How many holiday parties do you have lined up this week?

‘Tis the season for friends, fun… and of course, food. If you’re anything like me, you’re feeling the pressure to have a perfectly clean house, a stack of beautifully wrapped gifts and trays of delicious appetizers for guests.

Luckily, we’ve found a few recipes that taste so good, you would swear they came from a fancy caterer. And all of them can be whipped up in less than 20 minutes.

Check out three of our very favorite last minute appetizer ideas below:

Best Biscuit Turnovers

Herbed cream cheese lends flavor to the soft, flaky texture of refrigerated biscuits. The result – bakery quality rolls that take just minutes to put together. Love!

Ingredients

• 1 large can reduced fat refrigerated biscuits
• 8 teaspoons chive-and-onion-flavored soft cream cheese

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Arrange biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet and spoon one teaspoon of cream cheese in the center of each. Stretch the dough of each biscuit gently with your hands and fold it over to form a crescent shape. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal.

Bake until tops are golden brown, 13 minutes. (The biscuits will pop open to reveal their cream cheese centers. Serve warm.

(Recipe adapted from Desperation Dinners)

Celery Sticks with Roquefort Spread

This delicious filling can also be made with any type of blue cheese. Diluted with a little milk or cream, it makes a super tasty dip!

Ingredients (makes about 45 celery sticks)

• 7 ounces Roquefort or other blue cheese (softened)
• 1 1/4 cups low fat cream cheese
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• Black pepper
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 celery head
• Chopped walnuts or hazelnuts, to garnish

Directions

With a fork, crumble the Roquefort in a bowl. Put in a food processor with the cream cheese, green onions and black pepper. Process until smooth, scraping down the side of the bowl once or twice and gradually adding milk if the mixture seems to stiff.

Peel the celery lightly to remove any heavy strings before cutting each stalk into 3-to-4-inch pieces. Using a small knife, fill each celery stick with a little cheese mixture and press on a few chopped nuts. Arrange on a serving plate and refrigerate until ready to serve.

(Recipe adapted from A Country Christmas)

Cheddar Corn Cakes

Cornbread and cheese fritters? Sounds good to us!

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 cup (plus two tablespoons) buttermilk cornbread mix
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 4 tablespoons milk
• Cooking oil spray
• Bottled salsa (optional)

Directions

Break the egg into a 2-quart or larger bowl and beat it lightly with a fork to break it up. Add the corn kernels, cornbread mix, Cheddar and cottage cheeses, and milk and mix well to stir well to mix.

Spray a 12-inch nonstick skillet cooking oil spray and heat over medium heat. Drop the batter, one tablespoon at a time into the skillet, to make fritters. Flatten the mound of batter lightly with the back of the spoon.

Fry the fritters until lightly brown, 2 and 1/2 minutes per side. Serve with salsa on the side.

(Recipe adapted from Desperation Dinners)

What are some of your favorite last minute holiday appetizer recipes?