This Holiday Dessert Cheeseboard is filled with a variety of different cheeses, chocolate, cookies, and holiday themed treats! This is such a perfect spread to put together for guests this holiday season, and it has a little something for everyone! The sweet and savory combination is always such a crowd pleaser!
(This post is sponsored by Chocolove! Thank you so so much for reading and supporting the brands that I love!)
Dessert cheeseboards are just so much fun! They’re one of my favorite ways to entertain because it’s super unique and different, everyone always goes crazy over it, and I’m such a savory/salty person more than I am a sweets person, and this way I can have a little bit of both! Plus, this is pretty much the most festive thing ever and it makes my heart happy. If anything gets me into the Christmas spirit more than I already am, it’s this board!
And trust me, it’s EASY to put together. And most importantly, super fun! It’s something you can have sitting out during a party, or after dinner for a more “snack dessert” idea that people can pick at as they please!
For this, I used a lot of store-bought candies and cookies, but you can certainly fill it in with homemade treats, like these healthy nutella sea salt truffles or these brown butter chocolate cranberry walnut cookies. Both SO good! These stuffed dates would be a delish addition too!
So many options.
To start out, you’ll want to place your cheeses and larger items around the board first. Things like bowls of nuts, bigger candies, chocolate bars, etc. It creates a good foundation to work off of, and you can fill in the gaps with anything and everything you want!
For this board, I used assorted nuts, crackers, fresh cranberries (not for eating but just to make it pretty!), fresh pomegranates, chocolate peppermint covered cookies, gingerbread men cookies, white chocolate peppermint covered pretzels, Chocolove chocolate bars of course, an assortment of Chocolove peanut butter cups, hazelnut butter cups, caramel filled cups, and almond butter cups. And you can find all of their delicious cups here!
I also used some of their amazing candies, like their dark chocolate almond toffee, dark chocolate covered pretzel bites, and dark chocolate salted almonds, which you can find here. They’re all so incredible. And addicting!
I used the red chocolate bars to make the board extra festive for the holidays, but you can totally use whatever you want, and switch it up based on the holiday! This is the Thanksgiving board I made last month!
And for the cheeses, I like to include a variety. I’d say 4-5 cheeses is plenty for a larger crowd, and 3 is great for a smaller get-together.
For this board, I used my favorite cheese ever – the syrah soaked toscano from Trader Joe’s, a manchego (always a crowd pleaser), a delicious cranberry stilton, a cranberry spice spreadable cheese, and a triple creme brie.
With this assortment, you have a little bit of everything, from softer cheeses like the brie and stilton, to the harder toscano and manchego, and then the fun extra – the cranberry and spice. This is a great balance, but you can certainly mix and match with your favorites! There are no rules here!
And how could I possibly forget – glasses or shots of Baileys or Irish cream on the rocks are SO much fun to add to the board.
Another thing I love to add is an assortment of nuts. I used pistachios here because they’re green and festive, but I also included this rosemary sea salt nut mix. I think having a couple of options here is great, and candied nuts would be a delicious addition to go with the sweeter dessert theme too!
To make this extra extra festive, I added mini ornaments, string lights, and some fresh holly. This is completely 100% optional, but totally fun if you have the time!
The most important components are obviously the cheeses (and making sure you have a variety), the Chocolove chocolate of course, cookies, assorted nuts, and whatever other add-ons you want!
There’s really no wrong answer here!
This festive spread just makes me so happy!
If you make it this season, be sure to tag me on Instagram and hashtag #spicesinmydna so I can see all of your beautiful creations! Nothing makes me happier.
Holiday Dessert Cheeseboard
This Holiday Dessert Cheeseboard is filled with a variety of different cheeses, chocolate, cookies, and holiday themed treats! This is such a perfect spread to put together for guests this holiday season, and it has a little something for everyone! The sweet and savory combination is always such a crowd pleaser!
Ingredients
- syrah soaked toscano cheese*
- white stilton with cranberries*
- triple creme brie
- cranberry spice spreadable cheese*
- manchego cheese
- your favorite crackers
- white chocolate peppermint covered pretzels*
- dark chocolate and milk chocolate covered pretzels
- gingerbread men cookies
- chocolate peppermint candies
- any other cookies or holiday treats!
- assorted nuts*
- Chocolove bars
- Chocolove cups
- Chocolove gourmet candy bars
- fresh pomegranates
- fresh cranberries*
- glasses or shots of Bailey's or any Irish cream on the rocks!
Instructions
Start by placing the cheeses on your board, then any bowls of nuts or small plates of cookies, then arrange the crackers, gingerbread men, and chocolate covered pretzels around it, and then fill in with the chocolate bars, chocolate cups, and chocolate candies. Then fill in all of the smaller spaces with the nuts, pomegranate, cranberries, baked treats, glasses of Irish cream, and whatever other add-ons you like!
Recipe Notes
*I find the syrah soaked toscano cheese and white stilton with cranberries at Trader Joe's! Sartori also makes an incredible merlot soaked bellavitano cheese which is very similar and another favorite of mine!
*The cranberry spice cheese is a seasonal cheese made by Boursin - I can find it at the grocery store this time of year only. It's so good!
*I get the white chocolate peppermint covered pretzels from Trader Joe's and same goes for the rosemary sea salt nut mix! Use your favorites here!
*I just use fresh cranberries to fill in gaps and make it pretty - they're too bitter to eat plain, but you could sub sweetened dried cranberries here if you want!
This is really beautiful – thanks for sharing it! Do you have one enormous piece of marble that you put all this on, or do you just lay it all right on the countertop? Thanks again.
Thank you so much! I have a big board that I use for food photography, but sometimes I use a couple larger cheeseboards and put them together! Or, you can totally just put it right on the countertop! Let me know if you try it out!