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These Cranberry Brie Pastry Tarts are my favorite last-minute appetizer. They’re quick, easy, and most importantly, everyone loves them! Puff pastry, creamy brie, and fresh cranberries all baked together to create the perfect cheese filled mini tarts. Finish each tart off with a little fresh thyme for a festive appetizer that’s perfect for holiday entertaining.
Happy day before Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is just as excited as I am. We have all of the family here…and then some…for tomorrow’s big meal. My parents house is very full, and will continue to be through the weekend.
I know this might sound cheesy, but I’m feeling extra thankful this year. It’s been such a busy year. The last two months have been non-stop, and filled with a lot of work and not enough sleep…and I would not change it for a thing. I’m just so excited for all the growth that HBH has seen this year. And so thankful for all you, who loyally read my rambles day in and day out.
It’s funny, when I’m writing each day’s new blog post I never think about how many people will read it, or what you guys might think. I just write and share my life with you all. I love that this space feels like I’m chatting with friends every single day. It’s truly the best, and I’m very thankful to have SO many of you to talk and share my recipes with daily!
Since we’re down to the wire, and somehow Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I wanted to share an incredibly easy recipe that’s also incredibly delicious.
Enter these cranberry brie pastry tarts.
These tarts are hands down one of the most delicious appetizers you can serve up. They still have a nice classic holiday flavor combo. But they’re made into cute tarts that are the best little three bite appetizers. They’re perfect for tomorrow, or any other party this holiday season.
I mentioned the other day that one of my go-to short cut ingredients is puff pastry. I kind of love it. Puff pastry is great for quick dinners, beyond delicious appetizers, and sweet desserts.
That said, if there’s one thing I love to use puff pastry for the most, it’s brie. Brie and puff pastry are like peanut butter and jelly. They’re delicious on their own, but better together (really throwing out all the cheesy lines today…).
As you can imagine, these are simple, but don’t let that fool you, they are so good. I guarantee that if you put these on your appetizer table, every last tart will be gone in minutes.
Start by mixing fresh cranberries with a little brown sugar and cinnamon. Since we’re using fresh cranberries it’s necessary to sweeten them with some form of sugar, or they’ll be too tart to eat. I like to use anywhere from 3 to 4 tablespoons of sugar, but use more or less to you taste. The cinnamon adds the perfect warming touch that pairs nicely with the tart cranberries and creamy brie.
Now, cut each sheet of pastry into rectangles and spread with fig preserves. The preserves add another layer of flavor and also help to balance the cranberry’s tartness. You could also use an equal amount of maple syrup or honey.
Top the preserves with slices of brie, add the cranberries, throw them in the oven, and done.
Quick, easy, and perfect.
When these come out of the oven, some of the brie may have melted over the sides of the pastry. Don’t worry, this is totally fine. You just need to scoop any brie that melted off, back onto the tarts. Brie is a melty cheese, so just be aware that will most likely happen.
In my opinion, the meltier and messier the tarts are, the better.
I finished each tart off with some fresh thyme leaves for a pop of festive green color, and a hint of savory flavor. It’s hard to describe just how good these are, but if you love cranberries, and you love brie, you must make these mini tarts.
Promise, they will be the favorite appetizer of the night! I am very much looking forward to making them tomorrow for my family.
Hoping you all have a very wonderful Thanksgiving, full of good food, family, and friends! If you need any last minutes recipe ideas, check out my Thanksgiving menu.
Taking tomorrow off to cook (I’ll be on Instagram though, with fun behind the scenes stories). I’ll be back on Friday with my first ever pot pie recipe!
Happy Thanksgiving!
If you make these cranberry brie tarts be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch The How To Video Here:
Cranberry Brie Tarts from Half Baked Harvest on Vimeo.
Cranberry Brie Tarts
Servings: 12 makes
Calories Per Serving: 777 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon salted butter, melted
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 2-4 tablespoons brown sugar, use more or less to your taste (I use 2 tablespoons)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 2 (8 ounce) wheels of Brie, each cut into 12 slices (leave the rind on)
- 1/3 cup fig preserves
- 1 egg, beaten
- coarse sugar, for sprinkling
- fresh thyme, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. In a medium bowl, combine the butter, cranberries, brown sugar, and cinnamon. 3. Cut each sheet of puff pastry into 6 rectangles. Spread each rectangle with about 1 teaspoon fig preserves, leaving a 1/4 inch border. Top with 2 slices of brie and then mound the cranberries over the brie, pressing them into the brie to adhere slightly (see above photo). 4. Fold the edges of the pastry inward to enclose the brie. Brush the edges of pastry with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. 4. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the brie melted. Top with fresh thyme. Serve and enjoy!
I’m surprised that you leave the skin on the Brie.
