Easy Cranberry Brie Bites

These easy cranberry brie bites make the perfect appetizer that tastes and looks fancy! Gooey melty cheese with tart cranberry sauce wrapped in a golden, buttery, and flaky crescent or puff pastry cups. Perfect for your next holiday gathering!

Appetizers might be my favorite thing about the holidays! Bite-sized apps are so much fun to put together and eat. Serve these miniature cranberry brie bites along with some Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms, Bacon Ranch Cheeseball, Fresh Bruschetta, and a delicious Taco Ring.

This festive appetizer is so simple, brie is a mild cheese that pairs so well with cranberry sauce/jam but I will give you more ideas if you don’t love cranberry.

You will also love all the fun textures in these brie bites, the cheesy is gooey, the puff pastry cups are buttery and flaky, and the topping of pecan or walnuts adds a lovely crunch! Top them with some fresh rosemary leaves for a beautiful and festive presentation.

How to Make Cranberry Brie Bites

You only need 4 simple ingredients to make this appetizer: Puff pastry sheet or a Crescent Sheet, brie, cranberry sauce or jam, pecans or walnuts, and a sprinkle of sea salt flakes. To garnish, I like to use fresh rosemary sprigs.

I have an amazing cranberry sauce recipe if you want to make it from scratch. If you don’t love cranberry, substitute it with any fruity jam such as blueberry jam, strawberry jam, raspberry jam, or orange or apricot preserves.

How do you make these delicious brie bites? It’s SUPER simple! Before you start, preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out and cut the puff pastry or the Crescent sheet into 24 small 1-inch squares. Use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter to do this.
2. Get a mini muffin pan (the one with 24 cups) spray it with non-stick spray or baking spray, and add a puff pastry square to the center of each cup. Place a small piece of brie in the center of each pastry cup.
3. Top with cranberry jam, and a sprinkle of chopped pecans or walnuts.
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the puff pastry is puffed up and golden brown in color. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then remove from the muffin pan onto a plate and decorate with rosemary sprigs if desired.

Recipe Tips

• The best and easiest way to shape the bites is using a mini muffin pan, a regular size muffin pan will not work here.
• Do not cut off the rind of the brie cheese, it’s totally edible and won’t make a difference in the taste of the bites. If you remove it, the cheese will be difficult to work with.
• To make brie easier to work with, pop it in the freezer for 20 minutes before you cut it into squares.
• I like to use all-butter puff pastry sheets for the best flavor. Canned Cresent rolls also work great here.
• If using frozen puff pastry, thaw before using.

Storing Tips and Making Ahead

• To store: Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
• To freeze: Either freeze unbaked bites or allow the baked brie bites cool completely, then arrange them on a sheet pan and pop it in the freezer until they’re solidly frozen. Then store them in a Ziploc bag or up to 1 month.
• To reheat: Reheat in the oven from chilled or frozen at 350°F (175°C) tented with foil until they’re warmed through and crispy.
• To make ahead: Assemble the bites in a mini muffin pan, but don’t bake. Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days until you’re ready to bake and serve.

Which Muffin Pan to Use

This recipe yields 24 cranberry brie bites, so you can either use a 24 cup mini muffin pan (like the one you see in my pictures) which is easier. Or you can use 2 x 12 mini muffin pans.

Large muffin pans won’t work here.

If you love camembert cheese, then make sure to check out this baked camembert recipe. A festive appetizer ready in 15 minutes! And if you love cranberries, be sure to grab my cranberry chutney recipe too.

This recipe first appeared on Little Sunny Kitchen in December 2019.