13 Finger Foods To Pass At Your Holiday Party

We like a chips-and-dip as much as the next guy, but this type of appetizer has one fatal flaw at large parties — people tend to crowd around the bowl. Keep your party guests circulating with easy-to-grab one- or two-bite appetizers you can serve on trays or distribute around the room.

Keep the flavors fresh and seasonal, and offer a variety of snacks from tartlets, mini crab cakes, or spiced nuts that will both keep your guests occupied and keep the hunger pangs at bay while you prep the main course or mix the drinks.

We've rounded up 13 recipes that are sure to be hits at your next holiday party that include only the best ingredients from sweet lump crab meat to salty bacon, and more.

These treats are both savory and sweet. They can be served as appetizers or snacks. — Taste of Home

For the Apple-Nut Blue Cheese Tartlets recipe, click here.

Everything is better with bacon. It's the undeniable truth, and asparagus is no exception. Aside from serving this as a lovely dinner party appetizer, these flavorful spears make a great side for a regular weeknight meal. You can knock these bad boys out in less than 30 minutes, and prepare a main course while they kick it in the oven. — Nina Fomufod

For the Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus recipe, click here.

Say that one five times fast. To make one of our favorite bite-sized treats even better, we added some crème fraîche to the mix to make them look like cute little Santa hats. — Anne Dolce

For the Bacon-Wrapped Dates recipe, click here.

These tiny, savory blini (Russian pancakes) are topped with sour cream, salmon, and fresh herbs. Olga, at Olga's Flavor Factory, suggests topping off the blini with caviar for an even more traditional approach. — Joanna Fantozzi

For the Blini with Smoked Salmon recipe, click here.

An easy appetizer that is delicious during the holidays, but full of fresh flavors that are also wonderful at other times of the year. While blinis are typically made with white or buckwheat flour, these blinis call for blue corn flour for a more Texan flair. — Rebecca Rather

For the Blue Corn Blinis with Crab and Avocado Crema recipe, click here.

These latkes are easy to make, have a beautiful orange color from the butternut squash, and just a hint of sweetness from the maple syrup-spiked mascarpone.

For the Butternut Squash and Sage Latkes with Maple Mascarpone recipe, click here.

These addicting, savory little biscuits are made in classic form at the Red Truck Bakery in Virginia by chef Brian Noyes. With a pairing of cheese and red pepper flakes, these snacks are at once spicy, cheesy, and all together impossible to put down. — Brian Noyes

For the Red Truck Bakery's Cheese Straw recipe, click here.

This healthy mix of spiced nuts is the perfect way to keep guests occupied while you put the finishing touches on dinner. This recipe calls for a mix of pine nuts, pecans, almonds, macadamia nuts, and cashews, but feel free to change it up to suit your tastes.

For the Cinnamon Spiced Nuts recipe, click here.

Use fresh butternut squash that is readily available in the fall at grocery stores and farmers markets alike to accompany the smoky bacon and the mouth-puckering bitter greens for a balanced pre-dinner bite.

For the Crostini with Butternut Squash, Applewood-Smoked Bacon, and Bitter Greens recipe, click here.

Looking for an elegant yet easy appetizer for your next cocktail party? These gorgonzola-fig tarts are the perfect combination of savory and sweet, and are easy to make using refrigerated pie crust. — Pillsbury

For the Gorgonzola, Fig, and Walnuts Tartlets recipe, click here.

Shaved fennel adds a crunchy, refreshing bite to the olives, while the lemon zest and chile pepper liven things up. Fennel greens make the dish colorful and festive. It only takes minutes to put this together, and you can refrigerate this for up to one week; bring to room temperature before serving. — Viviane Bauquet Farre

For the Marinated Olives with Fennel, Lemon, and Chile Pepper recipe, click here.

Wolfgang Puck keeps it classy with the addition of smoked sturgeon to a timeless tradition: potato pancakes.

For the Potato Pancakes with Smoked Sturgeon recipe, click here.

Don't let the fear of beet stains prevent you from making this perfect party appetizer! When handling cooked or canned beets, it's easy to stain your hands and cutting board from the juices. To prevent this, wear disposable latex gloves and cut beets on a large glass or ceramic plate rather than a cutting board. — Athenos

For the Roasted Beet, Feta, and Walnut-Topped Crostini recipe, click here.