Watermelon Christmas trees are the perfect way to add festive fun to snack time! Try this watermelon cutting hack to create fun watermelon trees for a healthy treat or snack. Kids can have fun decorating their own trees to celebrate the holiday season! {Gluten-free & vegetarian}
Watermelon Christmas Trees – A Healthy Christmas Snack!
Looking for a fun and festive way to serve up fruit over the holiday season? Look no further than these Watermelon Christmas trees! They’re a healthy snack for all ages and so quick and easy to prepare.
Making snack time fun is a great way to introduce a variety of foods and flavours to children and encourage them to try something new. I guarantee that your kids will love this watermelon cutting hack that results in such a fun and refreshing snack.
Not to mention, juicy watermelon is a great way to get more fluid into your diet. Hydration is especially important during the cold winter months when we tend to be indoors in dry environments.
Christmas watermelon trees will not only quench your thirst and provide a satisfying snack, they’ll also bring some extra holiday cheer!
For more easy Christmas fruit ideas, check out this Fruit Christmas Tree and Christmas Fruit Wreath!
Why We Love These Watermelon Trees
- Healthy: Watermelon has high water content, few calories and lots of Vitamin C. Vitamin C aids in iron absorption and is crucial to support our immune system. Greek yogurt adds an extra healthy little twist by providing a dose of protein and calcium for one power-packed snack or treat.
- Festive: This easy watermelon cutting hack creates the cutest little watermelon Christmas trees. A few simple cuts take watermelon slices from plain and ordinary to super fun and festive.
- Easy: Making this snack couldn’t be easier, since no special cutters are required! Simply use a knife to cut your watermelon slice and cut the “stem” to form a Christmas tree shape.
- Kid-friendly: Not only is this a great recipe to get your kids involved with, but the Christmas trees also make eating fruit fun!
Ingredient Notes
- Watermelon: Large or small watermelons can be used. Look for a watermelon uniform in size, with an orange field spot and a dark and dull sheen for the tastiest watermelon.
- Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt is piped onto the watermelon trees to form decorations. We used 2% since it’s a little bit thicker than fat-free, so it has greater staying power.
Step by Step Instructions
How to Cut Watermelon Triangles
- On a stable surface, use a large sharp knife to cut your watermelon in half widthwise.
- Place the watermelon half on its side and cut a 1-inch thick slice of watermelon from each half. You should have two thick watermelon slices.
- Lay each circular piece on a cutting board and cut it into 6 or 8 equal slices depending on how big your watermelon is.
How to Make Watermelon Christmas Trees
- To make the watermelon slices into Christmas trees, cut off the outer edge of the rind, leaving a 1-inch piece of rind for the “stem” at the bottom of the Christmas trees.
- Pat each piece of watermelon dry before decorating it with Greek yogurt.
- Using a piping bag with a fine tip or a plastic bag (with a small hole cut out of the corner) filled with Greek yogurt, pipe decorations onto the watermelon trees.
Keep scrolling to the recipe card below for the full printable recipe!
Recipe Tips:
- You can use a large or small watermelon for this recipe. The small watermelon will make about 12 trees, while the large one will make about 16. I used a small watermelon in the pictures since I was having trouble finding a large watermelon in the winter months.
- Make sure that you cut the watermelon slices thick enough so that the base of the Christmas tree is strong enough to stand up on its own. If the tree trunk is too thin, it will topple over.
- Be sure to pat the watermelon flesh dry with paper towel before decorating with the yogurt to help prevent the yogurt from sliding off the watermelon. This is especially important if your watermelon is extra juicy.
- Use Greek yogurt rather than regular yogurt. Greek yogurt is nice and thick which helps it better stick to the trees, while regular yogurt would be too runny. I like to use 2% since it’s thicker and creamier than fat-free.
- If you plan to serve these trees standing upright in a vertical position, you may wish to place the decorated trees in the freezer on a tray for 10-20 minutes to help the yogurt solidify a bit and prevent it from sliding off the trees.
- You can also use a Christmas tree cookie cutter to cut trees out of just the red part of the fruit if you don’t want to cut the rind. Depending on the type of cutter you use, it may not be strong enough to cut through the rind, but you can always try if you wish!
Recipe FAQs
Watermelons are available year round. However, depending on where you live, large watermelons may only be available in the warmer months. Smaller watermelons tend to be available year round and can usually be found in the produce department of your local grocery store.
To ensure a watermelon is ripe look for these signs:
-Uniform in size and heavy
-Orange field spot, not white
-Dark and dull looking, not shiny
An uncut watermelon is good for two weeks at room temperature. After cutting, watermelons are typically good for 3 to 5 days in the fridge.
How to Store Cut Watermelon Pieces
Cut watermelon pieces should be stored in the fridge in a sealed airtight container. A larger piece of cut watermelon should be stored in the fridge with a piece of plastic wrapped tightly around it.
If storing the watermelon Christmas trees already decorated, be sure to store them in a single layer and not stacked so that the “decorations” don’t get smeared around.
Decorating Ideas
There are so many ways to spruce up these cute little trees!
- Use a small star cookie cutter to cut a star out of pineapple or honey melon and poke it into the top of each tree with a toothpick.
- Decorate with blueberries or pomegranate seeds stuck to the Greek yogurt. Freeze for 2 hours to help the fruit stick.
- Top the yogurt decorations with some green and red sprinkles for extra fun Christmas colour.
- Line up the trees on a tray and spell out “Merry Christmas” with yogurt.
- For a savoury spin, decorate watermelon trees with finely diced cucumber, red onion, mint, cilantro and feta, drizzle with lime juice.
Serving Suggestions
Watermelon Christmas trees are a healthy snack for after school or a fun treat to serve up on or leading up to Christmas day!
For extra goodness, serve with Yogurt Fruit Dip or along with other Christmas goodies like:
- Chocolate Covered Pecans
- 3-Ingredient Almond Flour Cookies
- Christmas Fudge
- Healthy Shortbread Cookies
- 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Trifle Recipe with Custard
Recipe Variations
- Add decorations: Decorate the watermelon trees with dried fruit, nuts or seeds.
- For a snowy look: Sprinkle coconut flakes to add a snow effect to the watermelon trees.
- To make dairy-free: Use a plant-based Greek yogurt.
- Instead of Greek yogurt: Drizzle on melted chocolate.
- Make Christmas trees out of different fruits: The fun doesn’t have to stop with watermelons. Try kiwi slices or grapes arranged as a tree with a watermelon star!
More Festive Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Scroll down to leave a star rating and review!
Watermelon Christmas Trees
Ingredients
- 2 circular watermelon slices (can use a large or small watermelon)
- 1/2-3/4 cup 2% plain Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Using a sharp knife, cut a large or small watermelon in half widthwise. Next, place the halved watermelon on its side and cut a 1-inch thick circular slice from each half.
- Lay each circular slice on a cutting board and cut into six equal-sized pieces for a small watermelon, or eight pieces for a large watermelon.
- To make each slice into the shape of a Christmas tree, cut off the outer edges of the watermelon rind, leaving a 1-inch “stem” for each Christmas tree. You may wish to cut the very bottom of the stem to make it flat so that it can stand up. Pat each of the watermelon trees with paper towel to soak up excess moisture.
- Next, fill a piping bag with a fine tip or a plastic bag with the Greek yogurt. If using the bag, cut a very small hole at the tip of one of the corners.
- Pipe the Greek yogurt onto each of the watermelon Christmas trees to form the “decorations.” You can do dots, squiggly lines, zigzags or desired decor.
- Place flat or standing upright on a serving tray. Serve immediately or chill for later.
Notes
- You can use a large or small watermelon for this recipe. The small watermelon will make about 12 trees, while the large one will make about 16. I used a small watermelon in the pictures since I was having trouble finding a large watermelon in the winter months.
- Make sure that you cut the watermelon slices thick enough so that the base of the Christmas tree is strong enough to stand up on its own. If the tree trunk is too thin, it will topple over.
- Be sure to pat the watermelon flesh dry with paper towel before decorating with the yogurt to help prevent the yogurt from sliding off the watermelon. This is especially important if your watermelon is extra juicy.
- Use Greek yogurt rather than regular yogurt. Greek yogurt is nice and thick which helps it better stick to the trees, while regular yogurt would be too runny. I like to use 2% since it’s thicker and creamier than fat-free.
- If you plan to serve these trees standing upright in a vertical position, you may wish to place the decorated trees in the freezer on a tray for 10-20 minutes to help the yogurt solidify a bit and prevent it from sliding off the trees.
- You can also use a Christmas tree cookie cutter to cut trees out of just the red part of the fruit if you don’t want to cut the rind. Depending on the type of cutter you use, it may not be strong enough to cut through the rind, but you can always try if you wish!
Leave A Review: