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Why You’ll Love My Recipe

This classic snack is popular for a reason! Fruit and cheese were meant to be together so why not bake them up into savory little bites with tang?

If you want to add a little extra gourmet touch to this treat, try using my recipe for Homemade Cranberry Sauce for this recipe! And if you end up with extra cranberries, you can make my Orange Cranberry Relish as a perfect addition to a charcuterie board or as an amazing way to level up your next turkey sandwich!

Three small pecan tartlets stacked on a plate, with more tartlets and baking ingredients in the background on a marble surface, creating a bright and inviting dessert scene.

Karlynn’s Recipe Notes

Skill Level: Using premade puff pastry and cranberry sauce makes this an easy to make recipe that will impress your guests!
Total Time: These little bites make for a perfect snack or party appetizer—30 minutes of prep time and 30 minutes to cook!
Variations: Swap the brie and cranberry sauce for a sharp Cheddar with chutney, grainy mustard, or onion jam; Camembert cheese and a dab of horseradish; Bleu cheese and pear conserves; or even Chevre and quince jam for different taste sensations!
Tools For This Recipe: You’ll need a 24-cup mini muffin tin, a rolling pin, and a pizza cutter (to make slicing up your puff pastry easy) for this recipe!

What You’ll Need for Ingredients

Frozen Puff Pastry: You could absolutely make your own puff pastry (or rough puff, which is a “cheater’s” puff pastry that skips the tedious lamination process), but picking up a sheet of frozen puff pastry makes this recipe easy!

Cranberry Sauce: We suggest using whole berry cranberry sauce in this recipe for the extra texture, but if you want a smoother bite, feel free to use the jellied kind! The pecans and puff pastry will add a nice crunch to keep this from being a one-note bite.

A round wheel of brie cheese on a wooden board, surrounded by a block of parmesan, a bowl of cherry jam, a bowl of chopped pecans, a bowl of salt, and scattered whole pecans on a white marble surface.

Brie: Since it’s the star of the show, try to get your hands on the best quality Brie you can afford! Look for cheeses with a creamy, unblemished white rind and a sweet odor. The best Bries are no more than 1-inch thick—any thicker and the cheese will probably be overripe on the edges and underripe in the center.

Pecans: Chopped pecans add a wonderful crunch and compliment the natural nutty flavour of the Brie.

How To Make Cranberry Brie Bites

This is a quick overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients & complete step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.

A sheet of dough cut into rectangles on parchment paper, surrounded by a muffin pan, pecans, a rolling pin, a white towel, and small bowls with chopped pecans and a dark filling on a marble surface.

A muffin tin holds unbaked pastry dough cups. Surrounding the tin are a wooden board with brie cheese, scattered pecans, a bowl of cranberry sauce, a bowl of chopped pecans, and a white towel on a marble surface.

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Remove the rind from your brie and put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes to make it easier to slice. While you wait, roll out your puff pastry to a 10×14-inch rectangle and divide into 24 even squares.
Press each square of pastry gently into a greased mini-muffin cup.
Add 1 tsp of cranberry sauce, a piece of cut brie, and chopped pecans into each pastry cup and sprinkle with sea salt.
Let rest in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes, then bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

A hand holds a partially eaten pastry cup filled with layers of jam, chopped pecans, and melted cheese in flaky, golden-brown pastry. The pastry’s interior is visible, showing the distinct layers and textures.

Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Cranberry Brie Bites

Make Ahead Marvel: You can prepare these up to three days in advance by assembling them in the muffin tray and wrapping everything with plastic wrap!
Biter Beware: Even though it’ll be tempting to pop one of these beauties into your mouth straight out of the oven, make sure to let them cool a bit! The cranberry sauce and melty Brie retain a lot of heat, and you don’t want to burn your (or your guests’) mouths!

A plate of mini puff pastry tarts filled with chopped pecans sits on a marble surface. Nearby are a few scattered pecans, a bowl of jam, and more tarts cooling on a wire rack.

Storage Instructions

We don’t suggest that you freeze ready-made puff pastry after you’ve thawed it out to use in this recipe, but if you decide to make your own pastry, you can assemble your bites and freeze them using the muffin tin as a mold, then take them out of the mold and keep them in an airtight, freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. If baking from frozen, keep the oven temperature the same, but add 3 to 5 minutes of baking time.

If you have leftovers (which we doubt you will!) you can keep them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to three days.

More Delicious Party Snack Recipes

Looking for a quick nibble to accompany your favourite dip? Check out my recipe for Homemade Pita Chips!
For another delicious pastry-encased snack or appetizer, try myJalapeño Grilled Cheese Rollups!
My Parmesan Crisps are an excellent, low carb snack to enjoy with a glass of wine or as a salad topping!

A dish of baked Brie is a classic appetizer for a reason! But even though it looks impressive fresh out of the oven, it can end up looking a little ragged after your guests have started to dig in. These little pastry-encased bites give you the best of both worlds—they’re adorable on a platter and they’re timelessly delicious!

Give this recipe a try and let me know how it went for you in the comments below—I always love hearing about your cooking experiences!

Happy Baking,

Karlynn