These Christmas Cheese Trees are such a fun, festive, and super easy holiday appetizer you can make in minutes. Cheese triangles are topped with a mixture of fresh herbs, dried cranberries, and chopped nuts with a pretzel stick in the bottom to create the appearance of a Christmas tree. So cute and also delicious!
Oh how I love an effortless and delicious holiday appetizer, and it is definitely these Christmas cheese trees. They take less than 15 minutes to assemble, there’s no baking or cooking or even microwaving required, and they are super cute and festive. Plus delish!
All you need is some cheese triangle wedges (like the Laughing Cow brand), pretzel sticks, pecans, dried cranberries, and fresh herbs. I actually love playing around with the nut/dried fruit/herb combo and trying different variations – I shared my second favorite variation below.
What’s in these Christmas Cheese Trees?
This fun Christmas party appetizer is made with just 6 main ingredients. You can find the exact measurements in the recipe card below.
- Cheese triangle wedges – The Laughing Cow brand is perfect for this but if you find another brand, they’ll work too as long as it’s a soft cheese.
- Chopped pecans – Adds a lovely crunch which is a nice contrast to the smooth, creamy cheese.
- Dried cranberries – Adds a sweet but tart element to the cheese trees.
- Chopped thyme – Rosemary will work too.
- Flaky sea salt & pepper – Seasons the herb/fruit mixture and provides a balance of flavor.
- Pretzel sticks – The thicker and sturdy ones that aren’t super long.
- Honey – This is optional, but I love serving the cheese trees with a little drizzled honey over the top for some added sweetness.
Can I Use Other Cheese?
Absolutely. I love the Laughing Cow cheese triangle wedges because they’re already perfectly portioned and keep the prep so minimal. But you can truly use any soft cheese cut into triangles. Brie and Camembert would both be great options. Other white cheeses, such as provolone and mozzarella cut into triangles would work too, and even some goat cheeses would be good. Note that the harder the cheese, the less the toppings will stick.
Variation Ideas
Beyond using different types of cheese, there are lots of ways to customize your Christmas cheese trees. My other personal favorite variation is to use walnuts, dried apricots, and parsley in place of the pecans/cranberries/thyme. But you can also play around with other herbs and spices, like basil, herbs de Provence, rosemary, and dill. Crushed red pepper would be a great way to add some heat (and red color).
Success Tips
- Use room temperature cheese. The toppings will stick to room temperature cheese easier and it will also be easier to insert the pretzel stick.
- Have extra pretzels. It’s likely that you’ll break a pretzel stick or two trying to assemble these so it’s always good to have some extras on hand.
- Smooth out any cracks. If the cheese cracks when you try to add the pretzel stick, no worries. You can usually smooth the cheese out pretty easily with your fingers and once you add the topping mixture, it won’t be that noticeable.
- Dice everything into tiny pieces. The cranberries, nuts, and fresh herbs should all be diced into very tiny pieces so that they mix together well and easily stick to the cheese.
Serving Suggestions
I love serving these Christmas cheese trees on a platter for holiday parties. They make a great addition to other favorite party appetizers, like a pesto parmesan bread star and sugared prosecco grapes. You could even add them to a charcuterie board or cheese tray. I typically just add some extra crackers and pretzel thins to dip into the cheese when serving.
Proper Storage
Cheese Christmas trees can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days. Just keep them covered tightly with plastic wrap, to prevent the outside of the cheese from hardening and drying out.
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Christmas Cheese Trees
Ingredients
- 8 Laughing Cow cheese triangle wedges
- 1/4 cup very finely chopped pecans
- 3 tablespoons dried cranberries , very finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme (or rosemary)
- flaky sea salt and pepper , to taste
- 8 pretzel sticks
- honey , for drizzling, optional
- crackers and pretzel thins , for serving
Instructions
- Unwrap the cheese wedges.
- In a shallow bowl, combine the pecans, cranberries, thyme, and seasonings.
- Lightly press one side of the cheese into the pecan-cranberry mixture, just enough so it adheres. (You should still be able to see some of the cheese showing through.)
- Gently push a pretzel stick into the bottom rounded end of each cheese wedge for the ‘trunk’ (see note below.)
- Arrange on a serving tray and drizzle each cheese wedge with just a hint of honey. Enjoy with pretzel thins and crackers.
I made these because they looked adorable – but was happily surprised with how yummy they were! I served with whole wheat table crackers and they were a huge hit. Thank you!!
Do you think these possibly could made with a different kind of nut? My kids can’t have pecans or walnuts. But I want to make these so badly.
Of course! Can they have almonds? Those would be great too.
Love this idea. Do you flip the cheese over and coat both sides? Not mentioned in recipe instructions and wanted to be sure. Many thanks
Hi Jan! It says to lightly press on one side, so no you don’t coat both sides, BUT you certainly can if you want! Just make extra of the nut-herb mixture. Enjoy!
Going to make this for a Christmas dinner