North Pole Breakfast Ideas
A North Pole breakfast is one of our favorite ways to welcome the Elf on the Shelf back for Christmas. We started this tradition when my son was three, and continued it for around 10 years, so I’ve tried everything from elaborate homemade treats to much easier last-minute ideas.
Our breakfast always included a mix of festive treats, healthy options, and savory food, with the elf waiting at the table alongside his arrival letter.
If you’re planning your own, I’ve shared our favorite elf breakfast ideas below, including easy food ideas, menu inspiration, decorations, and simple ways to make your elf’s arrival feel extra special.
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North Pole Breakfast Food Ideas
Our North Pole breakfast menu has changed over the years, but I always try to include a mixture of Christmas treats, fruit, and savory food. You definitely don’t need to make everything here; choosing a few favorites is more than enough.
Our Elf usually arrives on the morning of the breakfast, so I leave an Elf on the Shelf arrival letter on the table alongside the food.
Christmas Tree Cookies
Christmas cookies were always one of the biggest treats on our North Pole breakfast table. I’ve spent many evenings before the elf’s arrival baking Christmas trees, snowmen, and other festive shapes.
If you want an easier December breakfast, though, this is definitely one of the things I’d buy ready-made rather than staying up late baking!
Snowman Marshmallows
These snowman marshmallows are really easy to make and always look great on the breakfast table.
Join two large marshmallows together with a small cocktail stick, then add a large chocolate button for the hat and a strawberry lace for the scarf. I use ready-made colored icing to add the face and buttons, then finish them with a little powdered sugar.
They’re also perfect alongside hot chocolate.
Gingerbread House
A gingerbread house makes a great centerpiece for an elf North Pole breakfast, but I usually make life easier and buy a kit to assemble the night before.
I’ve made one from scratch using a silicone gingerbread house mold too. We added tiny lights around the board and inside the house, which looked especially good with the elf sitting nearby in fake snow.
Sugar Cube Igloo
The sugar cube igloo became Stuart’s job while I dealt with all the food!
It’s made by stacking sugar cubes into an igloo shape using a little water to help hold them together. It’s simple in theory but surprisingly time-consuming, so this is one I’d make ahead rather than attempting on the morning of the breakfast.
We put a small light inside ours, which made it look brilliant on the North Pole breakfast table.
Snowman Soup
Snowman soup is really just festive hot chocolate, but it’s always been part of our Elf on the Shelf North Pole breakfast.
We make ours with hot chocolate, marshmallows, and a candy cane for stirring. I usually prepare this a couple of days ahead along with the chocolate Santa sleighs so there isn’t quite as much to do the night before.
Our snowman soup printable includes a bag topper if you want to prepare individual servings ahead of time.
Chocolate Santa Sleigh
These chocolate Santa sleighs look impressive but are surprisingly easy to put together.
I start with a KitKat for the base and attach two candy canes underneath to create the runners. Then I add a small chocolate Santa at the front and pile miniature chocolate bars behind him like presents.
These are easy to make ahead and double as both a sweet treat and a fun decoration for the breakfast table.
Healthy North Pole Breakfast Ideas
Our North Pole breakfasts have never been entirely made up of cookies and chocolate. My son has always preferred fruit and savory food, so I started adding healthier Christmas-themed options alongside the treats.
Christmas Tree Fruit Platter
This Christmas tree fruit platter is one of the easiest North Pole breakfast ideas we’ve made.
I arranged halved green grapes into a Christmas tree shape and decorated it with blueberries and raspberries. Apple pieces formed the star and tree trunk.
You can easily change the fruit depending on what your kids like, while keeping the same Christmas tree shape.
Strawberry and Banana Candy Canes
These fruit candy canes take just a few minutes to make.
Slice strawberries and bananas and arrange alternating pieces in a curved candy cane shape. That’s it.
They’re simple, colorful, and a really easy way to add some fresh fruit to a table otherwise filled with Christmas treats.
Savory North Pole Breakfast Ideas
I always include a few savory foods too. As much as I love Christmas cookies, even I don’t want an entire breakfast made from sugar!
Christmas Tree Toast
When we lived in the UK, I used to buy Christmas tree-shaped crumpets whenever I could find them.
If you can’t find festive crumpets, toast works just as well. Use a Christmas tree or other festive cookie cutter to cut the bread into shapes before serving.
