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 gatherings, 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.
This has become a Christmas tradition at our house. Don’t skip the orange zest, it definitely makes it special.
This is seriously the best, fancy without being fussy. Everyone loves it!!
Very easy, elegant and yummy!
We had never had Brie before. We worried that it might be too sweet so we did not put very much sugar on the Brie before it went to the oven. Everything else we followed.
I am at a loss for words. There are only two of us. We have locked the doors. We have bribed the dog with Brie and bacon so she won’t tell. We are not going to tell anyone – they might want us to share.
We will let some special friends know about this recipe – but not until all the evidence is gone.
WOW
This was such a hit! I made this as a appetizer for company, and they loved it so much, they said that was good enough for dinner. They all ate the whole thing!i will definitely made this again, and super easy to prepare.
The picture looks like the rind is on. Is it necessary to remove it?
You would need to leave the rind on. The rind will contain the cheese as it bakes so that it maintains its shape. Enjoy!
What does it mean to “trim” the rind? I know you leave the outside intact for baking, so where would you trim it?
I have not made this yet but I was thinking that it would make sense to shave the rind off the top so that topping will adhere to the gooey part of the cheese instead of sliding off.
That may be what is needed, but I have had Bries that had sort of a tough dry ridge around the edges — the edges, not the entire sides — so I thought maybe that was what we are supposed to trim off.
I used fresh cranberries instead of dried. I put them in with the first ingredients and stirred in the pecans at the end. It got rave reviews! I will do this again.
This was amazing!
Made this last night for a ladies night. It was absolutely delicious and a big hit! I will make this again for sure.
I served with Pepperidge Farms Golden Butter crackers. so easy.
Delicious showstopper! I used only 1 tablespoon of brown sugar on the brie while it baked. The topping was delicious- I used dried unsweetened cherries since I didn’t have cranberries. Just gorgeous! I love the salty sweet combo of Brie and sauce.
How many tbsp of orange zest did you use?
Recipe says zest of 1 orange
I tried a lot of new recipes this Thanksgiving and this one was absolutely my favorites. I doubled this, had a 16 oz wheel and 6 of us couldn’t eat it up fast enough. Delicious!!!
Great! Next time I’ll probably leave the cheese in the oven for 9-10 min. Like another comment earlier, I used fresh cranberries that I microwaved for 4min with a bit of water and sugar.
I will try this soon. Look very tasty.
Simple dish, very flavorful. Cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar scream Christmas to me (even though I’m enjoying it in June.) I read some the reviews that said ‘too sweet’ so I substituted pecans for a more bitter nut – the walnut. I made one other substitution. I swapped cranberries for raisins. Cranberrys would have been 100% better, but that’s all I had on hand. Turned out delicious. Thanks for the recipe, I will be keeping this one close at hand!
I have made this several times and always a big hit….Thank you for the recipe 🙂
It was delicious! The only change I made is that I used fresh cranberries that I added a teaspoon of sugar to and a little water then microwaved it for 5 minutes. Dries cranberries are too sweet and there’s enough sugar in the recipe. It was perfect! Will make again
Thanks for sharing Gwen!
I make a similar dish but all the rind is trimmed off and it’s wrapped in puff pastry. I live close to Ocean Spray so I use fresh cranberries. It is so easy and comes out perfect every time !
Hi Chungah! How much brown sugar should I sprinkle on before baking? And should I still use 1/4 cup in the topping mix as well? Looking forward to serving this at my Christmas party!
2 tablespoons of brown sugar should be sprinkled prior to baking. The 1/4 cup is for the maple honey drizzle.
This was beautiful to serve at Christmas last year, and so quick and easy to make – my family asked for seconds on Boxing Day and even made sure to bring their own wheel of brie along to make sure it was served again! Thanks for sharing a nice recipe that brings families together =)