Christmas Dessert Charcuterie Board: A dessert platter for the holiday season that’s full of sweet treats, and is a great way to serve smaller items and so much fun to have a variety of sweets. A Christmas charcuterie board is one of our favorite unique charcuterie boards to make.
Make sure to see below which items I used, with suggestions on other favorite treats, so you can make your own!
When Christmas rolls around, the season is full of snacking and entertaining and a Christmas charcuterie board can be a fun way to let guests snack all day!
If you’re hosting or attending a large group gathering, or a Christmas movie night party, you may also want to consider styling a savory charcuterie board like this Christmas Tree Charcuterie!
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Why You’ll Love This Board:
- This sweet charcuterie board is flexible, and you can use any or all of the items that I used for mine.
- This holiday dessert charcuterie board is also kid and adult friendly, so it’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser!
- Although it’s not specifically a themed dessert charcuterie board, based around a certain subject, the theme is more of a red and pink theme, with Christmas goodies!
Ingredients
Although your charcuterie board can look a lot different than this one, easily, simply by using something else that you prefer or if you’re not able to find something that I used, I wanted to share what I did use, in case you find it helpful.
- Candy canes
- Chocolate covered pretzels
- Pirouette
- Snowman marshmallows
- Christmas M&M’s
- Stroopwafels (waffle-looking cookies)
- Cinnamon gummy bears
- Mini vanilla wafers
- Marshmallows (snowflake shape and pink peppermint flavor)
- Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes
- Soft peppermint candies
- Peppermint popcorn
- Peppermint Hershey Kisses
- Peanut butter sandwich crackers
- Mini chocolate chip cookies
- Mini pink and red Starbursts
- Reese’s Christmas Trees
- Mini Fudge Stripe Cookies
- Ghirardelli chocolate snowmen
- Chocolate bells
- Candy Sour Strips
Also see the recipe card below for more tips!
Instructions
The beautiful thing about a charcuterie board is that you really can’t mess one up. Items can overlap, sit next to something that you’d normally never eat together, and so much more.
But I’d love to share some of my favorite tips that I follow when styling any charcuterie board!
- First, grab the board, platter, or dish that you’d like to use. If you’re wanting to buy the large wooden board that I used here, this is where you can get this charcuterie board.
- Next, what I love to do is put the larger items on the board first. If serving a dip (like this Christmas Tree Cake Dip) I like to put that in the center of the board and then place items around it. However, with this board, I didn’t have a dip but I used the Christmas Tree Cakes as the center of attention.
- Then, I start putting other big items (large marshmallows, chocolate-covered pretzels, and candy canes) in the corners. (Mainly because the big items can overlap and hang over the edge of the board to allow more room for smaller items on the board.
- Then, I start picking out the smaller items (but not the smallest… you’ll see why in the next step.) and start placing them from the outside of the board, and work my way in toward the center.
- Finally, I take the smallest items, like M&M’s, and fill in the gaps or empty spaces where I can see the board. I also love using the candy sour strips to wiggle in between some of the items for separation, and for an extra color pop!
That’s it! It’s really that easy. As you can see, I pile things up, and take it as I go. See below for more specific tips on what to avoid when making a charcuterie board.
Substitutions
If there’s something on this board that you don’t like, or can’t find, it’s easy to substitute out your favorite snacks or candy! Here are some other ideas you may like to try:
- Peanut M&M’s
- Regular popcorn, this caramel corn recipe, or your favorite popcorn
- Oreo cookies (for this color scheme, Golden Oreos would look better)
- Strawberries (or red/pink fresh fruit)
- Apple slices (make sure to soak them in lemon juice a bit first to keep them from turning brown)
- Sugar cookies or your favorite Christmas cookies
- Graham crackers
- Homemade cookies or other store-bought cookies work great too!
- Rice krispie treats
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Snowball cookies
- Mini cupcakes
Equipment
You can use so many different items for the “board,” such as a cutting board, a large platter or even something that’s not normally used as serveware. This charcuterie board on Instagram was made by covering a large board with parchment paper, and it worked great!
Storage
If you happen to have leftover items, store them in their original containers (I usually save them and hide them in the pantry in case I need them again) or in plastic bags or in Tupperware.
Top tips
After making quite a few charcuterie boards, I’ve learned a few things that I always try to avoid:
- Have guests that are allergic to certain things? It is important to keep that in mind, as different foods are touching.
- If you use something that’s runny, sticky, wet, etc. it’s best to serve that in small bowls, or it will make items soggy and messy.
- Don’t feel like you have to use the entire package of an item. For instance, if you’re using a box of cookies, you don’t have to use the entire box all at once. Keep any extras nearby, and if you’d like, you can replenish the board as the night goes on!
- It’s ok to “repeat” the same item on the board. Like in this board, I had pretzel sticks on two corners, on opposite sides of the board.
- Even though there isn’t a “right” way to make a board, I DO try to alternate different colors and have a variety of textures. For example, I try to arrange the same colors on opposite sides of the board, to help even out the look of the board.
FAQ
You can use any kind of chocolate that you like! Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, flavored chocolates, and more! You can also use small chocolate candies or even a small chocolate fondue pot.
Different sizes, colors, and flavors of candy are perfect for a board! You can do a color scheme or mix up all the colors and do a rainbow of your favorite colors. Ideally, creating “sections” of different candies is preferred, instead of just mixing it all together.
It depends on what you want it to be! A traditional charcuterie board, or an appetizer charcuterie board is typically more of a savory board, full of meats and cheeses, dips, and crackers. A dessert board tends to have candy, sweet crackers, sweet dips and more.
However you style your board, I’m sure it will be a perfect Christmas dessert board!
More Christmas Ideas
If you love Christmas or are looking for more entertaining ideas, you’ll also love these:
Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!
Recipe
Christmas Dessert Charcuterie Board
Ingredients
- 2 Candy Canes
- 4 Chocolate Covered Pretzel Sticks
- 4 Pirouettes
- 4 Snowman Marshmallows
- 1 cup Christmas M&M's
- 4 Stroopwafels
- 1 cup Cinnamon Bears
- 2 cup Mini Vanilla Wafers
- 2 cups Peppermint Marshmallows
- 5 Snowflake Marshmallows
- 2 Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes
- 1 cup Soft Peppermint Candies
- 2 cups Peppermint Popcorn
- 1 cup Peppermint Hershey Kisses
- 2 cups Mini Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
- 2 cups Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 1 cup Mini Pink & Red Starbursts
- 5 Reese's Christmas Trees
- 4 Ghirardelli Chocolate Snowmen
- 2 cups Mini Fudge Stripes Cookies
- 7 Chocolate Bells
- 3 Candy Sour Strips
Instructions
- First, grab the board, platter, or dish that you'd like to use. If you're wanting to buy the large wooden board that I used here, this is where you can get this charcuterie board.
- Next, what I love to do is put the bigger items on the board first. If serving a dip (like this Christmas Tree Cake Dip) I like to put that in the center of the board and then place items around it. However, with this board, I didn't have a dip but I used the Christmas Tree Cakes as the center of attention.
- Then, I start putting other big items (large marshmallows, chocolate-covered pretzels, and candy canes) in the corners. (Mainly because the big items can overlap and hang over the edge of the board to allow more room for smaller items on the board.
- Then, I start picking out the smaller items (but not the smallest… you'll see why in the next step.) and start placing them from the outside of the board, and work my way in toward the center.
- Finally, I take the smallest items, like M&M's, and fill in the gaps where I can see the board.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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