Warm melted cheese, layered with cranberry sauce, and baked in flaky puff pastry is a crowd FAVORITE appetizer! Fast and EASY for you, IRRESISTIBLE for everyone else! It's the PERFECT holiday appetizer for Thanksgiving, Christmas, holiday parties, or New Year's Eve!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Additional Time30 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: Appetizers
Cuisine: American
Keyword: baked brie in puff pastry, baked brie with puff pastry, brie in puff pastry, brie puff pastry appetizer, brie wrapped in puff pastry, easy baked brie in puff pastry
Servings: 16
Calories: 1050kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
1sheet puff pastrythawed
one 12 to 14 ounce wheel of briehalved horizontally with rind kept on (or two 8-inch wheels may be substituted; do not halve them just use as-is)
1cupcranberry saucedivided (chunky, whole berry sauce is best)*
1teaspoonorange zest
1large eggbeaten
1teaspoonwater
Crackersfor serving
Apple and/or firm pear slicesfor serving
Instructions
Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry after it's completely thawed. Don't force it if it's not because it will crack or rip. Place it on a clean countertop or work surface.
If you're using a large 12 to 14 ounce wheel of brie, slice it in halve horizontally and place the bottom half in the center of the puff pastry. If you're using two 8-ounce wheels, you don't need to halve either one of them. Simply place one of the wheels in the center of the puff pastry.
Top the brie with 1 cup (minus 2 tablespoons) of cranberry sauce*, orange zest, and smooth it over the top of the brie leaving a bare 1/2-margin around the perimeter. Reserve the 2 tablespoons for serving.
Top with the remaining brie half, or the other intact wheel if using two 8-ounce wheels; set aside.
Whisk together the egg and water.
Fold one corner of the puff pastry up into the middle and over the top of the center of the brie.
Brush the egg wash over the folded corner.
Then fold up the next corner and edge, brushing with egg wash. Repeat until all the puff pastry has been folded over the brie. Tips - It doesn't have to be perfect. You don't have to create hospital corners. You do want to be mindful that the puff pastry is tightly sealed around the brie so when it starts to melt in the oven, the puff pastry will contain it so the cheese doesn't leak out. The egg wash serves to help both enhance the browning of the puff pastry so it develops a nice golden brown color, and also helps the puff pastry adhere to itself a bit better.
Optionally, if you want to take the second sheet of puff pastry (make sure its thawed) and make cut out leaf shapes and place them on top of the brie, brushing them with egg wash so they adhere and turn golden, this is an optional creative touch. See how I did this with extra pie crust in my recent Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting to get an idea.
Take your bundle of puff pastry and brie and set it on a plate or something it can rest on in your freezer and freeze it for 30 minutes. Line with parchment if you think it could stick. Do not skip this step of freezing because freezing helps chill the dough which will help it to bake up flakier, lighter, and crisper in the oven so do not omit this.
After about 20 minutes of freezing, preheat your oven to 425F.
Place the brie on a greased baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment or a Silpat, and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden browned.
Remove it from the oven, allow it to rest for about 5 minutes, and before serving top with the reserved 2 tablespoons cranberry sauce. Serve immediately. Baked brie is best served hot and fresh and this is not a recipe where the leftovers keep particularly well.
Notes
*I have a few homemade cranberry sauce recipes:
Cabernet Cranberry and Blueberry Sauce – Move over, boring cranberry sauce! Cranberries are so much better with blueberries and wine! Make your own fresh cranberry and blueberry sauce in 30 minutes. It’s so easy, everyone loves it, a hands-down Averie Cooks reader favorite for almost a decade!
Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Apples - Fast and easy homemade cranberry sauce that’s made with cranberries, apples, apple cider, cinnamon sticks, and allspice. A lovely balance of sweet-yet-tart with warmly spiced flavors!
Cabernet Cranberry and Currant Sauce – Make your own easy homemade cranberry sauce in 30 minutes! This unique cranberry sauce recipe is especially great because of the wine!
Cranberry Pineapple Mango Preservatives – Much more uniquely flavorful than traditional cranberry sauce from the addition of pineapple, mango, cinnamon, and ginger, which sweetly spice and enhance fresh cranberries and made in just half an hour!
Store bought is also fine. If you're going this route, opt for a tried-and-true cranberry sauce that you know you like. The chunkier the better, in my opinion. Whole berry is best.Tips: Whatever cranberry sauce you use, I recommend only using the thickest and chunkiest parts of the sauce. If it's watery, drain off the water and opt for the thickest part of the sauce. You don't want excess water literally water-logging the puff pastry wrapper for the brie and making it soggy.**I realize the nutrition information is high. However, this is a party or holiday special occasion appetizer where everyone will have a couple bites. You will definitely get more than 16 bites out of the recipe, but will serve about 16 people, each being able to enjoy a few bites or a few ounces of food.