Made with Laughing Cow spreadable cheese wedges, these mini Christmas Cheese Trees take only 10 minutes to make! Add these no-bake, easy Christmas appetizers to your cheese boards or charcuterie boards. Your guests will love them!
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Did I mention this easy holiday appetizer recipe can be made with as few as 4 ingredients? But I give lots of options so you can get creative or use what you have for those last minute Christmas parties.
That's what I call easy Christmas food for an office party! It's so easy, kids can join in the fun and make their own little cheese Christmas tree.
Serve these Laughing Cow cheese Christmas trees on this cute tree-shaped serving board or a round white plate or platter. Sprinkle the plate with chopped herbs, if you like.
You can even include this tree-shaped finger food in a holiday version of my Jarcuterie cups!
I made these cheese Christmas trees for my annual Holiday Cooking Show recently and they were a huge hit! Everyone thought they were fun, easy Christmas snacks, too.
Shortcuts
- The cheese wedges are already cut into just the right size triangles for a single serving of cheese. One wedge makes one Christmas cheese tree.
Save those cheese boxes to decorate!
Scroll down to see how I made this beautiful round gift box from the container the cheese wedges came in! Makes an inexpensive Christmas gift box.
Ingredients
What you will need to make these easy Christmas appetizers.
Scroll down to printable recipe for exact ingredient quantities.
The four basic ingredients are cheese wedges, pretzel sticks, a spice, herb, or seasoning, and a larger addition like chopped nuts, dried fruit or fresh herbs/peppers.
- Cheese: Laughing Cow spreadable cheese wedges. They come in several flavors and a Lite version. They are also sold at Aldi with their brand Happy Farms. Sam's Club sells it in a multi-pack.
- Dried fruits - Such as cranberries, cherries, golden raisins, dates, sun-dried tomatoes.
- Dried herbs or finely chopped fresh herbs: Such as parsley, rosemary, thyme, chives.
- Nuts or seeds: Such as pistachios, pepitas, sesame seeds
- Spices or seasoning blends: Such as paprika, red pepper flakes, Tajin
How to make cheese Christmas trees
Scroll down to the bottom for the printable recipe with detailed instructions.
How to open Laughing Cow cheese
You might think "How hard is it to open a package of snack cheese? Well, there is a trick to it and until I discovered the trick, I mangled quite a few of these little triangles.
- To unwrap the cheese wedges, find the red "pull tab" near the narrow end of the wedge.
- Gently pull it back towards the broader end of the wedge.
- Next, carefully open up the two sides of the wedge.
Assemble the ingredients
- Gather all the toppings you want to use. Chop the ones that need to be cut into smaller pieces. Break the pretzel sticks in half.
- Insert a broken pretzel stick into the larger side of the triangles.
- Arrange the dried fruit and/or nuts on the sides and top of the cheese, first. If you don’t place these larger pieces, first, the smaller spices will cling to the surfaces and the fruit and nuts do not stay on as well.
- Next, sprinkle the dried herbs or gently press the cheese into the herbs on a plate.
- Lastly, sprinkle on the spices or seasonings, gently pressing them into the cheese. YOU decide what flavor, color, and texture combinations you want to put on the cheese wedges.
- On one of the trees, I coated the cheese wedge in crushed wasabi peas. It adds a pretty green color and a pop of flavor.
How to serve them
- Arrange the little cheese Christmas trees on a charcuterie board or small platter. To gild the lily, arrange some tiny sprigs of fresh rosemary among the trees as a fun garnish.
- Serve cold or at room temperature. Add them to your charcuterie or cheese boards along with fresh fruit, nuts, spreads and crackers.
Pro Tips
-Don’t press the pretzel stick very far into the cheese. The cheese tends to split if you do.
-Stock up on these cheese wedges when they go on sale. They're great for this and other easy Christmas appetizer recipes.
-The cheese wedges are so soft and spreadable, you can actually “spread some Christmas cheer” on a cracker! LOL
Substitutions & Variations
Trade "this" for "that" in this ..... recipe.
- Spices: Change out the spices I use for others like smoked paprika, Creole/Cajun seasoning, or Greek seasoning. You can even play with a combination of flavors.
- Toppings: More topping ideas include finely chopped red and green jalapeno or bell pepper. Be sure to pat dry with paper towels so it will stick to the cheese better.
- Cheese Wedges: You can use other cheese flavors. Laughing Cow spreadable cheese comes in other flavors: Aged White Cheddar, Garlic Herb, or use Swiss to make a Swiss cheese appetizer.
- If you’re a fan of Dot’s seasoned pretzels like I am, try those for the base of the tree.
