Cranberry Pecan Baked Brie
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This cranberry pecan baked brie is the perfect holiday brie! Made with an irresistible warm maple-pecan topping. So easy yet so impressive!
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Why you’ll love this Cranberry Pecan Baked Brie
- Holiday favorite. This is one of those crowd-pleasing elegant appetizers perfect for all get-togethers – dinner parties, holidays, family gathering, and potlucks. It feeds a large crowd and looks impressive on any dinner table.
- Quick prep. This easy baked brie dish requires just 10 minutes prep, ideal for no-stress hosting and entertaining.
- The irresistible maple-pecan topping. The melted brie pairs so well with the warm, sweet, crunchy, nutty topping made so effortlessly with just a few pantry staples.
What is baked brie?
Baked brie is a popular appetizer featuring a wheel of soft brie cheese, baked until softened and gooey in the center. It is commonly paired with sweet ingredients (ex. fig jam, brown sugar, honey) and served warm alongside some favorited dippers such as sliced baguette, crackers, and fruit slices.
How to make Cranberry Pecan Baked Brie
- Prep the brie. Let the brie come to room temperature, then place the cheese in a 5-inch cast iron skillet and top with brown sugar in an even layer. Pro tip: you can also use a small rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake. Bake at 350°F until the brie is soft and creamy, about 12-15 minutes.
- Make the maple-pecan topping. Combine the brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange zest in a saucepan until foamy, then stir in the pecans and cranberries until evenly coated.
- Serve. Serve the melted brie topped with the warm maple-pecan topping alongside crackers and crostini for dipping.
The best dippers for baked brie
- Bread: Toasted crostini, sourdough boule, seeded loaves (avoid soft sandwich breads)
- Crackers: Water crackers, seeded crackers, pita chips
- Fruit: Grapes, apples (fuji or pink lady), firm pears
What to serve with Cranberry Pecan Baked Brie
Tools For This Recipe
Cranberry Pecan Baked Brie: Frequently Asked Questions
No need for a fancy, artisanal brie! Any economical, inexpensive brie or Camembert from the supermarket will work very well in this recipe.
No, keeping the edible rind on will ensure that the brie will hold its shape during baking, keeping the cheese intact.
Walnuts, almonds, and pistachios are all excellent swaps.
The brie will feel very soft and pliable with a little bit of melted cheese slightly peeking and oozing from the sides.
Serve with fresh fruit (apple or pear slices), sturdy crackers (water crackers), dried fruit, and/or toasted bread slices (crostini).
The brie will harden as it cools but the leftovers can be reheated in the microwave or oven.
Cranberry Pecan Baked Brie
Video
Ingredients
- 1 (8-ounce) wheel brie cheese, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
For the maple honey drizzle
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- ½ cup pecan halves, chopped
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place brie on a rimmed baking sheet or a 5-inch cast iron skillet; sprinkle with brown sugar. Place into oven and bake until softened, about 12-15 minutes; let cool 5-10 minutes.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until foamy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in pecans and cranberries.
- Serve brie warm topped with pecan mixture; serve with crackers or baguette.
Equipment
Notes
- Prep the cheese. Let the brie sit out at room temperature for about 15-20 minutes prior to baking to allow for even melting.
- Leave the rind on. Keeping the rind intact will help the brie hold its shape and structure while it melts during baking. The top layer of the rind can be removed upon serving for dipping and dunking, similarly to fondue.
- Use an oven-proof skillet. Use a small cast iron skillet or oven-safe dish that is slightly larger than the diameter of the brie, leaving enough space for the melted brie to ooze out when serving.
- Toast the pecans (optional). Toast the pecans in a hot skillet first to add even more nutty flavors.
- Mix it up. Swap out the dried cranberries for dried cherries, or substitute the pecans for walnuts.
- Add a garnish. Sprinkle fresh thyme leaves or chopped rosemary just before serving for a pop of color.
- Serve warm. Baked brie is best served warm out of the oven. It will start to firm as it sits out, about 10-15 minutes.
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Fisher Nuts. All opinions expressed are my own.
Was amazing! I made it to take to a party… the flavours were outstanding! Tons of compliments…
Just made it for Christmas Eve! Very good!
It is one of our favorites! We hope you have a wonderful holiday.
