Christmas morning is the perfect day for an indulgent breakfast, and this tear & share Nutella Christmas tree is the perfect choice! Its festive, flaky & deliciously sweet!
Christmas morning. The presents are ready to be unwrapped, the chocolate tin’s are already being sneakily opened and the bucks fizz is on the go! So a fancy complicated breakfast is far from anyones mind. Enter; the tear & share Nutella Christmas tree! It’s super simple to make – for the first time on the blog I’m actually advocating store-bought pastry!! And soo tasty. It’s chocolatey, festive, and looks so cute! Oh, and it’s quite literally three ingredients! Four if you include the egg wash glaze..!
Key Ingredients You’ll Need
- Puff Pastry – So yes. Me, a baking blogger, who will always go the extra mile to make something myself, is actually advocating for store-bought puff pastry. On Christmas morning you don’t want to be faffing with turns and rolling – especially in a hot kitchen where Christmas dinner is being prepped! So this time, homemade just isn’t worth it in my opinion! (Though if you want to make it from scratch, of course go for it!)
- Nutella – Nutella is what fills this festive Christmas tree! If you don’t know, Nutella is a chocolate hazelnut spread that is loved by children and adults alike and is perfect for Christmas time. The combination of chocolate and hazelnut is so festive to me…especially if theres caramel involved too! It just reminds me of the purple one!
- Icing Sugar – Once the tree is out of the oven, a liberal dusting of icing sugar is what really makes the tree pop. Not only because it makes the tree look really beautiful, but it also adds a delicious sweetness to the pastry.
How to make a tear & share Nutella Christmas tree
As I said, the tree is so so simple to make and doesn’t need long in the oven either. Equipment wise, you’ll just need a large baking tray and a sharp knife to help. The actual shaping of the tree might look a little intimidating, but I’ve got step-by-step pictures below to help! So you’ll have a beautiful Nutella Christmas tree in no time, that all your family will be clamouring at to eat! Honestly, it smells incredible in the oven and tastes best warm – the best kind of bake!
Assembling the Nutella Christmas tree
The first step is to lay out one of your pre-rolled puff pastry sheets onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Most pre-rolled puff pastry comes already with baking paper, so you can use that for convenience! Then you need to spread the Nutella directly onto the pastry sheet. Take your time with this and be gentle, so you don’t rip the pastry by spreading too harshly. I found a the back of a dessert spoon worked best for this!
Then you can place the other puff pastry sheet directly on top, and then using a sharp knife cut out the outline of a Christmas tree. You don’t need to be too precious about the shape looking perfectly even on both sides, as once its twisted you won’t be able to see it anyway. Then using the same knife, cut horizontal lines on either side of the tree about an inch apart. This creates the branches, so keep them level on either side.
Cut all the way up to the top of the tree on either side, and then you can begin twisting the ‘branches’. Twist the longest branches at least three times, twisting less as you work your way up the tree.
The final step is to make your decorations from the offcuts. I cut out stars, one big for the top of the tree and then smaller stars to go down the tree. If you have bauble cookie cutters you could use those too…or really anything that you’d like on your tree! Then you’re ready to bake!
Baking the tree
The tree only needs 20 minutes in the oven, until its golden brown and crisp at the edges but with the Nutella still ooey and gooey in the middle! It will smell incredible! Honestly, I sort of want to make it again right now just for the smell alone!! The final step though, is to dust with icing sugar when its still warm and then dig in!!
The beauty of the Christmas tree design is that its perfecttttt as a tear & share bake! Everyone can just pull off a branch and dig in. Honestly, in my family we usually have croissants for Christmas morning, but I think this will be on the menu now!
I love how crisp it is on the outside, soft in the middle and the combination of chocolate, hazelnut and sweet icing sugar is so gorgeous.
Tips & Tricks
Yes absolutely! You can assemble the Christmas tree the night before, and pop it in the fridge. Then in the morning, just glaze with the egg wash and pop it straight into the oven!
Yes! I actually considered making this half Nutella, half Biscoff! So you could go full on Biscoff if you wanted. Or maybe even peanut butter!
Yes! This is actually a really simple bake to veganise. Jus-Rol puff pastry sheets are already vegan. And then you could use a vegan alternative to Nutella (or swap to Biscoff!) and then glaze with plant milk instead of egg.
Christmas morning will only be improved by this tear & share Nutella Christmas tree. It’s super simple, can be made-ahead and tastes so delicious! Crisp on the outside, soft on the middle and packed full of gooey Nutella and dusted with sweet icing sugar. Chocolate, nuts, and sugar. Thats what Christmas is for right!?
You can watch my Instagram Reel here, where I show each step!
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Tear & Share Nutella Christmas Tree
Ingredients
- 2 sheets of puff pastry 375g each
- 150 g Nutella spread
- 1 large egg
- icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Firstly, pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas Mark 6 and line a large baking tray with baking paper. Then place one of the pre-rolled puff pastry sheets on top. Then using a dessert spoon, spread the Nutella evenly across the pastry sheet. Then place the remaining puff pastry sheet on top.
- Using a sharp knife, cut out the shape of a Christmas tree – with the largest part of the tree being the width of your pastry sheets. Then using the same knife, cut horizontal lines on either side of the tree about an inch apart. This creates the branches, so keep them level on either side.
- Cut all the way up to the top of the tree on either side, and then begin twisting the 'branches'. Twist the longest branches at least three times, twisting less as you work your way up the tree.
- Finally, cut one large star out of the pastry off-cuts and place it at the top of the tree. Then cut smaller stars from the remaining offcuts and place them all over the tree. Then in a small bowl, whisk the egg briefly with a fork. Then using a pastry brush, glaze over the entire tree.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven, place onto a cooling rack, and dust liberally with icing sugar. Serve warm.
