35 Christmas Tea Party Recipes
Host a festive Christmas tea party during the holiday season with these simple recipes for afternoon tea. A mix of homemade treats and store bought goodies keeps things elegant and easy.
One of the prettiest events you can host during the holiday season is a Christmas tea party. There's just something extra magical about inviting your friends to connect and slow down during the middle of the holiday rush.
Imagine your cozy table, steaming pots of tea, and a chance to catch up before the season sweeps you all away!
A Christmas tea party also makes a stunning backdrop for bigger celebrations like a Christmas wedding shower, the welcoming of a December baby shower, or spoiling your church ladies' groups during Advent.
Whether you're planning something small and intimate or need to scale these recipes for a party with more sparkle, these festive tea party treats will help you set a beautiful table filled to the brim with delicious pastries everyone will love.
Cute Holiday Serving Pieces for Tea Time
To make your Christmas tea party extra special, you'll want to have a few festive pieces for setting your table.
- A Christmas Tea Pot
- Christmas Tea Cups & Saucers
- Sugar Bowl & Creamer
- Tea Spoons
I've been collecting my holiday tea serving pieces over the last few years. I'm a huge fan of the Lenox Holiday Christmas china pattern so I've been adding things that coordinate with it for my table.
This year's new Christmas train serving piece is just perfect for holding sugar cubes, tea bags, small cookies, lemon wedges, or other tea time goodies. It coordinates perfectly with their Spice Village set, if you're a fan of that, too.
Thank you so much to Lenox for sending me one so I could share it with you.
Tea for a Tea Party
Step 1: Learn how to brew the perfect tea for a tea party. You don't want to be making just one cup at a time, dig out that pretty tea pot and put it to work!
Condiments for Tea
The obvious choice for a Christmas tea party would be to brew your favorite holiday tea.
Several major tea brands offer a Christmas season variety, I've loved the ones by Harney & Sons, Whittard, and The Republic of Tea.
Then be sure to offer:
- Cream Pitcher: Filled with milk or cream
- Sugar Bowl: Filled with sugar cubes
- Honey
- Fresh Lemon Slices
- Mini Candy Canes
Afternoon Tea vs. Cream Tea
A traditional afternoon tea in London is served with a pot of tea and a tiered tower of treats with layers of savory sandwiches, scones, and small desserts including whole slices of cake or bite-sized tarts. It is really a lot of food!
A cream tea is a much lighter tea party that focuses on the pot of tea served alongside a few lighter pastries, like scones or cookies, with butter and jam.
I think a cream tea is perfect for a Christmas tea party so your friends and family don't fill up while making the rounds during the season. It could be enjoyed in the morning, afternoon, or even after dinner depending on the pastries you serve.
However, if you want to serve a full blown afternoon tea party for Christmas, I suggest you check out my 75 tea party recipes for additional ideas for finger sandwiches, etc. to fully round out your menu.
Christmas Breads and Pastries
If you're hosting a morning tea, you'll want to focus on breakfast pastries like sweet buns, muffins, and quick breads.
German Stollen Buns
This classic German stollen buns recipe is a sweet and festive option for the holiday season. Studded with candied fruits and a not-too-sweet dough, they pair perfectly with tea.
Gingerbread Bread
You can use slices of this easy bread machine gingerbread bread to make Christmas tea party finger sandwiches filled with sweetened cream cheese.
German Christmas Bread
This easy bread machine recipe for German Christmas bread has dried fruits as well but is in an easily sliceable loaf.
Almond Poppy Seed Bread
Almond poppy seed bread is an excellent Christmas season bread. It pairs really well with lemon, chocolate, and a variety of fruit jams.
Cranberry Bread
Sparkly sugar dusted cranberry bread is the perfect choice for a holiday season tea party paired with a Christmas tea.
Pumpkin Bread
Try adding dried cranberries or white chocolate chips to my pumpkin bread recipe to make it extra special.
Mini Bagels and Sweet Cheese Ball
Make my easy chocolate chip cheese ball and buy smaller bite-sized bagels from the bakery.
Tea Scones
I think a scone is the perfect pastry for a tea party because they are so easy to make, aren't overly sweet, and have that elegant feel about them when served with butters and jams.
Chocolate Chip Scones
Easy chocolate chip scones are perfect for a Christmas tea as either a breakfast pastry or an after-dinner dessert.
They can be made in small bite-sized rounds. Just adjust how you assemble them before baking!
