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These fun Mini Pastry Wrapped Cranberry Baked Brie Bites are my favorite last-minute appetizer. They’re quick, easy, and most importantly, everyone loves them! Puff pastry, creamy brie, and quick homemade cranberry jam all baked together to create the perfect cheese-filled mini pastries. Finish each cute bite off with fresh sage for a festive appetizer that’s perfect for holiday entertaining.
Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete without some melty Brie. It’s without a doubt one of my favorite easy appetizers to serve over the holidays. For the last four years, I’ve made either my cranberry brie pull apart bread or my cranberry brie tarts to enjoy on Thanksgiving. Some years I’ll even add my sweet, cinnamon sugar cranberry brie pastry swirls.
This year, however, things are looking a little different. I think we can all agree that everyone is being extra precautions about avoiding germs. SO, with that in mind, I wanted to make sure each and every Thanksgiving appetizer I share is personalized and bite-size. My thinking is that with these bites, no one should be touching anything but their own food. I LOVE a huge wheel of baked brie served with crackers for scooping. But if you’re worried about others touching your food, make these instead.
They might even be better than a big wheel of melty brie. Personalized means no sharing. Plus, I doubled up on the brie. You can never have too much brie, you know?
The details.
Jumping right into the details today because guys, these bites are simple and don’t need a lot of hype to build them up. Again, nothin really beats melty brie cheese.
Alight, so start with the cranberry jam. This is the easiest to throw together. You just need fresh cranberries, brown sugar…to help offset the cranberries’ tartness, orange juice and zest, and a touch of cinnamon. Bring everything to a boil on the stove. Then simmer ten or so minutes until it’s thickened down.
It’s basically thickened up cranberry sauce, which is even more delicious.
That’s the jam…now we assemble.
I mentioned the other day that one of my go-to shortcut ingredients is puff pastry. I kind of love it. Puff pastry is great for quick dinners, beyond delicious appetizers, and sweet desserts.
The one thing I love using puff pastry the most for however, 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).
Once the jam is made, lay the sheet of pastry out and cut it into mini rectangles. Top each with a sizeable cube of brie, then spoon the jam over the brie. Lay a sheet of pastry over the jam, then pinch each bite to seal everything up inside.
Throw the bites into the oven, bake for a bit, and done!
Quick, easy, and truly just about perfect.
Once you pull these out of the oven, you’ll know immediately that each bite is going to be delicious. Some of the brie and cranberry jam will be bursting out from the top and sides. The kitchen will have a sweet buttery smell to it, and you’ll want to serve these up right away.
Immediately, these are definitely best enjoyed warm right out of the oven, with a sprinkling of flaky sea salt, and a drizzle of honey.
Delicious, and definitely one of those appetizers that you’ll have a hard time turning down. My best tip? Double the recipe. Most guests will enjoy two…at the very least!
So, can you make these ahead of time?
Almost! You can fully assemble each bite, then keep them chilled in the fridge until ready to bake. When almost ready to serve, simply throw the pan into the oven.
Easy, right? But so very GOOD. It’s hard to beat these bites. They’re classic, but with a fun twist that I swear makes them even more delicious. I can pretty much guarantee that if you put these on your appetizer table, every last bite will be gone in minutes.
Already excited to make them again soon for my family’s Thanksgiving!!
Looking for other easy Thanksgiving appetizers?? Here are my favorites:
Cranberry Brie Pull Apart Bread
Goat Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Dates with Rosemary Honey
How to Make an Easy Holiday Cheese Board
Lastly, if you make these Pastry Wrapped Cranberry Baked Brie Bites, 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 tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Mini Pastry Wrapped Cranberry Baked Brie Bites
Servings: 12
Calories Per Serving: 236 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 2-4 tablespoons brown sugar, use more or less to your taste
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 sage leaves, plus more for serving
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 1 (6-8 ounce) wheel Brie cut into 12 cubes, rind on or off (see notes)
- 1 egg, beaten
- coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
- flaky sea salt and honey, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Add the cranberries, brown sugar, cinnamon, sage, and orange juice to a medium-size pot set over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling use a fork to break down the cranberries a bit. Continue to cook for 10 minutes or until the jam has reduced and thickened by 1/3. Remove the sage. Stir in the orange zest and salt. Remove from the heat. 2. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.3. Lay both sheets of puff pastry on the counter and gently roll them out to about 12x9 inch square (it doesn't need to be exact). Cut each sheet into thirds along the creases to create 6 long sheets. Cut each sheet into 4 pieces for a total of 24 rectangles. Top half of the rectangles with 1 cube of brie and about 1 teaspoon cranberry jam. Brush the edges with egg. Lay the remaining rectangles over the filling and seal the edges by crimping with the back of a fork. Place the pastries on the prepared baking sheet. Freeze 20 minutes or chill in the fridge until ready to bake. 4. Before baking, brush the tops with beaten egg. Make 2 small slits on the top of the pastries. Lightly sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the brie melted. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
To Make Ahead: Complete the recipe through step 3. Cover the pan and chill in the fridge fo up to 4 days. Bake as directed.
