Christmas is the season for food and parties! I like to be prepared for a party any time, so I make sure to have a few key things on hand. Then I can quickly prepare some easy Christmas appetizers everyone will enjoy.
Finger foods are the best to keep your guests satisfied until the main meal is served. Or, if you’re like me, you’ll have a nice spread of all kinds of yummy appetizers and no main meal to slave over 😉
Oh, and definitely have some candy cane crinkle cookies 😉
Easy Christmas Appetizers
Posh Piggies
Make these cute looking star-shaped appetizers for your holiday party and they’ll be the star of the day
Instructions
- 1 lp natural turkey sausage links (I used Jennie-O)
- 1 sheet sheet puff pastry (thawed)
- 2 tbs mayonnaise
- 2 tbs dijjonaise
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup apricot jelly
- Cut the sausage links into half- inch slices; brown the meat on both sides in a frying pan over medium high heat. No need to fully cook at this time, all you want is to get both sides a little crispy. Set aside on a plate to cool while you get the pastry ready.
- Lay the pastry out on your work surface then break the egg into a small dish and brush the entire surface of the pastry. Using a mini cookie cutter (I used a star) cut out shapes from the pastry.
- Place the meat onto a baking sheet and cover each one with a piece of pastry and secure in place with a tooth pick. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.
- While the piggies are baking mix the jelly, mayo and mustard in a small dish, these are good served hot, warm and room temp. Dip and enjoy!
Meatloaf Cupcakes
These are perfect to grab on the go while conversing with your guests. They are also great next day (after the party), when you really don’t want to do anything else but bum around
Ingredients
- Meatloaf
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup ketchup, divided
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, extra lean (raw)
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Cooking spray
- Mashed Potatoes
- 4 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 2 pounds)
- 1/4 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
- 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Garnish
- 3 tablespoons chopped chives
Instructions
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, dried oregano, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool.
- Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl.
- Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- While the meatloaf is cooking, make the mashed potatoes. Place potato in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain. Put potatoes into a ricer for best results. Return potato to pan. Add milk and remaining ingredients; stir with a spoon to desired consistency. If they are not creamy enough for you, add up to 1/4 cup more milk (just remember that they need to be stiff enough to pipe on top).
- Put the potatoes into a pastry bag with a wide star tip and pipe the mashed potatoes on top of the meatloaf. Sprinkle with chopped chives.
For a light and easy appetizer, give these watermelon and feta cheese bites a try. Low calorie, and healthy, it’s a great alternative to have. Directions: 1. Slice the watermelon in half then use a melon baller to carve out rounds of the watermelon. 2. Slice a small piece from one side of the watermelon so it creates a flat surface. This will make it stable on the plate. On the other side, carve out a small groove with the melon baller so it can be filled with feta cheese.
Watermelon and Feta Appetizers
Ingredients
Instructions
Do you think the pre-made croissant stuff can work in place of the puff pastry?
On the sausage/puff pastry appetizer, you never mention what to do with the mayo and Dijjonaise. Is it a dip for after baking? Do you put it on the puff pastry?
I was wondering the same. I assumed it was for dipping, but who wants to dip a meatball in mayo? Yuck!
Hmmmm. Who said it was a meatball? Looks like sliced sausage to me and you aren’t just dipping it in mayo its a combination of stuff. Don’t knock it til ya try it
While the piggies are baking mix the mayo, mustard and jelly in a small dish, these are good served hot, warm and room temp. Dip and enjoy!
Your recipes look like fun. But too hard to read in black type on such dark blue background . Love the star appetizers!
Di, where do you see dark blue in the background? The text is black on white.
I too see the dark blue stripe down the middle. Can’t seem to get rid of it!
Could you send me a screenshot of what you’re seeing? I’d like to fix it, but can’t see what you are seeing.
The very last thing it says is dip and enjoy. So yeah it’s for dipping.
Maybe brush a little of the mayo/mustard on the sausage before you top with crust?
can you use fillo dough instead of puff pastry
My family loved these and the dipping sauce, (I did add extra apricot preserves)
I tried to make the puff pastries and they puffed up really high and we couldn’t use them. What do you think I did wrong??
Couldn’t find the recipe for the parmesan bites. These all look really great. Thanks for the recipes. Have a good day.
Check again: I added oi tot this page.
Adriana, I sent you a screenshot of the big blue stripe. Last time I looked, it was gone. Now it’s back.