Cranberry Brie Bites are an oven-warm, sweet and savory appetizer perfect for holiday entertaining.
Melted brie cheese and gooey cranberry sauce fill two-bite crescent dough cups. With a hint of rosemary, orange zest and pecans, this appetizer is an absolutely delicious symphony of flavors.
Your guests will love them and I’d be willing to bet this recipe makes it into your annual rotation of must-make appetizers, especially when you see how quick and easy they are to make!
Why You’ll Love this Holiday Appetizer
Simple, yet sophisticated. Don’t be fooled with how elegant these cranberry brie bites look. They are incredibly easy to make. Since they bring together a variety of pre-made food items, making them is really a matter of assembly more than cooking.
Perfect for holiday entertaining. In addition to being a beautiful addition to holiday spreads from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, cranberry brie bites are a win for the host. You can assemble them a few hours in advance and pop them in the oven just before serving.
Taste amazing. It’s nearly impossible to convey in words how wonderful these little brie bites taste. Each bite has a combination of flavors that just work together. The smallest touch of rosemary and orange zest make these a homerun in my opinion, so don’t leave them out.
Ingredients
- Crescent Dough Sheet
- Cranberry Sauce
- Brie Cheese
- Fresh Rosemary
- Orange Zest
- Pecans or Walnuts
Crescent Roll Dough – Get a tube of crescent roll dough in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. Look for the kind that is a single sheet.
If you can only find crescent roll dough that is perforated into triangular sections, unroll it and pinch the dough together so there are no seams.
Cranberry Sauce – Be sure to get cranberry sauce, and not jellied cranberry, It should have solid pieces of cranberry in it.
Have a leftover can of whole cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving? Set it aside and make these cranberry brie bites for Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties.
Brie Cheese – This mild and creamy cheese is the base of this appetizer. You only need half of an 8-ounce wheel. The remaining half-wheel can be sliced into wedges and placed on a charcuterie board or on your serving platter of brie bites.
Finely Chopped Nuts– For a little crunch and nutty flavor, I like to sprinkle a few finely chopped pecans or walnuts on top. They will toast as you bake the appetizer in the oven.
To keep things easy, just get a tiny bag of pecan chips.
Rosemary – Grab some fresh rosemary. Honestly, it’s a must.
The smallest amount of finely chopped rosemary adds big flavor. I like to place it right on top of the cheese so it melts into it.
Orange Zest – I’m a big fan of adding zest to recipes. Orange zest really brightens the cranberry sauce in these brie bites. I also add it to my stovetop candied pecans (which are amazing).
How to Make Cranberry Brie Bites
- Pre-heat oven to 350 °F. Prepare a 24-well mini muffin tin by spraying it with cooking spray or lightly greasing each well with oil. (I use olive oil.)
- Unroll crescent roll dough onto a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll it thinner and larger until it’s about 10×15 inches. Cut into 24 squares. (Each square will be roughly 2.5×2.5 inches.) Place each dough “square” into a muffin tin well. If you’re using crescent dough that’s perforated for actual rolls, pinch the seams together before rolling and slicing.
- Cut an 8-ounce wheel of brie cheese in half. Slice one of the halves into twenty-four pieces by making 3 vertical cuts and 4 horizontal cuts every 1/2 inch. You can cut the rind off each piece of cheese if desired, but this is not necessary. Refrigerate the remaining half-wheel of brie.
- Layer the filling ingredients onto each pastry square in this order: piece of brie, a pinch of finely chopped rosemary, about 1 teaspoon of cranberry sauce, some orange zest, and a few pecan or walnut chips.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Carefully remove each bite from the muffin tin to a platter and serve while warm.
Detailed recipe and instructions are in recipe card at bottom of post.
Recipe Notes
Don’t overfill crescent dough cups. One of the biggest fails I see with cranberry brie bites is people over-stuffing them, causing the bites to overflow and stick to the pan.
To avoid this, gently push the crescent square up the sides of the muffin tin and stick to the recommended amount of each filling ingredient. In other words, don’t be tempted to double up on the cheese or cranberry.
Add some solid cranberries and sauce to each bite. When you’re grabbing a teaspoon of cranberry sauce be sure to get some solid pieces as well as sauce for each bite.
Put rosemary on top of cheese. I like to put a few pieces of the finely chopped rosemary directly on top of the brie. I love how the flavor comes out as it melts into the cheese.
Watch the oven as they bake. Crescent dough cooks quickly and ovens vary, so keep an eye on your brie bites as they bake.
I like to rotate the pan halfway through for even baking. I suggest taking a look at 10 minutes. If the pointy pieces of dough coming out of the tin are cooked enough, loosely cover with a sheet of foil and bake for the remaining 2 minutes.
