Goat Cheese, Pesto and Cranberry Christmas Trees

By Aileen Cox Blundell

One of the best Christmas finger foods for baby led weaning ever! These Goat Cheese, Pesto and Cranberry Christmas Trees are so delicious and so easy to make. These tiny savoury Christmas trees just might become a meal time best-friend. I know my son Oscar absolutely loved these!

Christmas Finger Foods for baby led weaning

As one of the best finger foods for baby led weaning, these pastries are a great first food for babies. And everyone else seems to love them, too! We still toss these Christmas tree pastries on a plate for munchies around holiday time and really, the whole family likes them.

It can make your life so much easier- and theirs more fun!- to give your child foods they can handle well themselves. Baby finger foods are a win-win.

The beauty with this recipe is that you can also alter the shape of the pastry to suit any occasion to keep toddlers entertained. With a small tweak, these pastries could also be pumpkins at Halloween or bunny rabbits on Easter, geometric shapes, the choices are really endless.

This recipe is relatively simple, but it has many facets and textures. The dried cranberries give this Christmas finger food a special zing that really pairs well with the smooth, earthy texture of the goat cheese. Alongside this, you have the savory pesto and all that flavor coming from the garlic–yummm! It’s a delicious combo!

Another thing that I love about this finger food is that it allows your child to take in so many vitamins and minerals without even blinking an eye. Parental win! The cranberries are packed with vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin K, manganese, B-vitamins, and a whole lot of other goodies like antioxidants and fiber. I like to think of the pumpkin seeds as tiny powerhouses. These are an excellent source of healing nutrition. You’ve got zinc, magnesium, iron, potassium, and copper, among other benefits, all rolled into one in pumpkin seeds.

And then there’s the amazing wonder of garlic! Who can pass that up. Garlic is a known superfood with medicinal properties that lower inflammation. It also improves balanced eating, lower blood lipids, reduce cardiovascular disease, and so much more. 

Finally, there’s the goat cheese. Goat cheese is considered more nutritionally dense than cheese made from cow’s milk. It provides your toddler with healthy bacteria and the calcium they need for strong bones. Goat cheese can also act like a probiotic that colonizes the intestines. It also eases digestion helping them deal with any increased gas associated with eating more solid foods.

How to make this baby Christmas finger foods

But back to the fun! Did I mention how cute these pastries are? They’re also perfect as a Christmas finger foods for parties.

To get started, preheat your oven to 180ºC.

While your dough is chilling, next make the pesto! Grab your pumpkin seeds, basil, garlic, olive oil, and parmesan and get set. Grind all this goodness with a pestle and mortar for a while until it develops into a smooth sauce.

When your pastry is ready, take it out of the fridge and roll it into a nicely-sized rectangle. I like to do this right on the baking sheet, to avoid having things fall apart when transferring them.

Now, the goat cheese comes in. Spread your cheese out over your entire pastry. Yum! Next, add your pesto on top in a smooth layer. Cut your pastry lengthwise into strips that are about 2 cm wide. Then decorate them with your cranberries for a festive touch. (You can sprinkle these over the pastry sparsely).

Finally, the artistry begins. Don’t worry if your branches don’t look exactly perfect! Toddlers are pretty lenient judges, in my experience. They’re imaginations are so wild they totally get it if the lines aren’t entirely straight or beautifully curved.

Cut branches into the sides of your tree while leaving a space down the middle of the pastry. Twist the branches away from you, starting at the bottom of the tree and moving upwards.

Once you’re done, brush the whole pastry with a beaten egg to give your treat a glossy, golden brown finish. Pierce your tree with a skewer to hold its shape. Bake, let cool, and enjoy! You can serve the trees by themselves or with warm, leftover pesto on the side.

Your toddler is sure to love this Christmas finger food that’s perfect for weaning! Finger foods for toddlers can be enjoyable to make and to watch your child eat. This recipe is a great way to introduce your child gradually to new tastes and flavors. It’s healthy baby finger food at it’s best. Happy Holidays!

Goat Cheese, Pesto and Cranberry Christmas Trees

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Prep: 30 minutes minutes

Cook: 25 minutes minutes

Total: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 12

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One of the best Christmas finger foods for baby led weaning ever! These Goat Cheese, Pesto and Cranberry Christmas Trees are so festive!

Ingredients

• 1 pack pre-made pastry
• ½ cup basil leaves
• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
• ½ clove garlic
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 40 g grated parmasan
• 100 g smooth goat cheese
• ½ cup dried cranberries finely chopped
• 12 skewers pre-soaked in water to prevent burning

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Method

• Pre-heat oven to 180ºC.
• Make the pesto by adding all of the pesto ingredients to a pestle and mortar and grind until it forms into a smooth sauce.
• When ready to assemble, roll out the pastry into a rectangle. Spread the goat cheese over the entire pastry, then add a layer of pesto.
• Cut the pastry into strips length ways roughly 2cm wide, then sprinkle over a sparse layer of cranberries.
• Fold the pastry strips like an accordion, making the bottom wider and getting smaller as you fold. Pierce with a skewer so they hold their shape.
• Bake for 20 minutes until golden. 
• Serve warm with the leftover pesto on the side.

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