Cute Christmas Appetizers

If you are looking for cute Christmas appetizers, I have the perfect idea for you! These adorable little Christmas Tree Appetizers are perfect for holiday parties or get togethers. They are simple to make, use common ingredients and their cute presentation cannot be beat!

Cute Christmas Appetizers

One of the things I love most about the holiday season is that the food isn’t just tasty, it’s often cute as well! These fun little appetizer trees are definitely no exception to that rule! Made with meat, cheese, bread and veggies, they are quick and simple to make, and loved by kids of all ages, from young to old! If you have a big crowd, pair it with my Christmas Charcuterie Board.

How To Make Christmas Appetizers

Making these little trees is super easy. You will need a set of small star cookie cutters and toothpicks, but that’s about all there is to it. Order them now and you’ll have them ready to go when the holidays arrive.

Ingredients

• Cheese – While I used Colby Jack, you can use any semi hard cheese which will cut well with a small cookie cutter. Monterey jack, swiss, pepper jack, provolone, or gouda are all options. You could also make all of the appetizers using the same type of cheese instead of using a variety. 
• Summer Sausage
• Wheat Bread – You can really use any bread you like, even gluten free if that’s what you need.
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Butter Lettuce

Directions

1. Cut six slices of colby cheese and 12 slices of summer sausage, eacht about ¼ inch thick.
2. Use cookie cutters to cut out 24 stars out of your bread slices – 12 large, 12 medium sized.
3. Next, cut 36 stars from the cheese slices – 12 large, 12 medium and 12 small.
4. Cut 36 stars from the summer sausage slices – 12 large, 12 medium and 12 small.
5. Make sure to press down firmly to get a nicely cut edge for each star shape.
6. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and dab the cut side on a paper towel to soak up the excess juice from the tomatoes.
7. Cut 12 stars out of the butter lettuce. Alternatively you can tear 12 small pieces of lettuce if you don’t want to mess with using the cookie cutter for this part.
8. Place all of the star shaped cut outs into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes before assembly as the ingredients tend to get warm and wilted while they are sitting on the counter.
9. Assemble the appetizers by placing the cherry tomato cut side down and inserting a toothpick into the center. Carefully layer all the ingredients horizontally on the toothpick in this order: Large sausage star, large cheese star, large bread star, large lettuce, medium sausage star, medium cheese star, medium bread star, then top the toothpick with the smallest cheese star vertically. Make sure to carefully place each of the pieces on the toothpick to avoid tearing and lightly stack each layer, taking care to not compress the layers.
10. Arrange the finished appetizers on a serving tray and if you have additional star cutouts of any of the ingredients, decorate your plate with them for a festive look!

Tips and Advice

Lighten Up:  If desired, you can use cucumbers, fresh mozzarella and cherry tomatoes to make the trees, instead of colby cheese, bread and meat! For the top star you could cut a star shape out of a bell pepper. Assemble like the example, just make sure to dap the cucumber and tomatoes before assembling since their water content is much higher.

Make in advance?  It is best to assemble these cute little Christmas trees on the day that you plan to serve them. You can cut your meat and cheese stars a day or two in advance, just make sure to wrap them tightly and store in the refrigerator. You can make these a few hours before serving, just loosely cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge until serving.

Storing Leftovers: These aren’t really the best when it comes to leftovers. If you have any left, you can wrap them in plastic wrap and store in the fridge. That said, the cheese will tend to dry out and the lettuce will wilt.

More Holiday Recipes To Try

• Spritz Cookies
• Hot Chocolate Brownie Cups
• Chocolate M&M Christmas Cookies
• Chocolate Covered Pretzels
• Eggnog Martinis
• Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies