Christmas Dessert Charcuterie Board

I made my first-ever dessert charcuterie board this past Fall. I love to make charcuterie boards, and the savory meat-and-cheese boards are a mainstay at my house, especially at the holidays. These boards, both sweet and savory, are a fabulous way to let your guests personalize their bites. So, here just in time: my Christmas Dessert Charcuterie Board!

Making a big tray of mini desserts isn't anything new. This board differs from the trays, tins, and boxes of sweets that you find in most houses during the holiday season. With this Christmas Dessert Charcuterie Board, you can mix and match flavors to find your favorite treat!

Below I have labeled all the sweets on my board. Some have recipes on the blog...check out the "Other posts you may like" links at the end of the post!

There's definitely no rules here, but this was my thought process for putting together my board:

Flavors. For me, this was key to determine up front. You definitely want the flavors of the sweets on your board to complement each other. A good way to ensure this is to stick with seasonal flavors. Once you have your flavors determined, start to think about combinations of those flavors. For my Christmas board, I went with: peppermint, chocolate, honey, vanilla, dates, cherries, apples, cranberries, and gingerbread.

Textures. I wanted to make sure that there were a variety of textures to mix-and-match on the board. Think: soft, chewy, crunchy, crisp, smooth.

Dippers. Now that you've considered flavors and textures, try to determine some dippers! That is, plain(ish) treats that you can jazz up with a dip or spread. I made my [Honey Sugar Cookies], vanilla bean sugar cookies, [Dark Chocolate Madeleines], and some chocolate/peppermint rice krispie treats. Other dipper ideas: plain mini doughnuts, marshmallows, bite-size pieces of pound cake or sweet bread, and brownie/blondie bites!

Dips. This is where you can think about the fun flavors to pair with your dippers! I chose to make a candy cane dip and a hot cocoa dip for my Christmas board. You could also choose to include jams, jellies, or nut butters!

Ready-made. I also wanted to have some ready-made items on my board for additional grazing opportunities. No dipping or spreading, just grab and enjoy! I included mini [Apple Cranberry Pies], [Date Nut Swirl Cookies], peppermint bark, [Chocolate Cherry Cookies], mint candies, and candy canes. Other good options would be glazed or frosted doughnuts, caramels, truffles, macarons, and mini cupcakes.

Colors. Once you've determined what treats you'd like to include, think about what colors will be on your board. Think about adding complimentary colors of frosting, sprinkles, or garnishes. I knew that my sweets were going to be very brown/beige, so I made sure to included some pops of color from the candy cane dip, peppermint bark, and candies. Truth be told, I think my Dark Chocolate Madeleines were a bit too dark on the board. But they sure were delicious. 🙂 Then I went and pulled the Christmas theme together by tucking baby gingerbread men on the board.