Baked Brie with Cranberry-Apricot Chutney

in Appetizers, Brie, Christmas, Holiday Favorites, Thanksgiving

Baked Brie with Cranberry-Apricot Chutney

I grew up in a very small town where, by today’s standards, the “exotic” food choices weren’t exotic at all. There were many common foods that I never tried until into my mid-20s. Yet somehow in my early 20s I gained the “Martha Stewart” nickname among my girlfriends, despite being very much a connoisseur of Lean Cuisine and Duncan Hines.

What that really meant was I had a subscription to Martha Stewart Living, I kept my apartment clean, and I could make a mean chocolate chunk cookie and wrap a fancy sheet of puff pastry around a wheel of fancy cheese topped with a mound of caramelized onions. An appetizer that’s still one of my very, very favorite things to eat to this day.

At Thanksgiving and Christmas, those caramelized onions are replaced with a cranberry concoction. The appetizer comes together pretty quickly – place a few generous scoops of cranberry-apricot chutney over top, wrap in puff pastry, pinch the sides to seal, and bake. The end result is a melty, creamy cheese topped with a sweet & tangy sauce, all wrapped in a buttery, flakey crust. I haven’t done the math but I’m pretty sure it’s close to 2500 calories a bite.

A side note: Don’t shoot me… but if you have a lull before the holidays, set aside some time to make homemade puff pastry if you can swing it. We’re talking 20 minutes of hands-on + an hour rest. It’s pretty much just butter and flour but it’s ridiculously amazing. And a side-by-side taste-test with the box from the freezer section proves that it’s totally worth the effort. I made a batch last week, which yields the equivalent of 2 store-bought boxes (4 sheets total) and have 3 sheets left to get me through the holidays.

Baked Brie with Cranberry-Apricot Chutney

Tangy cranberry-apricot chutney tops a creamy wheel of brie wrapped with flakey, buttery puff pastry.

Ingredients

  • Baking spray or cooking oil
  • 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
  • 8 oz (~5.5-inch) wheel brie
  • 3/4 cup cranberry-apricot chutney
  • 1 egg

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. Lightly spray a small baking dish with baking spray or cooking oil. I have a small 6-inch mini-casserole dish that works perfectly - otherwise, just select something that has a slight lip or sides in case your brie tries to make a run for it.
  3. Unfold the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it a couple of times each direction.
  4. Place the wheel of brie in the center of the dough and top the wheel with cranberry chutney.
  5. Fold the sides around the brie, pinching to seal (it may or may not cover the top) and trimming if necessary.
  6. Place the wrapped brie in the baking dish.
  7. Whisk egg with 1 Tbsp water and brush the dough.
  8. Bake for ~25 minutes, until golden brown.
  9. Let cool ~10 minutes and transfer to a dish.
  10. Serve warm or room temp with crunchy dippers like pita chips and toasted bread.

Notes

Yields: 6-8 servings

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride

Estimated time: 35 minutes

9 comments… add one
  • ahh I love all things brie! I can eat a whole round to myself just slathered on bread! :O This sounds phenom! Thanksgiving perfection!

  • YUM! I just might have to add this to our Thanksgiving menu – as an appetizer before the meal or a snack later that night.

  • Amazing! Brie is one of my favorite cheeses ever!

  • That puff pasty is on my list for this year. This sounds and look utterly divine – I love the cranberry twist.

  • Almost this exact baked brie is a starter I make for thanksgiving too! Baked brie is the best!

  • Baked brie is one of my most favorite things on this EARTH! It would be bad if I made this just for myself and ate it for dinner one night, right?

  • I love how you wrapped these up and topped it off with cranberries. The best November/December fruit!

  • Patti T.

    We already have a ton of food I make every year for Thanksgiving, so I think I will save this for our Christmas Eve festivities. My sister used to bring appetizers, but after several years of no one eating them for fear of being unable to eat all that was coming up for the main meal, we finally decided to give up on appetizers. (I think of you like Martha Stewart.)

  • Ann

    This is an incredible recipe! So, so good & super easy. I was in a rush and used what I had on hand after a shopping trip to Trader Joe’s. Fortunately, brie is something we have in the house all the time and that made this a snap – in a semi-homemade kinda way. I used Trader Joe’s puff pastry, Trader Joe’s cranberry sauce (the one in the jar – not the can), and a wedge of double cream brie. Because we were feeding a few hockey players after practice I used a large wedge of brie, topped with half the jar of cranberry sauce (and could have used more), wrapped it in two layers of puff pastry, and baked in a 9″ Le Creuset gratin dish. Perfect! Baked for about 35 minutes at 400 degrees and they inhaled it! I made a second one and they ate half of that, too. It reheated beautifully the next day at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes. I’m looking forward to trying your recipe here with the chutney and home-made puff pastry very soon. Thanks for another great option!

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