Cranberry Brie Puff Pastry Bites

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Cranberry brie puff pastry bites are exactly the kind of holiday appetizer I like: festive, easy to assemble and small enough to eat in a couple of bites. Flaky puff pastry holds warm Brie, tart cranberry sauce and a little walnut crunch.

They’re especially handy for Thanksgiving or Christmas because you can assemble them ahead and bake them shortly before everyone arrives.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Bite-sized and easy to serve
• Only a handful of ingredients
• Sweet, savory, creamy and crisp
• Can be assembled ahead for entertaining

Ingredient Notes

Puff pastry: One standard sheet makes about 24 mini pastry cups. Keep it cold until you’re ready to work with it.

Brie: Chilled Brie is much easier to cut into neat little pieces. The rind can stay on.

Cranberry sauce: Whole berry cranberry sauce gives the bites more texture and a prettier finish than completely smooth sauce.

Walnuts: A small amount gives each bite some crunch. Pecans are an easy substitute.

How to Make Cranberry Brie Puff Pastry Bites

Prepare the Pastry: Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C. Lightly grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin. Gently roll the cold puff pastry just enough to even it out, then cut it into 24 equal squares.

Shape the Mini Cups: Press one pastry square gently into each mini muffin cup, allowing the corners to extend slightly above the pan.

Add the Brie and Cranberry: Place a small piece of Brie in each pastry cup and top with about ½ teaspoon cranberry sauce. Keep the filling modest because the cheese will melt and the cranberry sauce will bubble as it bakes.

Add the Walnuts: Sprinkle a small amount of chopped walnuts over each bite.

Chill: Refrigerate the filled muffin tin for 10 minutes. Keeping the pastry cold before it goes into the oven helps create better puffed layers and keeps the little cups from losing their shape.

Brush and Bake: Brush only the exposed pastry edges lightly with beaten egg. Bake for 15–18 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and deeply golden and the Brie is melted.

Rest and Serve: Let the bites sit in the pan for about 5 minutes before carefully lifting them out. Sprinkle with a small amount of finely chopped fresh rosemary and serve warm.

Tips

• Keep the puff pastry cold until baking.
• Don’t overfill the mini cups — more Brie and cranberry isn’t necessarily better here.
• Let them cool for a few minutes before removing them because the melted Brie will be very hot.
• If some cranberry sauce bubbles over, loosen the edges gently while the bites are still warm.

Make Ahead

Assemble the bites in the mini muffin tin several hours ahead, cover and refrigerate. Brush with egg wash immediately before baking.

Leftover bites can be reheated at 350°F / 175°C for about 5–7 minutes to bring back some of the pastry’s crispness.

For another holiday appetizer, these would work beautifully alongside Shrimp and Crab Stuffed Mushrooms. And if you’re building a full holiday menu, Stuffed Turkey Breast with Cranberry & Feta carries the cranberry flavour into the main course.

That way both the inline recommendation and the You May Also Like section are doing real internal linking instead of just mentioning recipe names.

You May Also Like

Shrimp and Crab Stuffed Mushrooms – another warm, bite-sized appetizer that works beautifully on a holiday spread.

Stuffed Turkey Breast with Cranberry & Feta – a festive main dish that carries the cranberry theme through the holiday meal.

Apple Cranberry Feta Salad with Toasted Pecans – a fresh holiday salad that balances richer appetizers and mains.