Helpful information
At Publix, they are sold at room temperature but the package says to refrigerate after purchasing. Odd, but I guess this extends the expiration date.
The Aldi brand (Happy Farms) spreadable cheese wedges are actually sold in the refrigerator case and says to keep refrigerated. Walmart sells Laughing Cow brand in the refrigerated cheese section. I once bought all of them in August and all had January expiration dates.
Store these decorated Laughing Cow cheese wedges in the refrigerator.
Publix sells them on a shelf with the beef sticks and jerky. Other stores like Aldi sells their brand in the refrigerated cheese section. Costco and Sam’s Wholesale also sells them in packs of three containers.
How to decorate Laughing Cow cheese containers
I made this pretty Christmas box with a Christmas napkin, Mod Podge, gold paint, and sheet music.
These are very basic instructions just to give you the general idea. You might need to search for more details on how to use Mod Podge on projects.
- Paint the inside of the box with gold or your choice of acrylic paint. Let dry.
- Trace the outside circle of the top and bottom of the container. Cut a circle from an old book or print sheet music. I used a Christmas hymn.
- Use glue or Mod Podge (matte) to adhere it to the container.
- Cut 2 larger circles from a dinner napkin. Then, pull away and use ONLY the top layer of the napkin. There is usually 2 or 3 thin layers.
- Lay the thin circles over the text or music and brush carefully with glue or Mod Podge. This will make it stick to the container. Do this on both sides of box. Let dry.
- You may have to paint the outside edges of the box white to cover the original label. I painted it white, then glued on ribbon on the edge of the lid. (That's hard to see here.)
You can use your imagination (and napkin collection) to make handmade gift boxes for every occasion. If you put food in the painted boxes, be sure to line with parchment paper, first!
Other easy Christmas party appetizer ideas
- Tomato and Mozzarella Skewers (with Balsamic Glaze)
- Garlic Butter Cruffins with Crescent Roll Dough
- Little Debbie Christmas Tree Dip
- Best Easy Candied Bacon
- Cookie Butter Puff Pastry Christmas Trees
- Baked Pimento Cheese Dip with Bacon
How to store
- To Store: Store in the refrigerator, covered or in an air tight container until ready to serve or if there are leftovers.
- To Freeze: I do not recommend freezing these Christmas cheese trees.
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Want more Christmas recipes?
Easy Christmas Cheese Trees
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Ingredients
- 1 (5.4 ounce) package Laughing Cow spreadable cheese wedges (8 wedges)
- 4 pretzel sticks, broken in half
Topping ideas
- Dried fruit Such as cranberries, cherries, golden raisins, dates, sun-dried tomatoes
- Dried herbs or finely chopped fresh herbs Such as parsley, rosemary, thyme, chives
- Finely chopped nuts or seeds Such as pistachios, pepitas, sesame seeds
- Spices or seasoning blends Such as paprika, red pepper flakes, Tajin
- (optional) Wasabi peas (dried crunchy snack)
- Garnish plate with rosemary sprigs, if you like
Instructions
- Carefully unwrap the cheese wedges and insert a pretzel stick into the larger side of the triangles.
- Arrange the dried fruit and/or nuts on the sides and top of the cheese, first. If you don’t place these first, the herbs and spices cling to the surfaces and the fruit and nuts do not stay on as well.
- Next, sprinkle the dried or fresh herbs and gently press into the cheese.Lastly, sprinkle on the spices or seasonings, gently pressing them into the cheese.
- On one of the trees, I coated the cheese wedge in crushed wasabi peas. It adds a pretty green color and a pop of flavor.
- You decide what flavor, color, and texture combinations you want to put on the cheese wedges.
- Arrange the little cheese Christmas trees on a charcuterie board or small platter. To gild the lily, arrange some tiny sprigs of fresh rosemary among the trees as a fun garnish.
- Serve cold or at room temperature. Add them to your charcuterie or cheese boards along with fresh fruit, nuts, spreads and crackers.
Notes
The Aldi brand (Happy Farms) spreadable cheese wedges are actually sold in the refrigerator case and says to keep refrigerated. Walmart sells Laughing Cow brand in the refrigerated cheese section. I once bought all of them in August and all had January expiration dates. How to store these decorated Christmas Cheese Trees: Once the packaged wedges are opened and decorated, store (covered) in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutrition analysis on GritsAndGouda.com recipes are mostly calculated on an online nutrition calculator. I am not a dietitian and nutritional information is an estimate and can vary based on products used.
Scott Phillips
I loved the variety of toppings
Kathleen
Yes! I'm big on using what you have!