Cranberry Brie Bites are the perfect holiday appetizer. Crispy phyllo cups filled with Brie cheese, homemade cranberry sauce, and toasted pecans. Delicious!
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Why You'll Love These Brie Cranberry Bites
- So easy: With pre-made phyllo cups, these little brie bites are really easy to make.
- Holiday flavors: The combination of the tart cranberry sauce with creamy brie cheese and nutty pecans is perfection!
- Vegetarian FTW: So many delicious appetizers are meat-heavy. We love that this is a vegetarian appetizer that EVERYONE will love.
Cranberry Brie Bites Ingredients
- Pecans: These brie and cranberry bites would work with all kinds of nuts. Feel free to sub in pistachios or hazelnuts or any other nut you prefer.
- Fresh Cranberries: This recipe includes an easy homemade cranberry sauce using fresh cranberries and orange. If you’re in a rush though, you could absolutely substitute pre-made cranberry sauce. This is also a great use for leftover cranberry sauce from a holiday meal!
- Brie Cheese: We love the creamy texture and mild flavor of Brie cheese. But you could substitute a soft goat cheese or feta cheese.
- Thyme Leaves: Feel free to replace with fresh rosemary.
- Phyllo Cups: Traditionally, cranberry brie bites are made with puff pastry dough or crescent roll dough. If you want to try using that instead, you’ll need to cut the dough in small squares and press into a mini muffin tin.
How to Make Cranberry Brie Bites
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Put ⅓ cup pecans on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until lightly toasted. You should be able to smell the toasted pecans when they are ready.
3. Remove from oven and let cool.
4. Meanwhile, rinse 6 ounces of fresh cranberries and pat dry.
5. Chop 6 ounces Brie cheese into small pieces, removing the rind if you prefer. (Make sure each piece will fit into a phyllo cup.)
6. Put cranberries in saucepan with ¾ cup sugar, ¼ cup orange juice, 2 tablespoons water, and 1 tablespoon orange zest.
7. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil.
8. Turn down heat to medium-low and simmer until cranberries pop and the mixture thickens, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Taste and add more sugar if you prefer a sweeter cranberry sauce.
9. Remove from heat and let cool until room temperature, about 20 minutes.
10. Chop pecans.
11. When all ingredients are ready, lay out 30 phyllo cups on a baking sheet.
12. Fill each cup with a dollop of cranberry sauce, a piece of cheese, and some chopped pecans.
13. Bake at 350 for 5-8 minutes, until Brie begins to melt.
14. Remove from oven, and transfer bites to a wire rack to cool. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves and serve warm.
How to Cut Perfect Brie Chunks
Brie can be difficult to cut, especially if you are using a triple cream Brie or other very soft Brie. Putting your Brie wheel in the freezer for 10-15 minutes will help firm it up. Next, it’s up to you whether to cut off the rind. Leaving it on (it is totally edible) will make it easier to cut into little cubes. But if you really don’t like the rind, cut it off. Cut the wheel into ½-inch-thick slices, then lay those flat and cut into thin batons. Finally, cut those cross-wise to make small cubes that will fit into your phyllo cups.
Cranberry Brie Bites Recipe Variations
The combination of Brie and cranberry in this recipe is super tasty, but Brie goes well with all sorts of other flavors as well. You could try replacing the cranberry sauce with a different type of jam: fig jam, apricot jam, and pepper jelly would be delicious in this recipe. Or try a different Brie recipe all together—maybe this Baked Brie with Fig Jam?
How to Store Cranberry Brie Bites
If you do have leftovers, keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. When you want to reheat them, bake in a 375-degree oven for a few minutes, until the cheese softens and the phyllo cups crisp up again.
You could also try reheating in an air fryer, but try just a minute or so at a time so that you are sure they aren’t starting to burn.
Brie and Cranberry Bites FAQs
You can make all the individual components of these baked Brie bites ahead of time, but we recommend waiting to bake them until you’re ready to serve.
The cranberry sauce can be made up to 3 days before, and you can toast and chop the pecans at least a day or two in advance.
