Cranberry Brie Bites are loaded with flavor, warmth, and all the holiday feels. Plus, they can be eaten in one bite, so it’s perfect to have at a happy hour when you have a glass of wine in your hand.
I recently made these for a holiday tea party, but the cranberry sauce could be substituted for any type of preserve or fruit jam. You could also mix up the cheese if you wanted, perhaps a pear and gorgonzola?
These are also so simple to make! You can make your own cranberry sauce if you like, but you can also buy pre-made cranberry sauce. If using the pre-made version, I like to use Stonewall Kitchen’s Cranberry Orange Marmalade, which is available in most mid-higher tier grocery stores (or the amazon link listed). It’s an awesome flavor explosion and pairs swimmingly well with the brie.
There are a couple things you’ll need for this to get the presentation the same as mine. So let’s dive in and get baking!
The Ingredients:
Puff Pastry, I like to use Dufour, as I know that when I roll it out I can get exactly 60 rounds which will give me 30 bites. Feel free to try out other brands like Greenwise or Pepperidge Farm. The yield might vary slightly.
Cranberry Sauce, Again, feel free to make your own or buy some premade sauce. You can also switch this up for different seasons and use strawberry jam, or other fun flavors. I was at the store recently and bought some pink grapefruit and champagne jam – that would be stellar with this!
Eggwash: Use just an egg mixed with a touch of water to thin it, or and egg with milk – I’ve done both.
Brie Cheese (about 8oz), you’ll need 1 wedge for 30 bites. You’ll have some left over.
Rosemary (or your herb of choice), and Sea Salt for garnish. That’s it!
Equipment:
What you will need is the following:
2 Biscuit Cutters – Here is the set that I have just so you get an idea of sizing. I use the 1.6″ size and the 1″ size. If you don’t have biscuit cutters and don’t want to buy any – check to see if you have a shot glass (or something circular of similar size) and an apple corer for the smaller circle.
I typically try to not require special equipment for my recipes – however you can use biscuit cutters for SO. MANY. THINGS. I use them all the time. They’re great for everything from making biscuits, or cookies, to tea sandwiches, or making bite sizes appetizers in a flash. They help add elegance to your presentation with barely any extra effort and expense.
A metal rack & your metal biscuit cutters (or use 2 metal/ovensafe cups about 1″ tall).
Piping Bags (or plastic bag with one corner tip cut off). Again, I try not to suggest special equipment, but you can use piping bags for so many things. I use them for appetizers, to decorate cupcakes or cakes, and whenever I want to add sauce or filling to something in an easy, quick, and delicate way. This will save you a LOT of time because a plastic bag will stretch and possibly rip over time or if your filling isn’t soft enough. Piping bags are easy, cheap, and quick to use! You can buy them at Michaels, get them from Amazon (cheapest), or other baking stores. You can also get reusable ones if you prefer no-plastic.
Cranberry Brie Bites Method
Now, this will take a bit of time – about 25 minutes if you’re doing it for the first time. However, it will be well worth it!
So here is what you are going to do.
First roll the puff pastry out a bit, so that it’s roughly 16″X10″ so that you can get about 10 circles of the 1.6″ cutter across, and 6 circles down. That will give you 60 circle cut outs.
Then, every other row, use the smaller, 1″ cutter, to cut a center hole out of the 1.6″ circle you’ve already cut. If you go every other row, you’ll have half with the centers cut out and half full circles. See below, the top left corner shows the assembled circles.
When you’ve done that. Take your egg wash and brush it over the full circles. Then place one of the circles with the centers cut out on top of a complete circle. See photo below. You’ll do that so you have 30 bites. Brush again with egg wash (so that it’s on the top section too) and place onto a baking sheet with silicon mat, or parchment paper.
Then, take your two biscuit cutters and place in opposite corners, one on top left and one on bottom right (or vice versa, however you want to do it. and place with a metal rack on top of the cutters. This will keep your puff pastry from toppling over as it bakes.
Then you just need to pipe the brie cheese and sauce into them and garnish!
PrintCranberry Brie Bites
Cranberry Brie Bites can also be changed to use any other type of jam or preserves for different seasons. This will be one you want to keep in your repertoire for future crowd-impressing dishes!
- Prep Time: 25
- Cook Time: 18
- Total Time: 43 minutes
- Yield: 30 bites 1x
- Category: appetizers
- Method: baking
Ingredients
1 Box Dufour Puff Pastry (you can use other brands, but the yield will vary slightly)
~1/2 Cup Cranberry Sauce (make your own, or buy store bought, I recommend Stonewall Kitchen Orange Cranberry Marmalade if purchasing)
8oz Brie Cheese Wedge – room temperature to soften
1 Egg + 1Tbsp milk or water
1 Tbsp chopped Rosemary (or other herb of choice)
Sea Salt
Instructions
1. Allow Puff Pastry to thaw ~3 hours or overnight in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Then roll out pastry onto a floured surface to ~ 16″x10″ rectangle.
2. Using your larger, 1.6″ biscuit cutter, cut 60 circles out of your pastry. Then, using your smaller, 1″ cutter, cut the center out of 30 rounds only. Put the centers aside and throw away or use for another recipe.
3. Brush the pastry with egg wash and then put the rounds with the center cut out on top of the full rounds. Brush again with egg wash so that the wash lightly covers the whole pastry.
4. Place on a prepared baking sheet with silicon mat or parchment, and place the cutters in opposite corners, one on top and one on bottom, so that a metal rack can be placed on top. It’s okay if it’s a bit wobbly, it just needs to be placed there so that the puff pastry will not topple as it rises.
5. While baking, carefully cut the rind off of the brie cheese and place the cheese into a piping bag, or ziplock with the tip cut off. Then place the preserves or cranberry sauce into a piping bag as well.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes (closer to 15 minutes if using a dark pan), until golden brown all over and puffed (don’t let the pastry get too golden if using a dark pan because the bottoms will cook faster). The pastry should be touching the rack and gently pressing against it.
7. Remove from the oven and pipe the brie cheese into the rounds while still warm. You’ll puncture the pastry centers, and that’s all right. Just fill about 1/2 the pastry with the cheese. Then fill the other half with jam. Top with a sprinkling of sea salt and rosemary.
You can leave these at room temperature for ~2 hours, and gently reheat in the oven before serving, or you can serve right away.
Notes
Make Ahead: If you’d like to make this the day before, cut out and assemble the pastry, but don’t bake it. Simply wrap well and place in the fridge overnight. Then bake up to 2-3 hours before you’d like to serve and if desired reheat for ~5 minutes at 350 F, just before your guests arrive.
Keywords: Appetizers, One Bite, Small Bites, Holiday, Festive, Party Food, Minimal Ingredients,
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