Puff Pastry Christmas Tree Appetizer

Puff pastry Christmas tree is a festive holiday appetizer with pull-apart breadsticks filled with savory toppings of your choice. Easy to make and delicious, it is sure to impress at your next Christmas party!

It’s almost too easy to share – but great recipes don’t have to be difficult. When you have a party to host, nothing’s better than a quick appetizer recipe to entertain the guests before moving to the next course. This puff pastry Christmas tree looks incredibly beautiful, can easily be used as a centerpiece, and is probably the easiest pastry you could possibly make. Follow along and check my step-by-step guide for a perfect puff pastry Christmas tree!

Puff pastry is something we use pretty often in France. This flaky light pastry is super versatile, can go both with sweet or savory filling options, and always makes your baking creations very festive. For a stunning result, best is to go for homemade puff pastry (see my step-by-step guide). I, myself, usually preach in favor of homemade baking, but on a regular basis most people just go for a store-bought puff pastry for a quicker version. Just know that you have options and go for what’s best for you.

An easy holiday appetizer

Don’t let you fool by the stunning result. This Christmas tree appetizer is easy to make and is a fun activity to do with kids! It’s important to keep in mind that not all Christmas trees you make from one time to another have to be the exact same ones. You can for instance make it larger or longer, with more or less breadsticks.

This recipe is very forgiving and leaves some space for your creativity too. You can for instance keep the leftovers of dough to make star-shaped puff pastry. Use them to decorate your Christmas tree appetizer or serve on the side.

How to shape puff pastry Christmas tree appetizer?

1. Roll out the first sheet of puff pastry, spread pesto or savory topping and cover with the second sheet of puff pastry.
2. Using a sharp knife and a ruler, cut out the dough into a Christmas tree (basically a triangle – but don’t forget the bottom part).
3. Cut out the branches on both sides all the way to the top, leaving the Christmas tree “trunk” empty.
4. Twist each branch so it forms a twisted breadstick, and voilà!

Sweet or savory toppings

Because puff pastry is neutral in taste, you could go for either sweet or savory toppings for your puff pastry Christmas tree. I personally like the idea to make it as a pull-apart appetizer so I went for this easy vegetarian mushroom pâté that has become my new obsession lately. It’s quick to prepare, delicious, and makes an original topping for your Christmas tree appetizer.

More savory options:

• Pesto sauce: most people go for pesto when they make this Christmas tree. It’s easy and works very well. You can also add your own twist and prepare this almond basil pesto.
• Olive tapenade 
• Sun-dried tomato pesto
• Walnut pesto
• Garlic butter
• Roasted beet pesto

You’ll also find 5 more homemade savory filling options in my tarte soleil recipe, which is based on the same idea of pulling apart breadsticks appetizer from the center.

On the sweet side:

If you’re more of a sweet tooth, I’ve got great news for you because this pull-apart Christmas tree works pretty well as a dessert too. You can go for homemade Nutella, any jam or marmelade of your choice (strawberry, raspberry, apricot…), or even use a cinnamon-sugar filling or a cardamom-sugar filling one, that you could dip in hot chocolate sauce (like churros!).

Other recipes for an elegant Holiday table :

• Vegetarian Corn Chowder
• Cranberry Pecan Cheese Balls
• Easy Buttermilk Biscuits
• Sweet Potato Bread with Baked Camembert
• Pull-Apart Tarte Soleil Appetizer
• Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash

Print