy sweetness that brought these to top-tier dessert territory. 

The only one that I didn’t love was strawberry, which was simply too sweet and overpowered the delicate cream cheese. Mixing in a bit of balsamic glaze and black pepper helped to give a sweet-and-savory balance, but it wouldn’t be my go-to when I make these for parties.

Although I wish that these were crab rangoon — FYI: Target does have a cream cheese and jalapeño version that is more savory, and Trader Joe’s has the same! — having dessert rangoon is a more fun, exciting, and surprising way to end a meal. If you want to go full holy cannoli, a dip in melted chocolate and crushed pistachios would not be a bad way to gild the lily. 

Powdered sugar would be a simple way to make it “snow” for a holiday appetizer. And if you’re looking for an eye-catching and delicious dessert, try using some freeze-dried fruit (pulverized in a food processor, or in a ziptop bag with your fists of fury) for a gorgeous dusting of color and flavor. 

You could sweeten your cranberry sauce and use it as a Thanksgiving dessert dipping sauce! I tried the churro-fied rangoons with the new cranberry chutney from Trader Joe’s, and the sweet-tart combo and warm spices in both the dip and the dipper made for a dynamic dessert. There are endless possibilities, and I’ll be over here wondering what else I can rangoon. (It’s a verb now!)

Buy: Good & Gather Cream Cheese Wontons, $5.99 for 6.7 ounces at Target

What’s your favorite frozen appetizer from Target? Tell us about it in the comments below.