Why is that? Many people really like it! xTieghan
Your recipes says to use two 8 ounces wheels of brie cheese. This is incorrect. You only need to use one 8 ounce brie wheel cut into 24 slices and put two on each tart. I cooked this and had overflowing cheese everywhere. And I had at least 1/4 lip all the way around each tart that I folded up and did the egg wash on. Otherwise, they were very tasty. I added vanilla to the cranberry mix and the egg wash both. I also skipped adding the fresh thyme when serving since this was more of a dessert item for us than an appetizer.
Hi! I am so sorry about that! I am glad these still tasted amazing, Pamelia! Thank you! xTieghan
This is a bit confusing bc the recipe states for the butter to be room temp which obviously would make it harder to mix with the cranberries. Then watched the video and it calls for melted. Which would have been helpful when I first started out. The video also doesn’t seem to have the fig spread on it? Other than that, excited to eat!
Hey Zoe, you can really use melted or room temp, but work well and will give you the same outcome. I always use fig preserves for this recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
i plan on making this beautiful creation, can i assemble the night before and bake it the next day?
HI! Yes, you can assemble the night before. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
Do you think I could pre assemble the day before and cook the next day?
HI! Yes, that will work well. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
Was dying to make these and waited weeks for fresh cranberries to arrive in the shops last week (i am in Ireland!) I made them up earlier in the day and kept them in the fridge before cooking they were so good but sort of flowed out all over the tray. Wondering is it was because I didn’t cook them immediately? I think next time I might put the puff pastry into mini muffin tins and fill to avoid spillages. Will definitely be making again as the flavour was oh so good ?
Hi! What flowed over the trey? Juices or cheese?
So glad you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan!
Quick question: I have a few containers of crescent roll dough left over from Thanksgiving, and I am wondering if I could make a variation of this recipe using that dough instead of puff pastry? I am thinking I would need to adjust the portion sizes of course, but I am wondering if I should fold the dough over the brie/cranberry combo or just cut it to an appropriate shape to allow the cranberries to roast, exposed, in the oven? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
ps. I made my first turkey this Thanksgiving (first time hosting!) and followed your herb butter cheesecloth recipe – it came out awesome and was such a beautiful bird! Thank you!
Hi Cara! I am sure the crescent roll dough will be great!! I would cut the dough into squares or triangles and let the cranberries roast exposed in the oven as directed. I think either way it would be delicious, but this is what I would do. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
I made these for Thanksgiving as an appetizer, but they were defiantly more of a dessert. They reminded me of “Toaster Strudels”. They were simple to assemble, and all of the ingredients were easy to obtain other than the fig jam, I only found fig spread at one store but i don’t think that made a bit of difference. I would definitely make these again. Wonderful recipe Thank you !
Thank you so much Sandy! I am so glad these tarts turned out so well for you! xTieghan
This was a huge hit at our Thanksgiving 2019 appetizer table. They were so good that I’m sure they’ll be at our Christmas celebration as well. I made the tarts exactly as the recipe was written and I wouldn’t change a thing; perfection. These and a glass of champagne or chardonnay and I could have called Thanksgiving done! 🙂
That is so amazing!! Thank you so much for trying them Deborah! xTieghan
We had a HBH Thanksgiving this year! Loved how easy these were to make, and the flavor combo was delicious. We cut them into smaller bites after baking and they were a hit. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for trying them! I am so glad they turned out so well! xTieghan
Hi. You wrote that you fixed the recipe to 1 teaspoon preserves, but all I see is 1/3 cup. ???
Hi Doral! You need 1/3 cup total and about 1 tsp of preserves per tart. It’s all listed in the directions. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan
These look amazing and a perfect lunch for friends I have coming over Friday. Any suggestions as to what I could serve alongside it would be really helpful. I’m making your lavender and blackberry buckle from your fabulous new book for dessert – can’t wait!
Hi Maxine! Is this a dinner party? If so I would recommend either of the below recipes. Yum! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! xTieghan
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/roasted-beef-tenderloin-with-mushrooms-and-white-wine-cream-sauce/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/red-wine-cranberry-braised-short-ribs/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/skillet-roasted-french-onion-chicken-and-potatoes/
Can I make them the day before and bake them on Thanksgiving?
Hi Laurie! Yes, that works amazing! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! xTieghan
Can this be made ahead of time and warmed up in the oven? Looks so yummy!
Hey Hannah! Yes, that will work great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! xTieghan
I made this appetizer a couple of weeks ago for a recipe exchange for my book club. These tarts were BEAUTIFUL on a large white platter with the fresh thyme sprinkled around them. We had some really good apps exchanged, but this was the one that people commented on the most. Both the taste and the presentation. And I’ve decided I’m making them again for Thanksgiving! I know it will be a big hit and want to share with my family, but also, I just can’t wait to eat it again so that’s my main motivator! Thanks for the recipe! Really delicious!
Yes!! I am so glad you loved these Abby!! Thank you so much! Also, I hope your friends and family love this on Thanksgiving Day! xTieghan