For the perfect Holiday appetizer, consider making this Cranberry Pecan Brie wrapped in Puff Pastry Sheets! Baked Brie is the elegant and easy party food you can make for all occasions.
Not only does puff pastry make easy, delicious breadsticks, but our crab puffs are a reader favorite!
Why this Recipe is Best
When it comes to the holidays, it’s all about the dinner, right?
I mean you slave over your thangksgiving turkey or honey baked ham, the lump free gravy, the homemade cranberry sauce, the stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and even the pumpkin pie!
But if you’re like me, you might always find you’ve forgotten about the appetizers.
Whether I’m having guests over for a full sit-down dinner or a casual buffet, I like to have something for everyone to nibble on before the main meal.
And even when we don’t have guests at the table, my family is always hankering for something to nosh while we’re waiting for the actual dinner to be ready.
So having holiday appetizers that are easy to make at a moments notice is essential!
Ingredient Notes
With just a few ingredients you can make the perfect holiday appetizers.
- Brie cheese
- Refrigerated puff pastry (thawed)
- Cranberry sauce– our homemade cranberry sauce is great here!
- Pecans (chopped)
- Egg Wash (egg yolk and water)
Assembling the appetizer took very little time. But, plan ahead. You need to thaw your puff pastry for about 40 minutes on your counter top!
While the puff pastry is thawing, use that time to get your dinner entrees and side dishes started (or maybe wrap a few Christmas presents.) From there, it’s a matter of just wrapping the cheese wheel and baking until golden and flaky.
Tips & Tricks for Baked Brie
- Before wrapping the cheese, I used a small “leaf” shaped cookie cutter to cut TWO leaves for garnish. I cut them out of a corner of the Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets. This is totally optional. You can cut a pumpkin, or turkey, or nothing.To help the top look pretty, I placed the two leaves on top of the seams for a little extra holiday fun!
- Serve the baked brie with your favorite crackers. Any sturdy crackers you’d usually serve with a wheel of soft cheese will do.
- This Baked Brie wheel looks great surrounded by other cheese board staples like grapes, slices fruit, nuts and toasted bread points, too.
- Don’t have pecans? Feel free to leave them out. You could also substitute walnuts, hazelnuts or almonds here. Use our guide on how to toast pecans for best flavor.
The tangy cranberries coupled with the creaminess of the brie make this an irresistible appetizer. It’s just different enough from your everyday cheese and crackers trays to be exciting without needing a ton of extra time and effort.
More Easy Appetizers
Puff Pastry Wrapped Cranberry Brie
Ingredients
- 1 Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets just one sheet, thawed
- 8 ounce brie cheese
- ½ cup pecans chopped
- 1 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
- 1 large egg yolk beaten
- 1 Tablespoon water
Instructions
- Thaw Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheet according to package directions.
- Once thawed, place brie wheel in center of puff pastry. Top with cranberry sauce and pecans.
- Using a small leaf shaped cookie cutter, cut two leaves out of the corners of the puff pastry. Bring up all four corners of pastry, pinching seams at the top. Bring up loops on sides, pinching the seams at the top. Place two leaf cut outs on top of seams.
- Beat egg yolk with water. Brush pastry with beaten egg yolk, for a deeper color when baked. It will also help the pastry stay closed if brushed on the edges.
- Bake pastry on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 18-20 minutes, until pastry is golden and flaky.
- Remove and enjoy immediately!
Notes
- Before wrapping the cheese, I used a small “leaf” shaped cookie cutter to cut TWO leaves for garnish. I cut them out of a corner of the Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets. This is totally optional. You can cut a pumpkin, or turkey, or nothing.To help the top look pretty, I placed the two leaves on top of the seams for a little extra holiday fun!
- Serve the baked brie with your favorite crackers. Any sturdy crackers you’d usually serve with a wheel of soft cheese will do.
- This Baked Brie wheel looks great surrounded by other cheese board staples like grapes, slices fruit, nuts and toasted bread points, too.
- You don’t have to reserve this cheese appetizer just for the holidays, either! It’s a great addition to any party or potluck, no matter the occasion. I can even see this becoming a snack for our family movie or game nights!
- Don’t have pecans? Feel free to leave them out. You could also substitute walnuts, hazelnuts or almonds here. Use our guide on how to toast pecans for best flavor.
- See blog post for more recipe tips and tricks.
Nutrition
Puff Pastry Wrapped Brie with cranberry sauce and pecans is the ultimate in holiday appetizers! Everyone raves about this creamy cheese wheel wrapped in flaky pastry. Try this recipe–you won’t be able to make it just once!
Perfect recipe – came out perfectly and was so much simpler than Pepperidge Farms recipe that I have used for years.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Is it possible to save the left overs of this recipe to serve the next day. We have a Christmas Eve and Christmas Day event that I would like to use it for. Thanks
As long as you don’t leave it out for more than two hours. I have reheated and served as well (of course day 1 tastes best) 🙂