Christmas Dessert Grazing Board

The key to a perfect dessert grazing board, Christmas-themed or not, really lies in the formula! You can always add more or make changes as you want, but as long as you follow the basics, you’ll be set. This dessert tray takes that general charcuterie board framework and packs it full of festive holiday flair for a spread fit for any Christmas party or family movie night!

How to Make a Grazing Board

See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.

Remember: these are just the general components I recommend for a tray. This isn’t any ordinary dessert board, though – it’s a Christmas dessert board, so go crazy!

Start with the basics.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the charcuterie options, especially once you start adding in a variety of seasonal snacks. I always start with these basic categories and get more specific from there.

1. Cheeses.
2. Dips/Sauces.
3. Cookies.
4. Chocolates.
5. Fruit.
6. Crackers & Dipping Vessels.
7. Extras.

Cheeses.

Choose at least 2 types of cheese, and try to make them pretty different from each other. I typically opt for one that’s a little more “basic” or “universal”, like a brie, and one that’s a little more “fun”, like a cranberry-coated goat cheese.

Dips and sauces.

A liquidy and/or creamy component to offset all the crunchiness on the board. For a dessert board, I like to do one chocolatey dip and one fruity dip (or even just honey). Nutella is great for the chocolatey option, or you could do my hot cocoa dip for a lighter texture. For the fruity dip, a raspberry or cherry jam would be nice and cozy.

Cookies.

You gotta prioritize the seasonal cookies here, of course, but use some basic options to fill in! A few of my favorites:

Chocolates.

There’s no shortage of chocolate treats this time of year, and one thing I really love is that even the year-round options get a holiday makeover, so everything looks festive even if you aren’t using the seasonal flavors. You’ve got milk chocolate Hershey Kisses, red and green M&Ms, seasonal Lindt Truffles, peppermint bark, gold coins, Santa- or tree-shaped chocolates, peppermint Hershey bells… Literally there’s an option for anything and everything you like.

Fruit.

So you can tackle the fruit component one of two ways. You can go with fruits in season right now – think pears, cranberries, pomegranates, oranges, and apples. You could also just go for any fruit you like that is conveniently holiday-themed. Strawberries, green grapes, raspberries, green apples, red apples, and any other red-or-green fruit you can find.

Crackers + vessels.

Regardless of any other types of crackers on your board, I highly recommend pretzel crisps for their versatility! They go well with both cheeses and sweet dips, so you can knock out two birds with one snack. Buttery crackers are also a must, and you can generally find them in fun shapes during the holidays if you don’t want to use basic circles.

Depending on your dips, make sure you’ve got appropriate vessels to serve with them! Graham crackers, sugar cookies, fruit, pretzels, bagel chips, or anything else you and your guests might need.

Fun Extras.

Ok, I’ll be honest. The extras are technically less for “eating” and more for “aesthetic”. That’s not to say you should include things that aren’t edible! Just that your Christmas dessert board doesn’t need to be equal parts candy canes and crackers. Use the extras to add pops of color and texture – just keep in mind that they aren’t the stars of the tray.

What I Love About This Recipe

• It’s so much fun to make! There’s something sort of zen about arranging a charcuterie board, but I especially enjoy a dessert board. Don’t stress about the presentation too much, though. It’ll be deconstructed and devoured in no time!
• My kids and I aren’t actually big sweets-eaters, but cozying up with a movie and a dessert board on Christmas eve has become a fun little tradition in my house. The kids love it, of course, because who wouldn’t love a smorgasbord of sugar, crackers, and cheese? I love it because it breaks the routine a little (making memories!) and grazing is pretty much my favorite way to have a meal.