You can cut the Brie into chunks and refrigerate until you need it. And of course, the phyllo cups can wait in the freezer until you’re ready.
If you do have leftovers, keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. When you want to reheat them, bake in a 375-degree oven for a few minutes, until the cheese softens and the phyllo cups crisp up again.
You could also try reheating in an air fryer, but try just a minute or so at a time so that you are sure they aren’t starting to burn.
There are two keys to keeping your phyllo cups crisp. The first is to make sure you don’t fill them with a liquidy ingredient and then let them sit for a while before baking. The second is to make sure that when you take them out of oven, you move the cups to a wire rack to cool. That will help them stay crispy!
👩🍳 Expert Tips
If you are in a hurry, you can put the cranberry sauce in the fridge to speed up chilling time. It can also be helpful to transfer it to a wide, shallow container and stir frequently.
To make quick work of assembly, use a small cookie scoop to add the cranberry sauce into each cup.
If your tastes run more sweet than savory, you may want to add more sugar to your cranberry jam. Stir in some more sugar when jam is still hot, and add a little water or orange juice if you need.
And if you're looking for something to pair with these bites, check out this list of What to Serve with Baked Brie. Many of these dishes would be perfect pairings for brie bites as well!
Got extra ingredients? Use pecans in this delicious Endive Appetizer with blue cheese. Or, why not turn them into something sweet to finish out your meal? Try these Pecan Turtles with pecans, chocolate, and caramel.
Phyllo cups make such easy work of appetizers, but they look like you spent hours on them! Try this sweet potato appetizer next, for another delicious phyllo cup recipe. And of course, if you've got extra cranberries, you've got to try pairing these bites with a Cranberry Mule or Cranberry Mimosa.
Other Delicious Holiday Appetizers
This cranberry brie appetizer is as festive as it gets, but there are so many other delicious appetizer options for the holidays. Truffled Deviled Eggs or Baked Camembert, anyone? Check out our Appetizer recipe archive or see these favorites:
And, don’t forget the Vin Chaud! Perfect to warm up your holiday party!
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to us.
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Cranberry Brie Appetizer
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup pecans
- 6 ounces fresh cranberries
- 6 ounces Brie cheese
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup fresh orange juice
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 30 phyllo cups
- Fresh thyme leaves to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Put pecans on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until lightly toasted. Remove from oven and let cool.
- Meanwhile, rinse cranberries and pat dry.
- Chop Brie into small pieces, removing the rind if you prefer.
- Put cranberries in saucepan with sugar, orange juice, water, and orange zest.
- Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil.
- Turn down heat to medium-low and simmer until cranberries pop and the mixture thickens, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Remove from heat and let cool until room temperature, about 20 minutes.
- Chop pecans.
- When all ingredients are ready, lay out phyllo cups on a baking sheet.
- Fill each cup with a dollop of cranberry sauce, a piece of cheese, and some chopped pecans.
- Bake at 350 for 5-8 minutes, until Brie begins to melt.
- Remove from oven, and transfer bites to a wire rack to cool slightly.
- Garnish with fresh thyme leaves, and serve warm.
Notes
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. When you want to reheat them, bake in a 375-degree oven for a few minutes, until the cheese softens and the phyllo cups crisp up again. You could also try reheating in an air fryer, but try just a minute or so at a time so that you are sure they aren’t starting to burn. Make-Ahead: You can make all the individual components of these baked Brie bites ahead of time, but we recommend waiting to bake them until you’re ready to serve. The cranberry sauce can be made up to 3 days before, and you can toast and chop the pecans at least a day or two in advance. You can cut the Brie into chunks and refrigerate until you need it. And of course, the phyllo cups can wait in the freezer until you’re ready.
Nutrition
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More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Dotty Stodulski says
can i use canned whole cranberry sauce?
Molly Pisula says
Definitely!
Deb says
Oh my goodness!! I’m so glad I found this recipe. It will be perfect for the holidays! Question, have you ever added shrimp or crab to this? It seems like it would be a good combination, but I’m not sure.
Molly Pisula says
interesting idea, Deb! I have not tried adding shrimp or crab but that could be lovely.