To Make Ahead and Freeze: Complete the recipe through step 3. Cover the pan and freeze fo up to 3 months. Bake, frozen, for an additional 5-10 minutes.
For the Brie: I use an 8 ounce wheel of brie and my bites are STUFFED. Some of the Brie usually melts out the sides while baking. If this happens, just scoop the cheese up and place it on the pastry. If you use 6 ounces of Brie, your pastries will be less stuffed and less like to ooze out. But I like more Brie!
Can I use store bought cranberry jelly sauce?
Hey there,
Yes, totally fine to do! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Thank you so much for planning my Thanksgiving for me!! Question, could the cranberry filling also serve as homemade cranberry sauce for my Thanksgiving dinner if I made extra? Thank you!
Hey Erica,
I haven’t tried that, but if you love the flavor you could certainly do this! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made the Brie and Cranberry bites this weekend and they were wonderful. I only used 2T of brown sugar so the cranberry was still pretty tart. Once they were out of the oven I drizzled them with honey and a sprinkling of flake salt and served with an arugula salad. They were delicious and I will absolutely add them to the appetizer list.
I am so happy these turned out so well for you, Ellen! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! xTieghan
I tested these last weekend with some friends to see if I wanted to make them for Thanksgiving. I didn’t have every ingredient exactly right, the most notably: I used pie crust rolled thin because my local grocery store was out of the puff pastries. They were still amazing! I’m going out of my way to buy the correct ingredients now as I prepare for making these on Thanksgiving. The best advice in this article is to double the recipe. These were gone so quick!
I am so happy these turned out so amazing for you, Amanda! Thank you so much for trying this recipe!! xTieghan
How long can we store the unused jam for?
Soooo can you substitute another cheese? My hubby isn’t a Brie fan. Help!
Hey Melissa,
Sure any other cheese you like will work. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Could you clarify salt or sugar or both?
Recipe says to sprinkle sugar on top before cooking; notes say to sprinkle salt on after backing.
Thanks!
Hey Annie,
You can use either one:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
How big are these? Compared, say, to the palm of your hand. Would one fit neatly into your hand w/o much left over? More than one? Would it hang over your hand?
Hey Dee,
These are about the size of your hand. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi, can’t wait to make these for Thanksgiving!! Besides the cranberry jam, can I assemble these in the morning and bake in the afternoon?
Hey Andrea,
Yes, that is totally fine to do. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These were super delicious! I made them for a virtual wine-tasting this evening. Instead of going to a winery, and tasting the wine, our hosts purchased the wine, and we tasted it, along with the winemaker and Marketing Director, on a video conf. call.
These Cranberry Brie Bites were delicious! The coarse sugar on top added so much. I also added slivered almonds (which next time I would toast, to add a bit more flavor). I also served them with honey, that I sprinkled chopped fresh sage, and chopped fresh rosemary. my only other thought is that these were very large (mine were over 3″ long). It would be twice as much work, but I think next time I would cut these in half, so that instead of needing a for, and each one being 6 bites, perhaps they could be “finger food”.
Ooo love the idea of that! I am really glad these turned out so well for you, Liz! Thank you for trying these! xTieghan
Delicious!!
Thank you Bre! I am really glad you enjoyed this! xTieghan
Possibly a dumb question.. how should we store extras? Does it need to be refrigerated?
Hey Alexandra,
I would just store in an airtight container on the counter. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Sorry, really dumb question but when baking from frozen, can we still do the egg wash prior to baking?
Hey Kristine,
Yes you can:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi these look great. In the picture it shows the jam first then the brie but in the directions you write place the brie and top with jam. Can you do it either way? Thanks in advance.
Hey Deirdre,
Either way is just fine:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Looks amazing ? Is it possible to make the jam with frozen cranberries?
Hey Noga,
Yes, that will work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan