Baked Cranberry Brie is an easy and impressive 15-minute appetizer for the holidays that everyone loves. With a few simple ingredients and minutes of prep time, you have one of the best-tasting Christmas recipes!
No matter what time of year, there’s an occasion for cheese! This Baked Cranberry Brie is so gorgeous and so delicious during the holidays.
You’ll get a zillion compliments when you serve it to family and friends!
Slightly sweetened tart cranberries top a triple cream brie round baked in the oven until it’s hot and gooey. Then, it’s ready for your favorite crackers to dip in and enjoy.
If you love all kinds of cheese, try this Blue Cheese and Pecan Cheese Ball. It’s absolutely delicious.
If you need more Christmas Finger Food Recipes, here are several that will work! Including incredible Mini Cranberry Brie Bites!
Ingredients
- Brie Cheese
- Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Brown Sugar
- Orange Zest
- Cinnamon
- vanilla
- Pecans or Walnuts
- Rosemary (as garnish)
- Crackers for serving
Do You Take the Rind off Before Baking the Brie
The rind on Brie is perfectly edible and delicious. It’s a personal preference on whether or not to cut it off. When it’s baked, it becomes soft and is easier to eat. We tend to like the rind off if unbaked, so we get mostly cheese.
For this recipe, we cut the rind off just the top of the cheese so the cranberries can mix with the cheese, but the cheese stays contained because the rind doesn’t melt, so it’s easy to serve.
How to Make - Step-By-Step Instructions
Gather your ingredients, and let's make this easy app!
Step 1 - Cut Rind Off Cheese
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. and line a baking sheet or an oven-safe baking dish with parchment paper; set aside.
Next, cut the top off the rind on the round of Brie. Leave as much cheese as possible.
Step 2 - Make Cranberry Topping
Mix your homemade cranberry sauce, brown sugar, orange zest, cinnamon, vanilla, and nuts in a small bowl—Reserve a few nuts to garnish after it's out of the oven.
Top cheese round with mixture.
Step 3 - Bake
Bake in the oven for approximately 10 minutes or until hot. Then, sprinkles a few more nuts on top and rosemary sprigs. Serve with your favorite cracker, and enjoy!
If you used parchment paper, you can lift the Brie round out and place it in a serving dish or slide it onto whatever surface you want to serve it on.
We often like to bake it in a small cast-iron skillet and serve it this way.
How to Serve Your Cranberry Baked Brie
The obvious choice is crackers. We love a hearty cracker with a bit of texture to go with the soft cheese; however, buttery Club Crackers are also a delicious choice.
You can also serve your Brie with bread or crudites.
Can You Reheat Baked Brie in the Microwave?
Yes, reheating a baked brie in the microwave is absolutely okay. It will melt fast, so heat it at small 15-20 second intervals until melted. We think this is perfectly easy to serve it leftover — if there is any!
Alternatively, you can take it out of the refrigerator, let it heat to room temperature, and serve it that way.
Can I Prep this Baked Brie in Advance
You can make the cranberry sauce mixture in advance and cut the top off the Brie, but we recommend assembling and baking just before you want to serve it.
More Cranberry Recipes
You'll also want to try incredible Cranberry Brie Bites and our famous homemade cranberry sauce!
Tips & Tricks
- Brie is easiest to cut when it’s cold, so wait to take it out of the refrigerator until you are ready to prepare this appetizer.
- You’ll need cranberry sauce for this recipe. Our super easy 20-minute cranberry sauce is perfect. However, you can doctor up store-bought with a little cinnamon, vanilla, and orange zest if you don’t have time to make it yourself.
- This baked brie appetizer with cranberries is best served warm.
How Did It Go?
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Printable Recipe
Baked Cranberry Brie Recipe
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- Spatula or cooking spoon
- baking sheet
Ingredients
- 8 ounce round brie cheese
- ⅓ cup homemade cranberry sauce (see notes for store-bought)
- 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup pecans or walnuts (unroasted and roughly chopped)
- Fresh rosemary (to garnish)
- Crackers for serving
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet or an oven-safe baking dish with parchment paper; set aside. Next, cut the top off the rind on the round of brie. Leave as much of the cheese as possible.
- Mix your homemade cranberry sauce, brown sugar, orange zest, cinnamon, vanilla, and nuts in a small bowl. Reserve a few nuts to garnish after it's out of the oven. Top cheese round with mixture.
- Bake in the oven for approximately 7-10 minutes or until hot inside and gooey but not collapsed. Then, sprinkle a few more nuts on top and a few rosemary sprigs. Serve with your favorite cracker, and enjoy!
Notes
- Brie is easiest to cut when it's cold, so wait to take it out of the refrigerator until you are ready to prepare this appetizer.
- You'll need cranberry sauce for this recipe. Our super easy 20-minute cranberry sauce is perfect. However, you can doctor up store-bought with a bit of cinnamon, vanilla, and orange zest if you don't have time to make it yourself.
- This brie appetizer is best to serve warm.
Melissa
YUM - great for the holidays! Delicious and easy to make!
Erin Henry
Yes! Perfect for the holidays. And it's so simple to make.
katerina @ diethood.com
YUM!! Such a fantastic appetizer!! Looks incredibly delicious!
Erin Henry
Yes, this appetizer looks fantastic and tastes even better.
April
Baked brie is one of my FAVORITE appetizers....sometimes I make it just to have when I'm relaxing in front of the TV at night. I'm so excited to try it this way! It'll be perfect to serve at Thanksgiving and Christmas, too!
Erin Henry
You're right April, this makes a wonderful Thanksgiving or Christmas appetizer. Easy and a crowd-pleaser!
Sally
This is literally making my mouth water... Yummy!
Erin Henry
Yes!! A mouth-watering, yummy appetizer for the holidays for sure!