At Christmas time it’s fun to make food that looks like Christmas decorations! I’m not afraid to admit that I like making things people ooh and aah over. So if you want to get your own oohs and aahs, make one of these babies! There are lots of steps to these amazing trees but the end result is worth it! I got this idea from my sister-in-law who got it from a website called “It’s Always Autumn”, but of course as always I tweaked it quite a bit and made them with 4 ingredients. Here’s what you will need:
A tube of Pillsbury Crescent Dough (Butter Flake)
For Cranberry Tree:
An 8 oz wedge of brie (or moreo
1/2 cup of fresh cranberries
1/3 cup of brown sugar
Opt. 1/3 cup of chopped pecans
For Green Tree:
A cup of frozen chopped spinach
4 oz. of regular cream cheese
1 heaping Tablespoon of Knorr’s vegetable soup mix (anyone from the south knows all about Knorr’s!)
Opt. 2/3 cup of chopped artichoke hearts
Step 1. Pop open and unroll the dough then put it in the freezer for about 10 min.between 2 pieces of parchment paper. (I used wax paper and found out later that I could have burnt the house down! Whew!)
Step 2. While you are chilling the dough make the mixture for the filling.
(For the Cranberry Tree: pulse the cranberries and brown sugar in a food processor until the cranberries are in very small pieces then add the pecan pieces and pulse a tiny bit more.)
(For the Green Tree: Defrost the frozen spinach in the microwave then using a paper towel squeeze it dry. Next soften the cream cheese in the microwave and mix it with the spinach and the Knorr’s.)
Step 3. Remove the dough from the freezer and using your fingers pinch the seams of the dough together. Using a pizza wheel cut the bottom four inches from the rectangle.
Step 4. Next cut out a triangle. This gives you one large triangle and two smaller ones. (See below) Next transfer the smaller triangles to a second piece of parchment paper, placing the straight edges together to make a second large triangle. You then press the two halves together in the middle. (This will be the underside of the tree.) Next use a bit of the extra dough to make a little trunk.
Step 5. Cover the bottom layer with the filling. (For the Cranberry Tree carefully slice off the skin of the brie and melt the brie in the microwave. (At this point you can also stir in a little salt.) Next spread all of the brie on top of the second triangle. You then spread the cranberry mixture on top of the brie layer.)
Step 6. Carefully add the first triangle on top and use a bit more of the extra dough to shape the top trunk.
Step 7. Using the pizza wheel cleanly cut horizontal lines across the tree forming sections about 1 inch thick. Finally twist each section starting from the center outward. (See below)
Step 8. Cover the edges of the tree with foil to prevent them from burning. (See below.)
Step 9. Bake on a cookie sheet in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 22 to 24 minutes removing the foil after 12 to 14 min. When tree is done, move the tree with the parchment paper to a large cutting board or large flat serving platter. Next very carefully slide the tree off the parchment paper. Serve hot.
Looking Back
If you want to do a yummy holiday appetizer but don’t want to go through the trouble of making a Christmas tree try, last year’s Cranberry and Brie!
Funny Story
About a year ago retail stores in California started charging 10 cents for bags. Lots of people put up a fuss about having to pay. When I asked one of the cashiers at Target about the wildest reaction she’d ever seen, she said one man refused to pay for a bag and instead took off his shirt and used it as a sling to hold his stuff. Was he cut? I said. She said, definitely not. He kinda looked like a shirtless Santa Claus.