5 Tips for Making Crostini - Ultimate Guide

Crostini appetizers are small canapés that make ideal finger food! You can pack a lot of interesting flavour combinations on top of one small slice of baguette! Avoid common mistakes by following these 5 tips for making perfect crostini appetizers your guests will love! This post includes 10 crostini recipe ideas.

Finger foods are fun foods! Crostini appetizers are a perfect solution for entertaining, particularly when you are not sure of your guest's likes and dislikes. You can easily provide a variety of appetizers from which your friends can choose.

And with good choices in gluten-free baguettes available now, your gluten-free friends can enjoy these mini bites, too.

Making crostini is easy, but there are some pitfalls to avoid. Read on for 5 tips for making crostini for sure-fire success, then browse through these ten crostini recipe ideas!

Jump to:

• 🛒 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions and Tips for Making Crostini
• 10 Delicious Crostini Topping Ideas
• Need more crostini ideas? Here are a few more!
• Looking for more appetizer ideas? Try these!
• 📖 Recipe Card

🛒 Ingredients

for the base: a baguette, regular or gluten-free provides a good base to hold the toppings. Crostini in Italian translates to "little toasts." But feel free to experiment. I often put some of the toppings described below on a slice of firm apple or pear! Officially I suppose they would be called canapés, but they're similar to crostini.

for the filling: a crostini needs a filling of some sort to hold everything together. Common fillings are cheese, like cream cheese, goat cheese, whipped feta cheese, whipped ricotta cheese, melted Brie or cheddar, guacamole, date spread or olive tapenade.

for the topping: Once you have the toasts made and you've decided on a filling, you can add interesting little toppings. Love seafood? Try topping your crostini with shrimp, crab, or smoked salmon. Keep them vegetarian by adding fruit, like strawberries, roasted grapes, roasted cherries, cranberries, sliced peaches, or figs.

Holiday crostini could include combinations like Brie and cranberry, or goat cheese with smoked salmon. Fresh fruit crostini with strawberries or honeyed peaches are perfect for summertime appetizers.

🔪 Instructions and Tips for Making Crostini

1. Use a quality bakery bread. Avoid heavy, dense breads that might be difficult to chew. Crostini appetizers are best on bread with a light texture. Choose a baguette and cut slices about ½ inch thick. If they're too thin, they won't support the topping. If they're too thick, the appetizer becomes all about the bread and not the fabulous topping. Choose a gluten-free baguette for your gluten-intolerant friends.
2. Toast them for just the right amount of time. Arrange thin slices of baguette on a baking sheet and brush them (don't just drizzle) with a little extra-virgin olive oil on both sides, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 375°F. for 7 - 8 minutes, turning over halfway through until golden brown. The crostini should be crispy on top but the inside should be tender. If the oven temperature is too low, the bread slices will bake and become too hard. Too hard to bite politely!
3. Season! Rub with a cut garlic clove or a cut lemon or orange. This step may seem insignificant but it increases the depth of flavour in the finished appetizer.
4. Avoid overloading the toppings so they don't fall off. Think carefully about how easy the crostini will be to eat, particularly if your guests are not seated. A crostini needs a filling of some sort, like cheese, a spread, or guacamole to hold the toppings.
5. Prevent soggy bread by adding the toppings just before serving. The crostini toasts can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container, but toppings that may turn soggy, like tomatoes or fruit, should be added as close to serving time as possible.

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Try these crostini topping ideas, or create your own. Click on the photos below to take you to the recipes.

10 Delicious Crostini Topping Ideas

Cranberry Whipped Ricotta Crostini

These tiny toasts have a light creamy ricotta spread and they’re topped with a slightly sweetened fresh cranberry-orange mixture. They’re a little bit sweet and delicately salty at the same time. Oh so good!

Honey Roasted Fig and Burrata Crostini

Find your inner Italian soul! Fresh figs and burrata cheese with a honey-balsamic drizzle give this appetizer a WOW factor!

Smoked Salmon Crostini with Whipped Goat Cheese

This Smoked Salmon Crostini with Whipped Goat Cheese is made with slightly sweet honey-lemon goat cheese and wild-caught smoked salmon. Sweet, salty and smoky, all in one bite.

Blue Cheese and Crisp Honeyed Pear Crostini

Top thin slices of toasted baguette with whipped blue cheese, a slice or two of crisp pear, a sprinkle of lemon zest and a drizzle of honey to make these tasty Blue Cheese Crostini appetizers.

Strawberry Whipped Feta Crostini

Whip equal parts of feta cheese and light cream cheese together and spread on cooled crostini. Then top with thinly sliced strawberries, gently pressing into the cheese so they don’t fall off. Next, drizzle with a little honey and some balsamic glaze. And finally, add a fresh mint leaf. Serve and devour!

Need more crostini ideas? Here are a few more!

Lemon Ricotta Crostini with Honeyed Peaches

So simple, but insanely delicious! Smear some creamy lemon ricotta cheese on a thin slice of toasted baguette, top it with a slice of fresh, juicy peach, drizzle it all with honey and sprinkle with tiny thyme leaves.

Roasted Grape and Goat Cheese Crostini

Soft, sweet warm grapes, nestled into creamy goat cheese, sprinkled with toasted hazelnuts, drizzled with honey, this is one you won't forget! No grapes? Try this recipe with cherries, instead! Roasted Cherry Goat Cheese Crostini

Air Fryer Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp Crostini

Air fryer bacon-wrapped shrimp or prawns served on tiny pieces of avocado toast make easy and always popular little finger food bites. Crostini appetizers are always fun to eat and easy to make. These ones with bacon, shrimp and avocado will be quickly snapped up!

Whipped Feta Apple Hazelnut Canapés

Create a tasty canapé appetizer on a slice of apple instead of a slice of baguette or cracker. Topped with whipped feta cheese, toasted hazelnuts and drizzled with honey, this delicious finger food appetizer will be appreciated by your gluten-free friends.

Fig and Goat Cheese Crostini

My personal favourite! Sweet soft figs with a hint of citrus spread on a toasted crostini and topped with creamy goat cheese in this easy appetizer.

Looking for more appetizer ideas? Try these!

• Mini Cheese Balls on a Stick
• How to Make an Antipasto Platter
• Cranberry Brie Beggars' Purses
• 20 Easy Finger Food Appetizers
• Mini Spinach Artichoke Tarts

📖 Recipe Card