Way too sweet. With the brown sugar sprinkled on the brie, plus the other sweeteners, this tastes more like a dessert
Could I use hot honey with this?
Absolutely!
With some of the comments about “sweet” I have to comment that I was expecting to see a measurement of salt to add since it calls for unsalted butter. I always used unsalted, but there should be salt added IMHO.
Can the brie be replaced with Camembert?
Very tasty! The maple flavor goes really well with the brie. I omitted the sugar and when I poured the maple/honey/nut/cranberry mixture on top, I sprinkled on some dried thyme and salt to cut the sweetness a little bit. It was delicious!
Very good! Made this twice… first time I followed the recipe exactly. Second time I omitted the brown sugar since I don’t like things too sweet and added 1/2c fresh cranberries. At the end, I added a little fresh thyme.
Was excellent but way too sweet. I couldn’t taste the brie due to all the sugar. Next time I’ll omit the first 2 tbsp of brown sugar before baking the brie.
After that, I may omit the brown sugar all together. The maple syrup and honey gives it all the sugar it needs.
And I like sweet!!
My sister made it for a family get together it was really good
This was my first time to make brie, and this recipe was easy and tasted amazing! I’m making it for Christmas Day. I’ve referred to Damn Delicious over and over throughout the years, and I have never been disappointed.
This is the best cheese appetizer recipe I have ever had and I have had a lot of cheese! I admit I’m partial to Brie, but these toppings really elevate it to a whole new level of yummy goodness! I made it for a Thanksgiving gathering last year then scrapped the app I was going to make for the other Thanksgiving dinner I had and brought this instead. It was a big hit both times and I was asked to bring it for Christmas. One night after having it on my mind all day, my boyfriend and I made a meal out of it! I don’t advise that but I do strongly suggest you make this recipe and try it for yourselves. It will not disappoint.
Made this last year! Exactly the same w/out the brown sugar glaze. To say it was delicious does this dish no favours. It was one of the best bites ever. I’m going to try this particular recipe soon! Thanks.
Delicious. I had a large brie wheel so I doubled the topping. Used about 1.25 cups fresh cranberries in place of dried and just simmered them a little longer in the pan – this worked great. Made the topping ahead of time so I could quickly throw together later. I kept it in a little sauce pan and just returned it to the stove for a warm up shortly before the brie came out of the oven. When I make this again, I’ll omit the brown sugar on top of the brie, but that’s just because I prefer things a little less sweet. Awesome recipe – love the flavor combination!! Thank you.
I took this to a holiday party and it was a hit! I doubled the size of the Brie wheel (rind on) and used a larger iron skillet but kept the maple honey drizzle to the original recipe…except I added 2 tbs unsweetened cranberry juice to make the drizzle a little runnier. I made everything before going to the party and kept it warm. At the party, I cut through the top of the rind to expose the gooey brie and spooned the drizzle on top. It was perfect, looked quite stunning and tasted even better!
This was delicious, but….. do not remove the rind as the recipe states. I knew better. Even in the picture the rind is not removed. It melted like a snowman!!!!!!
Going to try this on the weekend for houseguests. I’m kinda stuck about removing the rind as I don’t have a small enough cast iron. When you do have the right sized pan, and remove the rind, does that make it go all gooey all over the pan? Is that how you serve it? Sorry, but your pic looks like the rind is on? Can I use a pie plate? And not that gooey chees isa bad thing!
I made this this for New Years Eve 2020 going into 2021. Instead of pecans, I used almonds because that is what I had on hand and I use cane syrup because I did not have maple syrup. But I did everything else according to the recipe. The dish was wonderful. Some people thought the glaze on the Brie Cheese would also go great on cornish hens or chicken. I decided I will give that a try. Next time I make this, I will make sure I have the maple syrup and pecans and triple the recipe. I gave this recipe five stars.
It’s incredible, tastes like it could even be served as a dessert. It’s mouthwatering, amazing and I make it at every dinner party.
This was absofrackinglutly amazing! I didn’t have an orange, zest or orange juice but I did have orange marmalade. I used half a tablespoon of that because the orange flavor seemed important. If that detracted from the outcome it’s just as well because my guests would have gotten hurt throwing themselves on the floor in ecstasy. And it was so easy to make. Definitely will make this again (and again)!