Are you looking for Holiday appetizer ideas? Why not make these cute mini Christmas tree pizzas! They only take 30 minutes to make and look so festive.
5 reasons to make mini Christmas tree pizza appetizers
- Only 5 ingredients
- Easy recipe
- Quick preparation + baking time
- Fun Holiday appetizer
- Perfect baking project for kids
If you are thinking of throwing a party this festive season and looking for Christmas appetizer recipes, I highly recommend making Christmas tree pizza bites! And why not impress your guests with a DIY table centerpiece and make a gingerbread Christmas tree?
Don’t forget to add something sweet to your menu list. Gingerbread popcorn is a great sweet treat and so are Linzer cookies.
Ingredients and tools:
- Puff pastry
- Green pepper
- Grated cheese
- Pepperoni snack sticks
- Pizza sauce
- A tree-shaped cookie cutter
- Baking parchment paper or silicone mat
- Baking sheet (tray)
How to make mini Christmas tree pizzas
Unroll/unfold the puff pastry and using a tree cookie cutter cut out as many trees as possible. Transfer them onto a baking tray that you have lined with baking paper or a silicone mat.
Spread some pizza sauce over, sprinkle each with cheese and top with a few slices of slices tiny pepperoni sausage and green pepper.
Bake them until the pastry is cooked through, for about 10 minutes.
Good to know
I love using my recipe for homemade pizza sauce. It’s made by mixing oregano, ketchup, garlic and olive oil together. It only takes 3 minutes to make and I prefer it to the shop-bought version.
You can use any pizza sauce of your choice but if you have nothing on hand, this one works perfectly.
Baking these mini pizzas only takes about 10 minutes. However, every oven bakes differently and also the thickness of your puff pastry might be different from the one I used so keep an eye on them when making them for the first time.
To make these mini Christmas tree pizzas I used puff pastry instead of pizza dough. The reason is simple – the pizza dough is very soft and sticky which made cutting out the trees a real challenge.
If you still decide to give it a go, place the dough in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. This will make it easier for you to cut the trees out.
The puff pastry will rise in the oven so use a reasonable amount of toppings. For the toppings, you can use anything you like. Instead of salami, ham can be also used.
Useful Tips:
- I used chilled (fresh) puff pastry that is ready-rolled so all I have to do is unroll it. This is the pastry that I can easily get in a supermarket so I always use it. If you like using frozen pastry that you thaw and roll out yourself, then go ahead and use that one. Just make sure to roll it out thin.
- Note that these Christmas tree pizza bites are really tiny so you need to cut all the ingredients into tiny pieces as well.
- Depending on the size of your pastry and your cookie cutter you might get more or less Christmas trees out of one sheet of pastry. My cutter was not very large but the size was perfect for a 2-bite snack. I wouldn’t use a cutter that is smaller than 2.5 inches.
- I find that it’s easier when the puff pastry is chilled before cutting out the shapes.
- Pizza sauce can be substituted with pesto (I have a few recipes on my blog. The easiest and cheapest to make would probably be parsley pesto or basil pesto).
This post appeared first on Julie’s Eats and Treats where I was a contributor.
Mini Christmas Tree Pizzas
Ingredients
- 1 puff pastry sheet , ready rolled (10 ounces/275 grams)
- 4 tablespoons pizza sauce
- 4.5 ounces grated cheese (130 grams)
- 3 pepperoni snack sticks or any other sausage snack sticks
- 1 green pepper
Instructions
- Unroll (unfold) the puff pastry.
- Use a tree cookie cutter to cut out as many trees as possible out of your pastry sheet.
- Place them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper or a silicone mat. Spread pizza sauce over, sprinkle with some cheese and top with a few slices of pepperoni and finely chopped pepper.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F/200°C for 10 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.
- Best served right away.
Notes
- These mini pizzas are very versatile when it comes to the ingredients so feel free to use what you like. Just bear in mind they will be quite small so you will be able to top each tree with only a few pieces.
- Use any pizza sauce you like. Pesto is also a great option. For homemade pizza sauce combine 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 4 tablespoons ketchup, 1 teaspoon olive oil (optional) and 2 garlic cloves (minced).
- The puff pastry will rise in the oven but it will deflate a bit after it has been taken out of the oven.
- The tree cutter I used here is 3 inches long & 2.4 inches wide (in the widest part).
Stephanie says
I love this idea and so easy. I prefer pizza over cookies anyway and definitely looks like a fun idea for the kids.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks, Stephanie!
Elaine Benoit says
Oh, my gosh! These are totally adorable and super easy to make. I can’t wait to surprise my niece and nephew with your recipe when they sleep over next!!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
:) Yay!
Tracy says
These are soooooo adorable! What a perfect idea for little ones this time of the year! My daughter is going to LOVE making them!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks, Tracy!
Sally says
These would be brilliant for a children’s Christmas party.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Definitely! :)
Mary Bostow says
I made this last night for the family and wished I had made two. Everyone loved it. The kids couldn’t stop talking about making this in different shapes for other holiday’s. Thanks
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Great idea using different shapes for other holidays :)
Mary says
What a cute idea!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thank you! :)
Veena Azmanov says
This is so cute and amazing. Sure to make these Mini Christmas Tree Pizza’s for my Kids Christmas Tree Party.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Glad to hear you like it!
Kam says
Pizza cookies? Now that’s genius! (Even though I can’t eat conventional or original pizza because I have gluten and dairy sensitivities).
Nonetheless I think this is worth a share!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks, Kam!
Heather says
Looking to see how many layers of the puff pastry you use
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Heather. Not sure if I understand your question. I used 1 sheet of puff pastry. There are no layers, you cut out the shapes you like and top them with sauce and other toppings. Please have a look at the process photos – they are quite self explanatory. Hope this helps.
Beate says
Can i prepare the pizza trees in advance and bake them later?
Thank you for coming back to me.
Beate
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Beate. Sorry for the late reply but from my experience it’s best when you don’t let puff pastry sit around after it has been opened and rolled out.
Sue Sturt says
Made these for Christmas teaparty at local church hall. Went down a treat thank you.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thank you for your feedback, Sue!