10 Tasty, Easy and Delicious Holiday Appetizers If You Want to Start Preparing Your Christmas Menus!

Christmas holidays are right around the corner – has anyone else been keeping count since the clock struck midnight on November 1st, or is it just us?! And with Christmas holidays, something else coming up, apart from presents, brunches, schools closed and a festive atmosphere is the endless cooking for family lunches and dinners, or parties with friends and coworkers!

So, in case you want to get ahead of the Christmas menus, we're here to offer you 10 delicious ideas for holiday-themed appetizers, so you won't arrive unprepared to the prep. All of these appetizers are simple, inviting and quick to make. They're perfect for either lunch or dinner (and even brunch, in case you're into those celebrations). 10 different ideas to satisfy all people and conquer adults and children alike!

1. Puff Pastry Knots and Croissants With Cream Cheese, Tuna and Salmon

These 2-ways appetizers with cream cheese are perfect to bring to the table during a party: using ready-made puff pastry, they will form knots filled with cream cheese and canned tuna, and little savory croissants filled with a mixture of cream cheese, smoked salmon and lemon zest. Easy and extremely quick to make, they'll bake in the oven at 374°F (175°C) for about 15 minutes each, so they can be prepared together.

2. Pastry Roll Xmas Tree

Showstopping and scenographic, this Xmas tree appetizer is perfect to have already portioned appetizers. All you'll need to do to bring it to the table is prepare the broccoli and mix them with the sausages before spreading them on top of a sheet of puff-pastry that will be rolled up and portioned into different rolls, fashioned into a Christmas tree and baked in the oven for 30 minutes at 375°F (175°C).

3. Pastry Trees

These fun Mini Christmas Trees are exactly what you need for your festive table this year! It’s an easy, bite-sized appetizer recipe that is perfect for Christmas. Not only are the pastries made in the shape of a Christmas tree, but they also taste delicious. Each bite is savory and creamy, with a flaky texture. To make it, you will need a roll of puff pastry, cream cheese, ham, cheese, and olives. Unroll the pastry, cover it with cream cheese and ham, and bake until golden. It’s so easy to make—with a little effort, you can make an impressive appetizer that will wow your guests!

4. Pastry Candycane Twists

A savory twist on classic sugar candy canes, these Pastry Candy cane twists are the perfect fingerfood for your Christmas brunches. A roll of puff pastry gets filled with dried tomato paste, cut and twisted into a candy cane shape, decorated with sliced olives on top. Baked until golden for 10 minutes, it'll be flaky and with that savory twist that will make everyone go crazy!

5. Duchess Potatoes Christmas Trees

Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, these Duchess Potatoes Christmas Trees are both visually appetizing and absolutely delicious. The potatoes will be microwaved and then mashed and mixed with parmesan and basil pesto to give them that green hue typical of Christmas trees, then transferred to a piping bag to form the trees that will be baked in the oven for 15 minutes at 360°F (180°C). To finish them off, they'll be topped with a star-shaped piece of cheese.

6. Pastry Crackers with Bologna Mousse

Sophisticated and bite sized, these Pastry Crackers with Bologna Mousse are perfect to serve as appetizers or even during a brunch with your friends and coworkers! First, you'll need to create the parmesan flavored crackers that will bake in the oven for 15 minutes after a quick chill in the fridge. As for the bologna mousse, you'll need to blend together the bologna with the cream cheese, cream and black pepper to savor. Decorated with crumbled pistachios, these crackers are savory, crunchy and soft all in one single bite!

7. Puff Pastry Shells with Christmas Salad

Shaped like a seashell, these portion-sized Pastry Shells with Christmas Salad are incredible as appetizers for your Christmas dinner: the ready-made puff pastry will be cut into circles and then decorated as if it's a true seashell before being baked in the oven without the filling for 15-20 minutes; while the pastry bakes, you'll have to prepare the Christmas salad with mayonnaise, cucumbers, chicken, crab, corn and hard-boiled eggs. Once the pastry shells will be baked, they'll be filled with the salad and then served.

8. Puff Pastry Ricotta Spinach Christmas Tree

Christmas-Tree shaped things are never enough, in our opinion and that's why we're also here to give you this idea perfect for an appetizer to share: this Ricotta and Spinach filled Christmas Tree is made with puff pastry that, instead of being portioned into single bite-sized rolls, will present twisted branches to pull-apart as you're sitting at the table with your closest friends and family. Baked until golden, this appetizer is then decorated with little cherry tomatoes to represent Christmas ornaments.

9. Christmas Tree Pull-Apart Buns

To finish off this list of ideas, we're giving you another tasty Pull-Apart Christmas Tree, this time made with savory buns stuffed with cheese and sausages. To bring it to the table, you'll just need to fill the ready-made dough (cut into squares) with cooked sausage and a cube of cheese and then shape it into a ball. Once that you'll have formed the Christmas tree, you'll have to bake it for 20 minutes at 360°F (180°C) and then decorate it with rosemary, oregano and sesame. Cheesy, soft and irresistible, it'll be perfect to use as your centerpiece for your Christmas table.