The most festive Christmas tree appetizer can be made with nutritious, vibrant, and juicy strawberries. This simple – yet fun – holiday recipe looks like mini Christmas trees sitting on top of an Oreo cookie base. It’s quick, easy, and kid-approved. A little tip from one mom to another, make extra, the kids go crazy over these.

As we head toward the end of the holiday season, it can be hard to come up with fun and (still) nutritious ways to serve our families. 

You know we’re on it like white on rice when it comes to fresh ways to incorporate your fruits and veggies during the holidays. And when we can make it fun at the same time, well… that’s the cherry on top, right?

You’ll love strawberry Christmas trees because they’re:

• Kid-approved
• Use fresh fruit
• Quick
• Fun to make
• Festive
• Nutritious

What more could you ask for in a Christmas tree appetizer during the holiday season?

Grab your Oreos, strawberries, and your kids, and let’s head into the kitchen.

What Are Strawberry Christmas Trees?

We’ll coat your strawberries with green candy melts, top them with nonpareils and a yellow star, and place them on top of an Oreo cookie for the base. When you’re done dressing up your strawberries into an adorable Christmas tree appetizer – they’ll look like festive, bite-size ornaments. 

When you bite into your strawberries, you see the bright red berry covered with a thin layer of vibrant green candy and multicolored nonpareils for the most festive bite at your Christmas party or dinner. 

It’s going to be a hit.

Ingredients

You’ll need five ingredients to make your strawberry Christmas tree appetizer. Since we’re already in the holiday season, you can easily find all of these ingredients in the produce section (and the candies will likely be in the baking aisle). 

Here’s what you’ll need.

Strawberries

The strawberry is the hero of our Christmas tree appetizer, so be sure to pick a high-quality berry for the best results. Strawberries have the perfect shape to make a Christmas tree. When the red is layered with the green candy melts, you have all of the classic holiday colors combined with a burst of juicy flavor. Simply rinse and dry your strawberries, then cut off their stems, and they’re ready to be dipped. 

Strawberries are easy to find in the produce section of any grocery store. 

Candy Melts

Used often for baking and decorating, you can easily find candy melts during the holiday season. We’ll use green candy melts to transform our strawberries from a simple berry into a mini, edible Christmas tree appetizer. 

Candy melts usually have a vanilla flavor that pairs well with the strawberries and Oreos, but you can experiment with flavors like peppermint, strawberry, and chocolate. Candy melts don’t use cocoa butter – so they are easier to work with and reheat – making them perfect for beginners and young sous chefs learning their way around the kitchen. 

Look for green candy melts in the baking aisle for your strawberry Christmas trees.  

Oreos

Remember when we used to have one flavor of Oreos and that was it? Now we have double stuffed, mint, double stuffed mint, and of course, the classic. The Oreos serve as the base that attaches to our Christmas tree strawberries. This is how they stand on their own. 

We love using the mint Oreos as our base because the green goes with the theme, and the minty fresh flavor makes us think of crisp Christmas mornings. Feel free to use whichever Oreos you like best. You can even make your own cookies as the base. The Oreos are sturdy and a kid favorite that gets them excited, every time. Guaranteed.

Grab your Oreos from the snacks and cookies section at the grocery store.

Nonpareil Sprinkles

Similar to sprinkles, nonpareils are multicolored. However, instead of being long and skinny, nonpareils are round and look like tiny little Christmas tree ornaments. You’ve seen them on the mini Hershey-shaped, snow-capped candies with the little white “snowballs” on top. They even come in different flavors, like mint, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate. 

If you have sprinkles on hand and want to use them, you absolutely can. But the nonpareils look more realistic and festive. And you can use them to make cake pops, cookies, cupcakes, and cakes. 

Look for them in the baking aisle near the sprinkles. 

Star Candies

This is the part where you get to choose a yellow candy that comes in a star shape. We used a candy with a hard outer yellow shell so that it would hold up. But you can also use small gummies if you prefer. Just keep in mind that they need to be small because we’re going to place them on the tip of our strawberry Christmas trees. 

Grab some hard-shell yellow stars from the candy aisle, or peruse the aisle to find a variety of candies you might want to try. 

Remember to have fun with it!

How to Make a Strawberry Christmas Tree

Step 1: Place the Oreos with either cookie side flat on a serving plate in a single layer. 

Step 2: Rinse your strawberries under cool running water and pat dry with a paper towel. Use a knife to cut off the stem of each strawberry. 

Step 3: Heat your candy melts according to the package directions or heat them in a microwave-safe bowl in 15-30 second increments. Stir the candies in between each interval so they melt evenly and don’t develop a burnt taste.

Reheat the candies as needed.

Step 4: Use a fork to pierce a strawberry and dip it into the bowl of green candy melts so that it’s fully coated. Gently tap your fork on the side of the bowl to get rid of any excess candy melt. 

Step 5: Immediately sprinkle the nonpareils on the top of your strawberry while it’s still on the fork. Then use another fork to transfer the strawberry so the cut side is sitting in the middle of an Oreo. This also gets some of the candy melts onto the Oreo to act as glue.

Step 6: Quickly top your strawberry Christmas tree with a yellow star candy before the candy melts dry.

Step 7: Repeat steps four and five until all of your strawberries become a festive Christmas tree appetizer and serve!

How to Select Strawberries

Your strawberries should be plump and bright red in color with a vibrant green stem. The size doesn’t matter when it comes to taste, but the berries should be firm with a natural shine. If you see any bruising or soft spots, look for another batch for the best Christmas tree appetizer.

Can Strawberry Christmas Trees Be Made Ahead?

We don’t recommend making your Christmas tree appetizer ahead of time. They are best when made and eaten within a few hours. 

If you make your strawberry Christmas trees ahead of time and the strawberries aren’t fully coated in candy melts – the juice from the strawberries seeps into the cookies, making them soggy. Your guests may end up underwhelmed when they take their first bite, and the Oreo is mushy. 

More Festive Christmas Recipes

• Christmas Pancakes — get in the spirit with your favorite Christmas-shaped pancakes
• Snowman Veggie Tray — a fun way to serve veggies
• Christmas Charcuterie Board —  charcuterie in the shape of a Christmas tree
• 3-D Christmas Tree — another festive way to serve strawberries