Lemon Scones
I think my lemon scones with poppy seeds and a sugary topping are actually perfect for the Christmas season as an accent to all the rich chocolate treats that are usually offered.
Blueberry Scones
I make my blueberry scones with dried blueberries, this would be an easy recipe to use and just swap dried currants or other dried fruits you love.
Almond Cherry Scones
I used a cookie cutter to shape my almond cherry scones in a heart shape. You could bake these for a "Grinch" themed tea party and add red crystal sugar to the drizzled glaze before it sets.
Easy Cruffins
A swirl of puff pastry coated in cinnamon sugar, these easy cruffins are an elegant but easy addition to your tea tray.
Mock Clotted Cream
My mock clotted cream is an easy prep recipe that mimics the traditional clotted cream they serve in the British tea houses with trays of scones.
It is like a lighter, sweeter, whipped butter that adds the perfect richness to a subtle scone.
Strawberry Jam
Traditional English teas usually ofter a variety of jams to go with the scones. I love my easy strawberry freezer jam since it is a little thinner than store bought jams and easier to spread.
Lemon Curd
In addition to the mock clotted cream, bright and sunny lemon curd is an excellent partner to many of the scone recipes mentioned.
Christmas Tea Party Desserts
If you prefer to focus on cookies and desserts for your cream tea, the Christmas season has tons of delicious options that would pair well for your menu.
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Irish Shortbread Cookies
Skip the tins of shortbread cookies from the store and bake up a batch of my easy Irish shortbread cookies. They can be made in advance and they will utterly ruin you for the dry packaged alternative.
Swedish Chocolate Balls
Last Christmas, my girls and I fell in love with these rich and fudgy Swedish chocolate balls. They are a traditional Swedish tea time treat for excellent reason.
Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars
My Christmas sugar cookie bars could be sliced in generous squares or bite-sized finger shapes for a tea party.
Easy Chocolate Croissants
With just 3 ingredients you can have the most darling twee chocolate croissants for your treat tower.
Fantasy Fudge
Small squares of fudge are a popular Christmas treat, your friends would love a bite of this original Fantasy fudge.
Frosted Sugar Cookies
Frosted sugar cookies are another easy recipe for color-matching your holiday party theme. They could go red and green for Christmas or a stunning wintery white and silver.
Double Vanilla Cookies
More than just a sugar cookie, these double vanilla cookies have both vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste with a hint of orange that makes them perfect to pair with a holiday tea.
Saltine Cracker Toffee
During the holidays when time is short, you can whip up a batch of saltine cracker toffee in no time and keep it in an airtight container for tea time.
Gingerbread Cookies
For the holidays, use mini cookie cutters in the guest of honor's initials and make cut out gingerbread cookies.
Mint Oreo Truffles
With or without the festive sprinkles, friends always love my easy mint OREO truffles!
Peppermint Patty Brownies
Rich and fudgy peppermint patty brownies add a lovely boost of mint to the tea experience.
Festive M&M Cookies
These delicious Christmas M&M cookies are always a fun treat at the holidays.
Lemon Doodles
Bright and zesty lemon doodles are a spin on holiday snickerdoodles and are a fun and zesty alternative!
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
With a spicy kick of cayenne, these Mexican hot chocolate cookies would look perfect on your tea tray and add a boost of festive spice.
Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
These iced lemon poppy seed cookies have a fresh lemon glaze drizzled on top.
Cranberry Bliss Bars
Want a copycat Starbucks treat? Try my easy cranberry bliss bars during the wintertime.
Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies
Scoop these pumpkin butterscotch cookies with a smaller spoon and you'll get plenty of bite-sized cookies for your dessert tier.
Pecan Pie Bars
Slice these shortbread pecan pie bars into bite-sized squares.
Almond Cake
If you want to offer a more traditional cake slice for tea, this easy almond cake is baked on a sheet pan and could be sliced into small squares for feeding a crowd. I top mine with almond icing and then fresh berries for color but you could leave it a plain and elegant white if you prefer.
Treacle Tart
A super-traditional English dessert, this easy treacle tart also happens to be one of my husband's favorites!
Mini Cupcakes with Vanilla Glaze
Another cute way to serve cake for tea time would be to bake a boxed cake mix into mini cupcakes and use my easy vanilla glaze to ice them and coat in color-coordinated sprinkles for your party.
More Christmas Party Ideas
Looking for more fun and fresh party ideas for your next special event? Here are a few of my favorites:
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