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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.

overhead photo of Pastry Wrapped Cranberry Baked Brie Bites

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?

prep photo of pastry dough

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.

prep photo of Pastry Wrapped Cranberry Baked Brie Bites before baking

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.

Pastry Wrapped Cranberry Baked Brie Bites on baking sheet

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!

overhead photo of Pastry Wrapped Cranberry Baked Brie Bites

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!!

overhead photo of Pastry Wrapped Cranberry Baked Brie Bites

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

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
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

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! 
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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Served these as an appetizer on Thanksgiving Day and they were amazing! Next time, we’ll definitely put some more coarse sugar on top (we skimped a little to make it “healthier” but the full amount would’ve been perfect).

  2. 5 stars
    Omg what. So good. So easy and so good. I took out the step to make the cranberry jam and used a high end chile raspberry ginger jam with a sprinkle of sage in each pocket as well. Boyfriend so impressed. So am I! Yum.

    1. Hey Alyssa,
      Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you. Happy Holidays! xTieghan

  3. Hi Tieghan,
    Can I use Cranberry Sauce that comes in a tin (Ocean Spray). I have one leftover from Thanksgiving, so thought of using it up.
    Thank you
    Naina

    1. Hey Naina,
      Yes, that will work. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan

  4. Hi! Thinking of making these for Christmas Eve appetizers. The store was out of puff pastry, will pie crust work? Also thoughts on making them smaller, like bite sized? Thanks!!

    1. Hey Kat,
      Yes both of these will work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan

    2. Hi friend! I’ve made the bite size using crescent rolls! You can buy the crescent dough sheet to make life easier, but my store only had the originals. I just pressed the seams together. After that I cut them into 24 squares. I used a mini muffin pan, & then placed my brie along with canned whole berry cranberry sauce! They were a hit, & the perfectly amazing bite!!! Hope this helps!!!

    1. Hey Liz,
      Rosemary would be great here! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions. Happy Holidays! xTieghan

    2. People have mentioned the oozing of brie during baking. I just use a mini muffin tin, add the Brie and apricot preserves to a 3” square of the puff pastry that I have inserted into the muffin pan, and pinch the corners of the pastry together to make a package. I freeze them until I need them. Recently I made them a week in advance and froze them until the day of my party. When I take them out of the freezer, I just brush them with an egg wash and bake them for 25 minutes at 425. The result is that all the Brie bites are a uniform size and they are every bit as delicious. I let them cool and use a spatula to release them from the mold in the mini muffin pan. No excess Brie or jam. It’s in there! There wasn’t a Brie bite left!

  5. 4 stars
    These were good but didn’t work out quite like I imagined they would. The cranberry jam is stellar and I’ll save it to use for thanksgiving in the future but I couldn’t detect the sage at all which was a little bit of a bummer bc I looooooove sage. I could (of course) try it again and double or triple the amount. I’m really not an expert on using puff pastry so maybe it’s me but I found that the dough got very warm and sticky quite quickly so I had to keep putting it back in the fridge to make it more manageable. Also bc of the filling the top portion of the pastry was too small to cover the bottom one – I eventually figured out that I could lightly stretch the top piece and that made the parts match better. The base of this recipe is great but I would make a couple changes if I worked with it again: for one thing they are quite large like palm size not bite size so I would def scale them down (I was looking for something that was more of an appetizer size – these were a bit more of a commitment), also I found that these leaned more towards the sweet side – This is what I found the most surprising! I imagined these to be savory with a hint of sweetness and tartness but more Brie forward. Maybe it’s bc of the added sugar on top of the pastry or maybe I used too much cranberry jam (or two much sugar in the jam – I went with 3 Tbsp) but these were more of a dessert to me. If I gave these another go I would make them smaller and maybe sprinkle the pastry with salt instead of sugar.

    1. Hey Beata,
      Thanks for giving the recipe a try! Yes, puff pastry can be difficult to work with if it is not super cold. xTieghan

    2. Beata, you don’t need to sprinkle the top with anything because they are sweet enough! If the dough gets too sticky just add a pinch of flour to the cutting board to reduce stickiness. Better yet: cut one sheet of dough into 12 squares (and don’t worry if they are not all the same size), and insert them individually into a mini muffin tin that you have sprayed with Pam. Do the same with the second pastry sheet so you will have a total of 24 Brie bites. Then drop in one piece of Brie (I use a 8 ounce round Brie) that I have cut into 24 pieces). Then spoon a 1/4 tsp of your favorite preserves on top of the Brie and pinch the four corners together. At that point you can either freeze or brush with an egg wash. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool and remove from pan and watch them disappear. There is no magic to working with puff pastry. Once you get the hang of it you will want to put everything into puffed pastry!

  6. These came out stupendous in taste and looks. My slits were a little bigger than yours which let the cranberries pop out a little. I served them with a Niçoise salad for lunch and my friends went crazy for them. Thank you for such an easy fab recipe. When cranberries are out of season could I use a fresh fruit compote or just berries. I noticed you suggested fig jam. That sounds good too.

  7. 5 stars
    OH MY WORD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These are delicious!!!!!!! EVERYONE NEEDS to make these!! No, wait!!! I don’t want to create a run on the puff pastry at the store!!!!! Seriously, these will be a permanent staple in my kitchen at cranberry time. Cranberry time is the Most Wonderful Time of The Year!!!!!!! Thank you for sharing this with us!!!!!

  8. 4 stars
    These were AMAZING! Two things: 1. I definitely wanted more than a teaspoon of cranberry sauce in each one. More like 2 tablespoons and 2. Drizzling honey over the top is a MUST. Yum! These were a favorite at Thanksgiving!

  9. 5 stars
    So happy to be able to still share Thanksgiving with my family during the pandemic because of recipes like this. I was able to prep and drop off servings for my family to finish and bake and it brought some togetherness, even though we weren’t in the same room. The cranberry jam is SO delicious. Next time, I’ll probably spread out the brie or cut it into smaller pieces as I found the pastry dough a little unforgiving with the sizes I was working with. These reminded me of DIY holiday poptarts and I’m excited to experiment with different flavors and cheeses.

  10. 5 stars
    I made these for Thanksgiving and my family loves them!! The cranberry sauce flavor is so unique. A very easy to follow recipe that was fun!

  11. I added leftover turkey and a touch on honey on the Brie and a safe leaf in each hand pie. Delicious use of leftovers!

  12. 5 stars
    Made these as an appetizer for Thanksgiving and they were so delicious! Super easy, especially if you are already planning on making fresh cranberry sauce for the table, and everyone loved them. Thanks so much for the recipe!

  13. 2 stars
    Wow, I don’t know what we did wrong on this one but it was nothing like the picture and not tasty at all. I used the full amount of brown sugar and the cranberry filling was still way too sour. The brie softened the bite a bit but not enough to want more.

    I wonder if this actually called for pie crust dough rather than puff pastry. Despite rolling it out and egging the edges, our puff pastry didn’t want to stay together and was a mess to eat. Looking at the pictures, it sure looks like pie dough.

    I’ve had great luck with every other HBH recipe I’ve tried, but this one not so much.

    1. Hi Lizzie! I am sorry this recipe did not turn out well for you.. If there is anything I can help with, I would love to! Otherwise, I hope you enjoy some other recipes of mine! xTieghan