A make-ahead Christmas Canapés recipe in collaboration with Tasty, Easy Lamb.
Are you going to be doing some Christmas entertaining this festive season? Looking for an easy, make-ahead canapé recipe? I’ve got your back covered here with these roasted lamb and mini bannock Christmas canapés!
Here, I’ve roasted a lamb shoulder with garlic and rosemary and left it to cool. Thin slices of the roasted cooled lamb sit atop some mini bannocks and are finished off with a dollop of mint jelly or redcurrant jelly. It’s very simple to make, and the best thing is that you can make them the day before and keep them in the fridge until needed, already assembled!
The mini bannocks are adapted from a traditional Shetland bannocks recipe given to me by Peter Sinclair from Hillswick. I’ve cut them into large circles and then divided each circle into quarters to make the characteristic triangular shape of the local bannock. These make for perfect, slightly sweet, light and fluffy canapé bases that can be made several days in advance.
Ideally, the lamb should be roasted a day in advance too. A night in the refrigerator makes it much easier to finely slice the meat. I’ve cut mine into quarter inch thick slices, but you could always cut it thinner if desired.
I’ve topped these Christmas canapés with shop bought mint jelly and red currant jelly. I think it looks rather festive with the reds and greens, and the jelly gives a deliciously sweet flavour to the canapés. Your guests will keep coming back for more!
You could if you wanted a bit more of a kick, top with a little dollop of mustard. Alternatively, why not make Roasted Lamb with Garlic & Rosemary coated with Honey & Mustard and use that for the Christmas canapés?
After you’ve taken all the meat off the bones of your lamb shoulder or leg, reserve them to make delicious homemade lamb stock. You can then use this stock, and any leftover scraps of meat, to make my Leftover Roasted Lamb & Winter Vegetable Soup. The recipe for this will be coming soon! Watch this space!
Christmas Canapés and Festive Entertaining
So what plans have you got for Christmas this year? Any parties coming up? What’s your favourite Christmas Canapés recipe to serve at your festive dos? Let me know in the comments!
For more lamb recipe inspiration visit the Tasty Easy Lamb website, and follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Roasted Lamb & Mini Bannock Christmas Canapés
Ingredients
for the roast lamb
- 1 kg bone-in lamb shoulder or half leg
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 8 garlic cloves
for the mini bannocks
- 550 grams self-raising flour
- 60 grams unsalted butter
- 30 grams caster sugar
- 284 ml buttermilk
- 1 medium free-range egg
- 250 grams plain natural yogurt
to assemble
- butter
- mint jelly
- red currant jelly
Instructions
to roast the lamb
- Preheat oven to 230 C/ 200 C fan.
- Place the lamb in a roasting tin. Using a sharp knife, cut one inch deep marks and insert the garlic cloves.
- Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary and roast, uncovered for half an hour.
- Reduce the heat to 180 C/ 160 C fan and roast for a further 45 minutes for medium or 60 minutes for well done.
- Allow the meat to come to room temperature and then refridgerate until cool; ideally overnight.
to prepare the mini bannocks
- Preheat oven to 180 C/ 160 C fan/ gas mark 6 and flour a baking tray.
- Combine flour, butter and sugar in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Add the egg, buttermilk and enough plain yogurt to make a soft, kneadable dough.
- Turn out onto a floured surface and roll to a thickness of 1 cm.
- Cut out large circles using a fluted cutter, and then cut into quarters using a sharp knife.
- Arrange the mini bannocks on the floured baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden browned on top.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container until needed.
to assemble the canapés
- Carefully cut each mini bannock in half with a bread knife. Butter each half and arrange on a serving platter.
- Top with a 1/4 inch slice of cold roast lamb and a dollop of mint or red currant jelly .
- Can be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge until needed.
Notes
OTHER LAMB RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE
Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks with Vegetables & Gravy
Indian Tapas: Lamb, Pea & Potato Mini Samosas
Slow-Cooked Lamb Casserole with Broad Beans & Apricots
Ten-Minute Honey Ginger Lamb Stir-Fry
Grilled Lamb Kibbeh Kebabs
Slow-Roasted Rack of Lamb with a Creamy Mustard Tarragon Sauce
BBQ Lamb Leg Steaks in a Herb Marinade
Leftover Roast Lamb & Mint Sausage Rolls
Quick & Easy BBQ Lamb Skewers
15-Minute One-Pan Lamb & Quinoa Midweek Supper
Street Food: Brazilian-Style Lamb Kibe
Chilean-inspired Lamb Burgers with Pebre & Marraqueta Buns
Brazilian-inspired Lamb Feijoada with Mango Salsa
Slow Cooker Lamb Chilli with Pasilla Peppers
Argentine-inspired Lamb Chops with Chimichurri
Lamb Casserole with Ale
Slow-cooked Shetland Lamb Casserole with Creamy Herbed Polenta
Pastitsio – Greek Macaroni Pie
This is a commissioned recipe for Tasty, Easy Lamb. Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to do what I love: mess up my kitchen and share recipe stories!
Mum of three, daydream adventurer, OU Life Sciences graduate, occasional crafter, ex-pat Canadian & quite possibly Britain's most northerly food blogger.
Emma O'Leary says
This looks absolutely incredible! We are big lamb fans in our house, so will defo be giving it a try. Your photography is just beautiful.
Laura - The Mamma Fairy says
My husband is an organic lamb former so naturally we are huge fans on lamb in this house. I must save this for us to try
melissa major says
This looks perfect for parties, the lamb looks so delicious and the perfect bitesize
Katrina says
These look fab I would of never of thought of using lamb on something like this but looks great
Hannah says
I think my dad would love these, I’ll have to make them for him!
Lauretta at Home and Horizon says
Wow! What a delicious treat. I’d love to make this recipe soon. Bon appetite.
Jenni says
These are adorable! Never thought I would say that about lamb canapés haha. They sound delicious too x
Emily Leary says
Fresh bannocks with lamb and those jelly flavours already sound delicious, but you’ve made them so fantastically festive looking they’ll fly off the board.
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
I am soooooooo making these 🙂
five little doves says
Oh what a lovely idea! What a great idea to use those bases, they look like the perfect size! I bet they are delicious!
Charli says
These look absolutely delicious. Lamb is pretty much my favourite meat so I’d definitely be all for this.
C x
adriana says
This is such a great recipe wow! I bet it’s even better for parties. It looks it! Yum!
Tiffany says
Oh these look so elegant! Perfect for Christmas. My family would absolutely devour these!
kirsty says
I think lamb just screams Christmas to be honest as I think it’s a but of a treat and luxury. I love the idea of making them into little canapes with the addition of mint jelly. Sounds divine
Jade Bremner says
We are cooking xmas dinner at ours for the first time this year I was going to do canapés but I decided against it in the end, your’s do look delicious though x
Amy Nash says
I love roasted lamb and I love canapes! What a brilliant idea to combine them! These would be perfect for New Year’s Eve.
Rhian Westbury says
I don’t eat a lot of lamb other than at Christmas and these canapes look so yummy x
Ana De- Jesus says
Your attention to detail and presentation skills never cease to amaze me! I love the look of these mini hannock canapes and you are so right that they make a great canape base x
Sarah Bailey says
OK how festive looking are these, I absolutely love the idea of lamb canapes, I could definitely tuck into one or two if I saw them on a platter near me!
Michelle @ Vitamin Sunshine says
What a delicious little treat! The base looks amazing — love that you homemade these instead of using a cracker.
Colleen says
What a perfectly simple, yet delicious and festive appetizer. Great idea!
Rebecca | AAUBlog says
lamb, rosemary, and mint are three of my favourite things! Want to give these a try. Your photography and food styling is stunning
Hannah denton says
Oh they look totally delicious! Can you come to my house and serve these up please
Tina Dawson | Love is in my Tummy says
Oh these are just precious! I bet they fly off the board the second you put them out!
Elaine @ Dishes Delish says
These lamb canapes look so delicious! I love how easy and tasty these look!! I can’t wait to make this for the holiday season!
Ginny says
Actual finger food at Christmas is such a great idea. Especially for the get-to-gether parties. Love that minty dollop on top too.
Suzy says
We love lamb! And this is a fun way to serve it!
Super Busy Mum says
These look absolutely delicious and what gorgeous foodie photos, too!
Veena Azmanov says
I love small cute little bite size pieces !! My favorite appetizer is always canapes. These look so good. Saving for later.
Jess says
I bet these are so morish! My fella loves lamb so this would definitely be his cup of tea. Makes a nice change for this time of year too.
Katherine says
What fantastic canapes! They look so pretty and festive 🙂
Erica Price says
I love the look of these with their jewel like colours. I’m sure they would be delicious too.
Claire Jessiman says
Oh I absolutely LOVE these but fear that it would be a case of once I’ve started on them I couldn’t stop! I reckon they would go really well with my Scottish Blinis. Potato Scone Stars topped with Crowdie and Smoked Salmon.