Hungry Happenings

Green Pesto Crescent Roll Christmas Tree Appetizers

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Add a touch of whimsy to your holiday meal by serving Green Pesto Crescent Roll Christmas Trees instead of dinner rolls. They are fun and easy to make.

Add a touch of whimsy to your holiday meal by serving Green Pesto Crescent Roll Christmas Trees instead of dinner rolls. They are fun and easy to make.

Green Pesto Crescent Roll Christmas Trees 

My most popular project here on Hungry Happenings is my Crescent Roll Carrots and I’ve been thinking a lot about variations of this idea and am finally sharing one today. There are a lot of you who have purchased the cream horn forms to make those carrots, and I thought you’d like another recipe that will put them to use.

I tried to come up with a way of creating a green Christmas tree out of Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough Sheets and didn’t want to just use food coloring. I wanted to create a tree that would taste great all on it’s own, but could be filled too. There were a few failed attempts, but I finally landed on something I think tastes great and looks festive and fun for a Christmas party.Each of the trees pictured above is coated with green pesto and sprinkled with some Parmesan cheese to make them look snow covered. I think the Christmas Tree Appetizers look good just as they are, but it would also be fun to decorate them, if you want to take that kind of time.

For the tree pictured at left, I cut some roasted red peppers into small circles and attached them to one of my trees. I also added a small star to the top, which fell off once baked. This tree was covered in dill, which I thought looked great, but ultimately tasted like you were eating grass on a crescent roll, so I don’t suggest it, but I do love the addition of the red Christmas ornaments.

Green Pesto Crescent Roll Christmas Trees (makes 12-15)

You’ll need:

flour to dust cutting board
|Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough Sheets or puff pastry
about a cup of pesto (store bought or homemade – see recipe below)
2-3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Supplies:

cutting board
pizza wheel or knife
metal cream horn forms
baking sheet lined with parchment paper or non-stick tin foil
tongs

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wrap crescent dough around cream horn forms to make Crescent Roll Christmas Trees.

Dust cutting board liberally with flour. Unroll Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough Sheet onto cutting board. Use a pizza wheel or knife to cut the dough into 3/8 inch wide strips. Wrap one strip around each of your cream horn forms in a spiral.

Brush crescent roll dough with green pesto to make Christmas Tree Rolls.

Set your crescent dough covered cream horn forms on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Liberally brush green pesto all over your crescent roll trees.

Brush crescent roll dough with green pesto to make Christmas Tree Rolls.

Place in a preheated oven and bake for about 8 minutes until the trees get golden brown.

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top of the Green Pesto Crescent Roll Christmas Trees

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle on Parmesan cheese. Return to oven for 30 seconds, just to make sure the cheese melts enough to stick to the trees.

Bake Green Pesto Crescent Roll Christmas Trees on cream horn forms.

While your crescent roll Christmas trees are still hot, remove them from the cream horn forms. Hold the open end of the cream horn mold with tongs. Gently tug on the widest end of the crescent roll tree and slowly pull it off the cream horn mold.

Bake Green Pesto Crescent Roll Christmas Trees on cream horn forms.

Serve your Green Pesto Christmas Tree Appetizers warm or cold. You can bake them ahead of your party and re-heat them before serving.  They taste great all on their own, but if you prefer, you can fill them with something savory, like I did with the crescent roll carrots. I used ham and egg salad for the carrots, but chicken salad or a cheese spread would taste great in these pesto trees.

 

Add a touch of whimsy to your holiday meal by serving Green Pesto Crescent Roll Christmas Trees instead of dinner rolls. They are fun and easy to make.

If you’d like your trees to stand up, you will need to trim the bottoms to level them out. Just cut off any bumps using kitchen shears (scissors.) If any of the trees come apart when you pull them off the cream horn forms, just serve the now spiral tree alongside the whole trees, like I did!

Green Basil Pesto Recipe:

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts (see how to toast nuts here)
4-5 cloves roasted garlic (see directions here) or use 2-3 raw garlic cloves for a sharper flavor
2 1/4 cups packed basil leaves
7 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese or good quality Parmesan

Place the pine nuts, roasted garlic, and basil leaves in a food processor and pulse until the leaves and nuts are chopped. With the food processor running, drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil. Then add the cheese and pulse just to combine.

NOTE: For really bright green pesto – before you begin the pesto recipe, bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop in the basil leaves. Stir for 20-30 seconds. Then immediately remove the basil and place in an ice water bath to cool. Spin dry in a salad spinner then proceed with the recipe above.

Add a touch of whimsy to your holiday meal by serving Green Pesto Crescent Roll Christmas Trees instead of dinner rolls. They are fun and easy to make.

Be sure to check out all my fun Christmas Recipes!

Find over 100 wonderful Christmas Recipes to make cute desserts, festive party food, and homemade gifts at HungryHappenings.com. See step-by-step and video tutorials so you can easily recreate all the fun food crafts, sweet treats, and savory appetizers at home.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  19. dragonswing

    Thank you for such a creative idea. I had not seen the carrots before. And thanks for the pesto recipe. Can't wait to try it.

    Reply

  27. Amy

    What a creative treat! I have those cream horn molds. I'm gonna give this a try. 🙂 Love this Olive Oil giveaway.

    amy [at] utry [dot] it

    Reply

  31. mlaiuppa

    I'm up for anything pesto and those are darling. But I'll skip the Pillsbury crescent rolls and go directly to the puff pastry. I've been wanting an excuse to buy cream horn molds. I already have cannoli tubes.

    Reply

  51. Chris Coyle

    What a cute idea! I was planning to bake some dill rolls or some other bread to go with dinner, but I might have to try a version of this now if I can rig something to use for the cones.

    Reply

    • Beth Jackson Klosterboer

      Congratulations Carole, you have won the Extra Virgin Olive Oil from The Virgin Press. Merry Christmas. Please send your mailing information to beth@hungryhappenings.com and I'll forward it on to the company.

      Reply

  62. ELNM

    I love using olive oil and I do make pesto, so this would be a fantastic prize – thanks for the chance!
    ellen(at)myerly(dot)net

    Reply

  63. bakerunlive.com

    The trees are such a cute idea and would great on the dinner table on Christmas!
    I have never seen olive oil in a box.

    Reply

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