These puff pastry brie bites are melty, golden, and topped with a jammy cranberry pecan crumble. They’re the easiest impressive thing you’ll bring to a party this season.
Brie Bites At A Glance
- ⏱ Ready In: 40 minutes
- 🍽 Serves: 18 bites
- 🌱 Diet: Vegetarian
- 💪 Nutrition Highlights: A good hit of protein and calcium from the brie, plus healthy fats from the pecans
- 🥕 Main Ingredients: Puff pastry, brie, cranberry sauce, pecans, rosemary, honey
- 🔥 Flavor Profile: Buttery and flaky, with melted brie running into a jammy, caramelised cranberry and pecan topping, finished with rosemary and flaky salt
- 🧊 Meal-Prep Friendly: The pastry cases and crumble can both be made a day ahead, then assembled just before serving
- Best Served With: Sparkling wine, a cheese board, or alongside other holiday finger food
Brie bites are one of the most popular appetizers you’ll see on a Thanksgiving or Christmas table, and for good reason, melted brie and puff pastry is a pretty foolproof combination. For my take, I wanted to elevate the classic version a little.
Most brie bite recipes bake the pastry in mini muffin tins, but I’ve found that method never gives the super flaky, crispy result; instead, the pastry ends up a bit soft and steamed from sitting in the casing. In my recipe, the puff pastry is cut into little squares with a raised border and pre-baked as their own mini pastry wells before the brie ever goes in, which means every layer stays properly crisp and flaky.
Then the real star, and what makes these genuinely different from the usual brie bites, is the pecan, cranberry and rosemary crumble on top. It’s not just there for flavor, the caramelized, jammy texture against the crisp pastry and melted brie is what takes these from good to the ones people ask you for the recipe for.
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What You’ll Need
Here is what you’ll need for this puff pastry brie bites recipe. Find the full measurements in the recipe card below.
For the pastry bites
- Puff pastry sheets, thawed but still cold. This is what gives you that raised, puffed border, so keep it chilled while you work with it, or it gets hard to handle
- Egg, for the egg wash. This is what gives the pastry its deep golden color and shine
- Brie, cut into small squares. Go for a good quality wheel if you can, it melts more evenly than the very cheap stuff
For the caramelised crumble
- Butter, for toasting the nuts
- Pecans or walnuts, chopped. Either works well, pecans have a slightly sweeter, softer flavor, while walnuts are a touch more bitter and crunchy
- Fresh rosemary, finely chopped. This is doing a lot of work here, it cuts through the sweetness and makes the whole thing taste festive rather than just sugary
- Cranberry sauce. Homemade or a good jarred one both work, just make sure it’s fairly thick to begin with
- Honey, for extra glossiness and a rounder sweetness than sugar alone
- Worcestershire sauce. Small amount, but it adds a savory depth that stops the topping tasting like straight jam
- Flaky salt, to finish. Don’t skip this, it’s what balances all the sweetness in the crumble
How To Make Brie Bites
Find the full recipe and nutritional information below. Here are some handy step-by-step photos for how to make these brie bites.
- Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F) and line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Cut both sheets of puff pastry into a 4×4 grid, so you end up with 32 squares total.
- Set aside 12 to 14 of those squares and cut them into thin strips, about 1 cm (½ inch) wide. Keep the pastry cold as you go, it’s much easier to handle that way.
- Prick the center of each remaining square all over with a fork, avoiding the very edges, so the base stays flat as it bakes.
- Press a pastry strip around the edge of each docked square to form a raised border, overlapping slightly at the corners. Any leftover docked squares without a border can just be baked plain.
- Brush the tops generously with beaten egg, making sure you really get into the border strips.
- Bake for 12 minutes, until the borders are puffed and golden and the centers have stayed flat.
- While that’s baking, melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the chopped pecans and toast for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant and golden. Stir through the rosemary and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add the cranberry sauce, honey and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick, glossy and jammy rather than saucy. Take it off the heat and stir through the flaky salt.
- While the brie is still cold, cut it into 18 small squares, roughly the size of the well in your pastry (or just a touch smaller).
- Pull the baked pastry from the oven and drop a piece of brie into the center of each one. Return to the oven for a few minutes, just until the brie is melted and the pastry is deeply golden.
