Holiday Italian Herb Crescent Christmas Trees

GrandmaG's Note:

Posted per request. Great Christmas appetizer! From the Pillsbury Crescent Special Edition cook book. How ever I did replace the 1/2 cup chive - and - onion potato topper with 1/2 cup of my prepared Chive and Garlic Dip Mix. This dip has a better flavor than the potato topper. Recipe makes two trees. Prep time about an hour, decorating time...well thats up to you! I would love to see several pictures of this one, as it can be decorated several ways.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 32

Yield: 2.0 trees

• 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup prepared sour cream and chive dip (I use recipe 101256)
• 10 medium cherry tomatoes, sliced into 30 slices
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. Unroll cans of dough and separate into 4 long rectangles; firmly press perforations together.
3. Sprinkle each rectangle with 1 tablespoon cheese and 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning.
4. Starting with one short side, roll up each rectangle, forming 4 rolls (like a jelly roll).
5. With serrated knife, cut each roll into 8 slices (now they look like pinwheels).
6. To form 1 tree, on cookie sheet, (I line mine with parchment paper it's easier to move trees to cool and to final decorating plate), Place 1 slice, cut side down, for top of tree.
7. Arrange 2 slices below, sides touching.
8. Continue arranging rows of 3, 4, and 5 slices.
9. Use remaining slice for trunk.
10. Bake first tree 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Cool 5 minutes on wire rack.
12. Repeat for 2nd tree on another cool cookie sheet.
13. Place trees on serving platter.
14. If you do not have a decorators bag and tip, spoon the dip into a zip lock bag.
15. Cut 1/4 inch hole in bottom corner of bag; and pipe over tree like garland, and a dollop of dip in on each pinwheel except trunk.
16. Place tomato slice on each pinwheel except top and bottom ones.
17. With 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch star shaped cutter, cut 2 stars from yellow bell pepper; place one on top of each tree.
18. Chop remaining bell pepper; sprinkle over trees.
19. Sprinkle with parsley.
20. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until serving time.

Reviews

[LilPinkieJ]

I made this for my MIL and SIL when we were busy making their Christmas trays. They loved it so much and it was great for getting us in a festive mood after slaving away in the kitchen all morning. I made my own onion dip to use. I like that the bread was flavored, otherwise it would be a bit bland tasting. I think next time I make this, I will use freshly shredded or shaved Parmesan cheese for even more flavor. Made and Reviewed for Zaar Cookbooks Tag - Thanks much! :)

[Bri22]

This was visually a great snack. I made it for a Cristmas eve party, but it wasn't amazing as far as tatse goes. It wasn't bad, but didn't have much flavor. I might try to think of different decorations for the trees to enhance the flavor, because it was too darn cute to give up on! Thank you!

[~cbw~]

Great recipe! So easy to put together and so cute. I had lots of compliments on this one! I did have to make a few changes though. I made my star out of cheese and used a green pepper to garnish the tree due to the high cost of yellow peppers in my area. Thanks for posting, GrandmaG!