How to Slice Crescent Sheet & Brie Cheese for this Appetizer
Slicing the Crescent Sheet:
Roll the dough to a 10×15 rectangle. It’s critical to roll the pastry dough to a larger size, so the cut squares fill the muffin tin well and the filling doesn’t spill out. The thinner dough is also not as bready to eat.
Be sure to roll it on a lightly floured surface.
Using a sharp knife or pizza wheel cut the dough into 24 squares. Make 3 vertical cuts and 5 horizontal cuts. The “squares” won’t be perfectly square. That’s ok.
If some pieces on the edge curve out and are larger than ones with an edge that curves in, just cut the extra dough off the bigger one and roll it into the smaller one.
Slicing the Brie:
Place wheel of brie in freezer for 10 minutes. Brie is a soft cheese and is easier to slice when it’s cold.
Cut an 8 ounce wheel of brie into two. This recipe uses about 4 ounces of cheese. The remaining brie can be used for other recipes or appetizers, or place wedges on your serving tray of brie bites.
Leave the rind on (if desired). It is edible. However, if you want to remove it, it’s easier to just chop off the ends of each small brie chunk after the half-wheel is sliced. Personally, I cut it off.
Slice the half a wheel of brie into about 24 pieces. Make 3 vertical cuts and 7 horizontal cuts about 1/2 inch apart. This will give you about 22 perfectly sized pieces of cheese. Then just combine a few of the smaller ones along the curve.
Variations
Brie bites are an irresistible blend of sweet and savory. But don’t think you have to stick to brie and cranberry sauce.
Here are some tasty variations.
- Try goat cheese or camembert. (Do not use cream cheese.)
- Sub in a sweet jam like raspberry, strawberry, apricot or peach. Hot pepper jelly, fig jam, mango chutney and honey are other popular options. (You really can’t go wrong.)
- Add a crunchy nut topping like chopped pecans, walnuts, pistachios or slivered almonds.
- Swap crescent dough for puff pastry or phyllo dough. (I haven’t tested either, so I can’t recommend cook time/temperature.)
Can I make brie bites ahead of time?
Brie bites are quick to assemble once the dough and cheese are sliced.
They are best served right after baking.
- To make in advance: Fill the muffin tin with the dough, brie and rosemary; cover and refrigerate. Then, right before baking, add a scoop of cranberry sauce, already zested orange, and a few chopped nuts. If you want to completely assemble them, stick to no more than 12 hours ahead of time. Then bake before serving.
- Freezing recommendation: I do not recommend fully baking the brie bites and freezing them. I’ve tested it out and they simply do not come out the same, the second time around in the oven. They are not as crisp, and the cheese and cranberry sauce don’t glisten like they do fresh from the oven the first time around.
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More Easy Holiday Appetizers
- Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese & Maple Glaze
- Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball
- 10-Minute Marinated Mozzarella Balls
Cranberry Brie Bites
Cranberry Brie Bites are a festive holiday appetizer that features baked crescent dough topped with sweet cranberry sauce, brie cheese and toasted walnut chips. This easy finger food recipe has just 4 ingredients and only takes minutes to assemble.
Ingredients
- 8 ounce crescent dough sheet
- 4 ounces brie cheese (half an 8 ounce wheel)
- 1/2 cup whole cranberry sauce
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped
- orange zest from one orange
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 °F. Prepare a 24-well mini muffin tin by spraying it with cooking spray or lightly greasing each well with oil. (I use olive oil.)
- Unroll crescent roll dough onto a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll it thinner and larger until it's about 10x15 inches. Cut into 24 squares. (Each square will be roughly 2.5x2.5 inches.) Place each dough "square" into a muffin tin well. If you're using crescent dough that's perforated for actual rolls, pinch the seams together before rolling and slicing.
- Cut an 8-ounce wheel of brie cheese in half. Slice one of the halves into twenty-four pieces by making 3 vertical cuts and 4 horizontal cuts every 1/2 inch. You can cut the rind off each piece of cheese if desired, but this is not necessary. Refrigerate the remaining half-wheel of brie.
- Layer the filling ingredients onto each pastry square in this order: piece of brie, a pinch of finely chopped rosemary, about 1 teaspoon of cranberry sauce, some orange zest, and a few pecan or walnut chips.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Carefully remove each bite from the muffin tin to a platter and serve while warm.
Notes
- Don't overfill crescent dough cups. Don't double up on the cheese or cranberry.
- Be sure to add some whole cranberries and sauce to each bite.
- Put finely chopped rosemary on top of cheese. It's delicious when it melts together. Avoid large sprigs which may be unpleasant to bite into.
- Watch the oven as they bake. Crescent dough cooks quickly and ovens vary, Rotate the pan halfway through for even baking. Take a look at 10 minutes and cover loosely with foil if pointy parts of pastry are already golden brown.