These Cranberry Brie Bites make the perfect holiday appetizer recipe! They come together so fast with just four ingredients.
In my humble opinion, we can never have too many holiday appetizers. Holiday parties that have lots of trays of snacks, delicious holiday themed cocktails, and Christmas music are my favorite.
These Cranberry Brie Bites make the best addition to any holiday party. They are only four ingredients and incredibly easy to make. Cranberry and brie go together seamlessly with the tart sweet flavor and the smooth buttery taste of the brie. Topped with a little orange zest and tucked in phyllo, these are perfection.
How to Make Cranberry Brie Bites
- Assemble the cups. Add a small piece of brie and about half a tablespoon of cranberry sauce to each cup.
- Bake the cups. Bake on a rimmed baking sheet for 5 minutes or until the edges of the phyllo cups just begin to brown.
- Top the cups. After removing from the oven, top the cups with a little orange zest and serve.
Using Homemade Cranberry Sauce
I love using my cranberry sauce in this recipe. It is just the perfect balance of sweet and works great here.
Phyllo Cups
Phyllo cups are made from phyllo dough that has been partially baked. They are often found in the freezer section of the grocery store near the puff pastry. I have also seen them labeled as filo cups and fillo cups.
Using Puff Pastry
If you are unable to find phyllo cups for this recipe, you can use puff pastry instead.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut the sheets of thawed puff pastry, into 3 inch by 3 inch pieces. Place them in a mini muffin tin, alternating spots so none are next to each other.
- Add a piece of brie and a 1/2 tablespoon of cranberry sauce to each one.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the puff pastry begins to brown.
- Remove from the oven, let them sit for 2 minutes before removing them from the muffin tin. Top with orange zest and serve.
Using Phyllo Sheets
Another option, if you can’t find the cups, is to use phyllo sheets.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut the sheets of thawed phyllo, into 3 inch by 3 inch pieces. Place them in a mini muffin tin.
- Add a piece of brie and a 1/2 tablespoon of cranberry sauce to each one.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the puff pastry begins to brown.
- Remove from the oven, let them sit for 2 minutes before removing them from the muffin tin. Top with orange zest and serve.
Variations for Cranberry Brie Bites
- Substitute puff pastry for the phyllo cups. This makes for a different appetizer, but an equally delicious one. Follow the instructions above.
- Replace the orange zest with marmalade. You could enhance the orange flavor by adding a little marmalade with the cranberry sauce before baking.
- Add in some pine nuts. If you want some extra crunch to these, toss a few pine nuts on the top of each one before baking.
- Add in some fresh ginger. Add just a teaspoon or two of freshly grated ginger into the cranberry sauce. Stir so it is well combined before adding it to the recipe.
Other Christmas Appetizers
If you make these Cranberry Brie Bites or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Cranberry Brie Bites
Ingredients
- 1 ounce brie cheese
- 1/3 cup cranberry sauce
- 15 phyllo cups found in the freezer section (see note)
- 1/2 tablespoon orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Fill each phyllo shell (straight from the freezer is fine), with a small piece of brie (eyeball a 1 inch square and 1/2 inch thick piece) and a little cranberry sauce (about 1/2 a tablespoon). Bake for 5 minutes or until the cups begin to turn golden brown.
- Remove from the oven, top with the orange zest and serve.
Notes
did you make this
Cranberry Brie Bites
This post was first published on Real Housemoms where I was a contributor.
Jenna says
The Cranberry Brie is perfect! It turns out with the best of sweet and a little pucker from the cranberry but the cracker evens it all out. Excellent recipe. It also just looks so pretty on the table too. Thank you for sharing.
Pat says
Can you tell if the cranberry cup are to be served warm or could I make them a couple of hours before serving?
Lisa Longley says
I highly recommend serving these warm.
Wendy says
I want to make this but could not find the cups so I am planning to use the phyllo sheets. How many sheets should I put together before cutting into 3 inch squares? In other words, how many layers of dough should I put into each mini muffin tin?
Lisa Longley says
I would take the entire package, and divide the sheets into two piles, then cut.
Paula says
Sorry, but what do you mean by bread crumbs?
Lisa Longley says
Hi Paula! I literally searched this post for the phrase bread crumbs and couldn’t find anything. Could it be that you meant something else?
Jacqueline St Cyr says
I was very disappointed. Could not taste the Brie. Seemed too heavy on the “shell”