It’s probably the easiest way to turn an ordinary breakfast food into something that fits the North Pole theme.
Savory Christmas Tree Platter
For a more substantial option, we make a Christmas tree-shaped platter using cherry tomatoes, cheese, and mini sausages.
Start with a wide row of halved tomatoes at the bottom of the plate, then gradually make each row narrower as you alternate tomatoes, sausages, and cheese to create a tree shape.
Finish it with a cheese star cut with a small cookie cutter.
It’s easy to prepare ahead and helps balance out all those marshmallows and chocolate!
Easy North Pole Breakfast Ideas
You absolutely don’t need to make all of this. Some years I’ve spent hours preparing our North Pole breakfast, but you can create the same surprise with just a few simple things.
For an easy North Pole breakfast, I’d choose one festive breakfast food, some fruit, one Christmas treat, and hot chocolate. Add your elf, an arrival letter, and a few Christmas decorations to the table and you’re done.
Store-bought cookies, Christmas-shaped toast, strawberry and banana candy canes, and hot chocolate with marshmallows would give you a complete North Pole breakfast with very little preparation.
North Pole Breakfast Decorations
Decorating the table is one of the easiest ways to make a North Pole breakfast feel special. We always set everything up the night before so our son would wake up to find the Elf on the Shelf waiting at a completely transformed breakfast table.
You don’t need to buy lots of decorations. I usually mixed things we already had at home with a few special North Pole touches.
North Pole Breakfast Table
We covered the table with Christmas food, our Christmas stuffed toys, festive decorations, and, of course, the elf. New Christmas pajamas or Christmas jumpers were often waiting at the table too.
For an easy setup, you could add:
- Christmas plates, napkins, and cups
- A red, white, or Christmas-themed tablecloth
- Fake snow around the elf
- Candy canes scattered around the table
- Christmas lights or battery-operated fairy lights
- Christmas stuffed toys
- A small Christmas tree
- Festive mugs for hot chocolate
- A gingerbread house or sugar cube igloo as a centerpiece
- New Christmas pajamas or a Christmas jumper
I like to use the food as part of the decoration too. The gingerbread house, chocolate Santa sleighs, snowman marshmallows, and Christmas tree-shaped platters all make the table look festive without needing lots of extra decorations.
North Pole Breakfast Printables
Printables are an easy way to add a North Pole theme without buying decorations you’ll only use once a year.
A North Pole breakfast printable set can include things like a welcome sign, food labels, place cards, or little North Pole decorations for the table.
You could also add a simple North Pole Breakfast sign beside the elf, along with food labels or place cards to carry the theme across the table.
North Pole Hot Chocolate Station
Hot chocolate fits the North Pole theme perfectly and is really easy to turn into part of the table display.
Set out festive mugs with hot chocolate, marshmallows, candy canes, and any other toppings your kids enjoy. A personalized North Pole hot chocolate mug can also become something they bring out again each Christmas.
Our snowman soup printable is another easy option if you want to prepare the hot chocolate as a little North Pole gift.
Elf on the Shelf Breakfast Setup
The elf should really be the star of the table. We’ve placed ours among fake snow, beside the gingerbread house, and surrounded by the food he’s supposedly brought back from the North Pole.
You can make the setup as elaborate or as simple as you want. Even just sitting the elf beside an arrival letter, a North Pole breakfast sign, and a plate of Christmas treats is enough to create the surprise.
The important part for us was always having everything ready before our son came downstairs. Seeing the elf back for Christmas was what made the breakfast exciting; everything else was a bonus.
Elf on the Shelf North Pole Breakfast
For us, the North Pole breakfast has always marked the beginning of our Elf on the Shelf fun for the year. Finding the elf waiting at the breakfast table made his arrival much more exciting when my son was younger.
I’d set him up among the food and Christmas decorations so it looked as though he’d brought a little piece of the North Pole back with him. It turned his return into an event rather than simply finding the elf somewhere in the house.
After breakfast, you can continue the fun with our Elf on the Shelf antics and use our elf report card for more ideas throughout December.
Last Updated on 5 October 2026 by Clare Brown
We always have a North Pole Breakfast. I’ve never made the Snowmen marshmallows, would make a nice change to the Santa hats and grape Santa’s we usually have. The elves also put up all our decorations and tree in the night before the NPB so I don’t have as much time to create the food. We do have a North Pole tea with the kid’s school friends so I may pinch some of these ideas for that.