How to Make an Easter Charcuterie Board This Year

Charcuterie boards are the perfect addition to any gathering—Easter included! While there are many different charcuterie board ideas to pull from for the springy holiday, we wanted to make a candy-filled spread that reminded us of an Easter basket: complete with Easter grass, jelly beans and even a chocolate bunny. Here’s how to make a colorful Easter charcuterie board filled with everyone’s favorite holiday sweets.

How to Make an Easter Charcuterie Board

Foods to include

jenifoto/Getty Images

Bunny-shaped items: It was only natural to use a chocolate bunny as one of the focal centerpieces of the Easter candy board. We also worked in plenty of other bunny shapes by using store-bought items like Peeps and bunny-shaped graham crackers.

Jelly beans: It’s not Easter without jelly beans! We included two kinds to make sure we had enough to go around.

Chocolates: Since there are lots of different ways to wrap chocolate, we were able to use several kinds to add both color and seasonal shapes. Pink Hershey kisses and blue eggs add a shiny version of the pastel pinks and blues that are so prevalent around Easter time. We picked up some chocolates wrapped to look like carrots, and a bag of spring-colored M&M’s and picked out the light blue candies (although you could opt for the yellow, purple or green in their place).

Homemade treats: We made one homemade treat: pinwheel mints. We love them for their on-theme colors and the fun spiral on each of them.

Other candies: Thanks to the help of Easter grass bubble gum, we were able to shape a makeshift “bird’s nest” perfect for holding Whoppers robin eggs. Colorful white chocolate covered almonds (we used the Favorite Day shimmer pastel almond blend at Target) are also egg-shaped sweets that add some crunch to the board.

How to Build an Easter Charcuterie Board

TMB studio

We picked a charcuterie board that has a lip and handles so that we could easily fill it with Easter grass and not have to worry about any of the candies spilling off the sides.

Step 1: Fill the charcuterie board with Easter grass

We wanted our Easter “charcuterie” board to feel like an Easter basket, so we began by covering the entire bottom of the board with Easter grass.

Step 2: Make the nest and place the chocolate bunny

After you’ve nestled the Easter grass evenly, make a makeshift “nest” of the Easter grass bubble gum. We placed it in the middle of the board, off to the left.

We also placed the chocolate bunny in the middle, but closer to the right side of the board. Placing these two unique items that draw your focus on the same latitude keeps the board feeling balanced.

Step 3: Grab the cookie cutters

Time to pull out the Easter baking gear! Using cookie cutters is a creative way to hold candies that would normally need a bowl, like M&M’s and jelly beans.

We grabbed cookie cutters shaped like a bunny and a chick, but you can use whatever Easter-themed cookie cutters you like—such as carrots, eggs or sheep. After you’ve decided, put them almost in the center of the board, above and below the chocolate bunny. It’s nice to have them tilted instead of perfectly straight. Aesthetically, it looks nicer—and that way, you don’t have to worry about perfect proportions or orientation for the other candy groupings on the board.

Step 4: Place your Peeps and pinwheel mints

Arrange two rows of four bunny-shaped Peeps in the upper left hand corner of the board.

In the bottom left hand corner, arrange a row of chick-shaped Peeps. Just above the row of chicks, lay out two rows of the pinwheel mints. The Peeps and the mints should be just touching the chick-shaped cookie cutter.

On the right side of the board, starting at the upper corner, make two long lines of pinwheel mints nestling up against the right side of the chocolate bunny.

Step 5: Fill in the edges of the board

TMB studio

Below the chick-shaped cookie cutter, place a few blue chocolate eggs. In the bottom right-hand corner, nestle in some jelly beans between the eggs and the pinwheel mints.

Between the nest and the bunny-shaped Peeps, pour in a handful of bunny-shaped graham crackers. Between the Peeps and the pinwheel mints, fill in some colorful chocolate-covered almonds.

Step 6: Fill in the gaps

After you have a border going around the outside of the board, you should have some empty space surrounding the chocolate bunny. Tuck in some carrot-looking chocolates and the pink Hershey kisses.

Step 7: Put the finishing touches on the Easter board

Place the Whopper robin eggs on top of the bubble gum to make it look like a bird’s nest. Then, fill in the cookie cutters with jelly beans and the blue M&Ms.

Step 8: Serve

If you want to make this Easter charcuterie board fit into a spread of other Easter-themed treats, nestle it on top of some more Easter grass, tucking some plastic eggs, extra jelly beans, M&M’s and other Easter candies around the edges. Your crew won’t be able to resist grazing all day long—although it may be hard to convince them to get started simply because the board is so pretty!

Other Easter Charcuterie Board Ideas

TMB STUDIO

If you’re interested in riffing to make your own Easter charcuterie board, here are some ideas for other festive spreads.

• Traditional charcuterie board: Our guide to how to make a charcuterie board gives you all the tips and tricks you’ll need to arrange your choice of upscale meats, cheeses, crackers and fruits. Keep it springy by using seasonal spring produce like asparagus and radishes. Our crudités platter can help you with some visual inspiration.
• Easter dessert board: Our board includes mostly Easter candy, but there are plenty of other Easter desserts to include, such as decorated Easter cookies, Easter cupcakes and Easter chocolates that would be just as sweet.
• Bunny-shaped board: Grab a few wheels of cheese to craft a bunny shape, and arrange fruit, cheese, meat and crackers around it. Or, use a bunny-shaped cookie cutter and cut into a wheel of cheese and fill in the gap with the homemade jam or jelly of your choice.