- Top each bite with a spoonful of the warm cranberry crumble and serve straight away. A little extra sprig of rosemary on top never hurts.
Watch The Video
Recipe Tips
- Keep your pastry cold. This is the one thing that makes the biggest difference to how well the border puffs up. If it starts to feel soft and warm while you’re cutting and shaping, pop the tray in the fridge for 10 minutes before baking.
- Have an extra sheet of pastry on hand in case you need more squares or strips, it’s easy to underestimate how many strips you’ll get through.
- Swap the pecans for walnuts if that’s what you have, or leave the nuts out entirely for a nut-free version and just top with extra crumble.
- Make it ahead: bake the pastry cases and make the crumble up to a day in advance. Store the pastry cases in an airtight container at room temperature and the crumble in the fridge. Assemble and finish baking with the brie just before you want to serve them.
- Leftovers keep in the fridge for up to 2 days, though the pastry will soften. Reheat in a hot oven for a few minutes to crisp it back up rather than using the microwave.
- These don’t freeze well once assembled, but the unbaked pastry cases can be frozen and baked straight from frozen, adding a couple of extra minutes to the bake time.
Serving Suggestions
These are best served warm, straight from the oven, while the brie is still melted and gooey. They’re an easy addition to a Christmas grazing table or cheese board, and they pair beautifully with a glass of something sparkling. If you’re putting together a full spread, they sit really well alongside a charcuterie board or a few other warm bites like cocktail meatballs, so guests have a mix of textures and temperatures to pick through.
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Puff pastry squares with a puffed border, a pool of melted brie, and a warm, caramelized cranberry, pecan, and rosemary crumble on top. Makes 18 bites and comes together in under an hour. Find step-by-step photos below and more recipe tips above.
For the caramelised crumble
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Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and line two baking trays with baking paper.
-
Cut both sheets of puff pastry into a 4×4 grid to make 32 squares in total.
-
Set aside 12 to 14 squares and cut them into thin strips, about 1 cm (½ inch) wide, keeping the pastry cold as you work.
-
Prick the center of each remaining square all over with a fork, avoiding the edges, to keep it flat as it bakes.
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Press a pastry strip around the edge of each docked square to form a raised border, overlapping slightly at the corners. Bake any spare docked squares plain, without a border.
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Brush the tops generously with the beaten egg, especially the border strips.
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Bake for 12 minutes, until the borders are puffed and golden and the centers remain flat.
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Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the pecans or walnuts and toast for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant and golden. Stir in the rosemary and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
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Add the cranberry sauce, honey, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick, glossy, and jammy rather than saucy. Remove from the heat and stir through the flaky salt.
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While the brie is still cold, cut it into 18 small squares, about 5mm thick, roughly the size of the well in the pastry or just a touch smaller.
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Remove the baked pastry from the oven and place a piece of brie in the center of each square. Return to the oven for a few minutes, until the brie is melted and the pastry is a deep golden color.
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Top each bite with a small spoonful of the warm cranberry crumble and serve immediately, garnished with a little extra rosemary if you like.
Key Recipe Tips: Have a spare sheet of pastry on hand, work quickly with cold pastry, and swap pecans for walnuts if needed. Leave the nuts out entirely for a nut-free version.
Storage Tips: Best eaten warm the day they’re made. Leftovers keep in the fridge for up to 2 days, reheated in a hot oven rather than the microwave to keep the pastry crisp.
Make-Ahead Tips: Bake the pastry cases and make the crumble up to a day ahead. Store the pastry at room temperature in an airtight container and the crumble in the fridge, then assemble with the brie and finish baking just before serving.
FAQs:
Can I make these ahead of time for a party?
Yes. Bake the pastry cases and make the cranberry crumble up to a day in advance, then add the brie and finish baking just before your guests arrive.
Can I use a different cheese instead of brie?
Camembert works as a close substitute. A firmer cheese like cheddar won’t give you the same melted, gooey texture.
Why did my pastry border collapse instead of puffing up?
This usually comes down to warm pastry. Keep it as cold as possible while cutting and shaping, and pop the tray in the fridge for a few minutes before baking if it’s softened.
Can I freeze these?
Not once assembled, but you can freeze the unbaked pastry cases and bake them straight from frozen, adding a couple of extra minutes to the bake time.
Calories: 207kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 204mg | Potassium: 57mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 105IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg
