• Preheat The Oven & Prep The Pan. To begin, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Set out a small 1 or 1.5 quart baking dish.
• Prepare Artichokes. Start by squeezing excess liquid out of the artichoke hearts (discard this liquid). Then, dice artichoke hearts into small bite-sized pieces. (I like to leave some larger pieces for texture)
• Combine Creamy Ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, combine softened cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, garlic or garlic powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. Use a hand-held mixer to combine these ingredients until well blended and creamy. (There will still be some texture from the cheese--this is fine!)
• Fold In Artichoke Hearts. Add chopped artichoke hearts and fold in with a spatula until evenly distributed.
• Finish The Dip. Transfer the artichoke dip mixture to baking dish and top with the final 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.
• Bake Dip in hot oven for 15-20 minutes, or until bubbling around the sides and heated through.
• Serve & Store. Enjoy dip warm with your favorite dippers. Store leftover dip in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. Leftover dip can be reheated in the microwave, if desired.

If Making Spinach Artichoke Dip:

• Thaw Frozen Spinach. Start by thawing 5-6 ounces of frozen spinach. You can let the spinach thaw in the fridge in advance, or pop it in the microwave and use a lower power or defrost setting to speed things along. If you prefer to use fresh spinach, you'll need to steam it.
• Squeeze Out Excess Liquid. (All Of It.) When the spinach is thawed and cool enough to touch, use clean hands to squeeze out all excess liquid from the spinach. There will be LOTS of extra water and you don't want it to water down your artichoke dip later. Discard any excess liquid, and set the squeezed spinach aside.
• Mix Spinach In With Other Dip Ingredients. Add spinach to the dip along with the parmesan cheese and use a fork or mixer to distribute it evenly into the dip. That's it!