Christmas Cheese Appetizer Recipes

Caprese salad skewers. Perfect for holiday parties.

A light, fluffy puff pastry is filled with melted Brie cheese and hot fruit preserves. If you do not want a sweet wheel, you may substitute herbed cheese spread for the preserves. Baking times are the same for the substitution.

These make a simple, delicious, and elegant appetizer. They impress every time!

A sweet switch from the usual cheese ball. Serve with graham crackers or chocolate wafers.

The dough for these cookies is what makes them exceptional. I always quadruple this recipe for the holidays. Most popular fillings are peach, apricot, raspberry and date. Use your imagination! This year I'm trying Michigan cherry preserves and cranberry marmalade. You better hide a few for Christmas day--these are the ones that go first!

This wonderful, light puff pastry is filled with melted Brie cheese. Serve with crackers on the side.

I've always enjoyed hot spinach artichoke dip, but it always struck me as a little oily. I decided to try a mayo-less version, and then raised the stakes even higher by excluding the sour cream as well. To counter this, a bit more cheese was added, and the results were amazing. A rich, creamy, cheesy, not greasy dip.

Didn't have enough Jalapenos to make full out poppers, but improvised for a creamy and spicy appetizer. You'll want to eat them right away, but they will be molten hot so be careful!

As in virtually every other pumpkin dessert, I think using pure canned pumpkin will give you the best results--it has more concentrated flavor than freshly roasted pumpkin. These light, not-too-sweet Italian doughnuts were adapted from a recipe by my old friend, Jennifer Perillo. I usually toss these in cinnamon sugar when they're still slightly warm.

This is the result of trying to duplicate a seafood chain's recipe. Comes close enough, they're gone the minute they hit the table!

Making your own 'fancy' crackers at home is a fairly basic operation, and not only will they be less expensive than store-bought, but you can customize them any way you want. Please pay attention to your baking time.

This is a wonderful cheese ball. It is very easy to make and simply delicious. Whenever I make it for gatherings or work it always gets great reviews. Serve with an assortment of crackers.

The recipe for these spinach and feta appetizer triangles came from a Greek family friend. They may be frozen prior to baking.

Just imagine a cute display of penguins, made with black olives, carrots and cream cheese! You can add scarves and hats by using fresh red pepper strips, or canned pimentos cut into different shapes. Use frilly toothpicks if you can.

I look forward to this simple, traditional cheese ball every year. It has been served during family Christmas Eve parties since before my time. The ingredients are few and inexpensive, and might be made year-round, but I reserve this one special appetizer for the holidays only to maintain its specialness. I love to serve Ritz crackers with the cheese ball to bring out its savory flavor.

Tasty, hot appetizers that take little time to prepare but will impress your guests!

This is a great way to serve a gourmet treat to your guests. Spread it on your favorite crackers, bread, veggies -- whatever you like. It's great inside savory tuile shells.

Any cheese ball is a welcome addition to a holiday party spread, but when you bring one that looks like a pine cone, you're talking about a real showstopper.

This recipe is a favorite at every Christmas party. Note: This recipe freezes well. To serve, defrost and reheat at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes.

My ex-wife Jamie's been making this savory Brie en croute since way back before we were married. I think she must have gotten the idea from a magazine, but I've never seen the recipe... I just wing it. It can be made with either puff pastry sheets (quick and easy) or phyllo sheets (more work, flakier shell). Serve with fancy table crackers or digestive biscuits.

Useful for holding other small snacks or appetizers. Can be made larger by increasing the size of the cheese mound and making the circle larger.

This cheese ball was a big hit at our office Christmas party! I had cream cheese left over and decided to start adding ingredients and it was wonderful!

The requests for this family recipe never stop, so here it is for everybody to enjoy. These cheese balls freeze well for months and make wonderful holiday gifts. To give the balls as gifts: wrap each ball or log individually in festive holiday plastic wrap.

This is a great little entree or appetizer. Ideal for a romantic meal for two!