A Dessert Charcuterie Board are a fun and delicious addition to any party. Using cookies, candy, and other treats they’re always a hit!
Who doesn’t love a good Charcuterie Board?! Charcuterie is cured meat, and charcuterie boards are typically appetizer boards made with these meats, and often accompanied by cheese, crackers, and spreads. It makes for a an easy to prepare appetizer or grazing board for parties.
While these dessert boards are not technically charcuterie boards as they have no meat, they keep with the spirit of traditional charcuterie boards as they are portable, customizable, and typically feature many preserved foods such as cookies, candy, and fruit that are okay to sit out for parties and event.
And, if you want to get technical, you can always include some chocolate covered bacon or mincemeat pies so they include some type of preserved meats, and viola, you have an actual dessert charcuterie board.
Ingredients
There are a few main categories that you’ll find on many boards, but no need to limit yourself! You can customize this dessert themed charcuterie however you want.
Here are some examples of what to include in your dessert charcuterie:
- Dips: Caramel sauce, chocolate ganache, oreo dip, chocolate chip dip, marshmallow fluff, Nutella, really any type of sweet dip goes so well! They’re a perfect pairing to dip cookies or crackers.
- Cookies and Crackers: Cookies and sweet crackers such as graham crackers or animal crackers are a great addition to your grazing board.
- Fruit: Another common ingredient to these boards are fruit. You can use your favorite fruit, seriously they all work. Strawberries, raspberries, peaches, figs, whatever you’d like. And, you can do fresh fruit or dried fruit. Or try chocolate covered fruit such as chocolate covered strawberries, oranges, or blueberries!
- Candy: Gummy candy, sour candies, mints, chocolate-covered pretzels, marshmallows, peanut brittle, or any other small candies can add a pop of color and texture to the board.
- Chocolates: Milk, dark, or white chocolate, truffles, or any other bite-sized chocolates will satisfy your sweet tooth and look pretty on the board.
- Other sweets: Brownie bites, mini cupcakes, macarons, chocolate bark, petite fours, mini tarts, canelé, cream puffs, or any other small or bite size sweets pair perfectly.
- Cheese: While not always included, cheese can be a fun addition to dessert boards. Soft cheeses that pair well with sweet dips are the best, such as a honey goat cheese or brie cheese.
- Nuts: Almonds, cashews, pecans, or any other type of nut that will add crunch and flavor to the board. Even better if they’re candy coated or covered in chocolate!
How to Make
Once you’ve selected and bought the items to include on your dessert charcuterie board, it’s time for the fun part, to start arranging and decorating.
Select a board or platter that is large enough to hold all of your dessert items. Consider the occasion or theme, as well as the number of guests you’ll be serving. There are many unique boards and platters available. Etsy has a nice selection as does Amazon. You can even use a cookie sheet with parchment paper on top.
Step 1: Add Dips and Larger Items
Place the biggest items on the board first, such as your bowls of dip. Then work around the dip bowls with larger items like cheese, brownies, cookies, and bunches of grapes or fruit. Try to create height and depth by layering items on top of each other or close together.
Step 2: Fill in gaps and enjoy!
Fill in the gaps with smaller items like candy, nuts, and chocolates. You can also add any garnishes like edible flowers or fun themed or holiday decorations.
I’ve found that by working larger to smaller, you can more easily move things around and get a visual idea of how the board will look before adding all the smaller candies and treats.
Tips and Tricks
- Consider incorporating some salty or savory snacks, like popcorn, pretzels, or peanut butter to balance out the sweetness of the board.
- I’ve found its better to have a variety of stuff on the board and refill as people eat, rather than put everything out at once.
- For anything that needs to be refrigerated such as dessert dips, you can just add the bowls to the serving platter and then fill the dip right before serving.
Fun Dessert Board Ideas
Here are some of the most common themed dessert charcuterie boards:
- S’mores board: Smores boards are a common and delicious dessert board for roasting marshmallows by a fit pit. All you need is marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers, and anything else you think would go well on a S’more!
- Hot chocolate charcuterie board: Another very common variation on the sweet charcuterie boards are hot chocolate and all the fixings! Add marshmallows, whipped cream, sprinkles, caramel, and chocolate stirrers.
- Fruit charcuterie board: another common sweet charcuterie board is the fruit charcuterie. Just use all your favorite fruit!
When to Serve
These boards are most commonly found on appetizer or dessert tables around holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, New’s Years, and Valentine’s Day.
Any event where there are lots of people is a perfect place for a dessert charcuterie board. And, for holidays it’s really easy to tie in the holiday theme. You can add candy canes and gingerbread for a Christmas dessert board. And red, white, and blue sweets for 4th of July, etc.
You’ll also often see them at events such as baby showers, weddings, birthdays, summer BBQs, football and game days, and Super Bowl parties. That’s because they’re so easy to make, can typically sit out for awhile as people graze, and they’re and super portable. Not to mention, they’re total crowd pleasers and have something everyone will enjoy!
FAQ
You can go to any grocery store for the ingredients, but Trader Joe’s always has fun and unique treats for dessert boards, as does Whole Foods.
If you’re looking for a specific colored treats such as pastels for wedding, Just Candy, Dylan’s Candy Bar, are great, as is Amazon.
It depends how big you make it! Typically a 12 inch round board will be good for about 2-4 people. But, it really depends on what is on the board, what else it is being served with (for example, is it the only dessert or is it part of a larger spread), and who is eating (children, adults, etc.).
I recommend making all the dessert dips and homemade treats in advance, and then assembling the day or right before serving. For the dips and anything else that needs to be refrigerated you can add right before serving.
WANT TO JOIN THE PARTY? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow on Tik Tok, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!
Dessert Charcuterie Board
Equipment
- serving board or platter
- Small Bowls
INGREDIENTS
- Dessert Dips such as Oreo Dip, Ganache, or Caramel
- Cookies and Crackers such as pirouette or wafer cookies or graham crackers, etc.
- Fruit such as strawberries, or grapes, etc.
- Candy such as gummy candies, marshmallows, peanut brittle, jelly beans, chocolate covered pretzels, etc.
- Chocolate such as milk chocolate dark chocolate, truffles, etc.
- Cheese such as goat cheese, brie, etc.
- Bite Size Sweets such as macarons, brownie bites, etc.
Instructions
- Place the biggest items such as your bowls of dip on the board. No need to fill with dips at this time, just move the bowls around for placement ideas.
- Then fill the bowls and starting adding larger items like cheese, brownies, cookies, and fruit. Working from larger items to smaller allows for more easily getting a visual idea of how the board will look.
- Fill in the gaps with smaller items like small candy, nuts, and chocolates. You can also add any garnishes like edible flowers or fun themed or holiday decorations.
- If assembling ahead of time, add any perishable items such as dips and cheese right before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Consider incorporating some salty or savory snacks, like popcorn, pretzels, or peanut butter to balance out the sweetness of the board.
- I’ve found its better to have a variety of stuff on the board and refill as people eat, rather than put everything out at once.
- For anything that needs to be refrigerated such as dessert dips, you can add the bowls to the serving platter and then fill the dip right before serving.
Leave a Reply