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Cranberry Brie Bites are a delicious handheld, bite-sized appetizer that is just perfect for the holidays. Sweet and tart cranberry and orange flavors on top of creamy brie cheese all piled into a buttery, flaky crescent dough cup. 

Cranberry is my favorite holiday flavor. I love combining it with orange like in these Cranberry Orange Scones, Cranberry Bliss Bars and Homemade Cranberry Orange Sauce. But it really takes these brie bites over the top!

an overhead image of cranberry brie bites on a wooden platter with fresh rosemary
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Cranberry Brie Bites Appetizer

These little beauties are the perfect handheld bite. They’ve got everything a good finger food should have – sweetness from the cranberry and orange sauce, creamy cheesy brie and a crunchy vessel made from bread dough to hold it all in!

The brie melts very nicely but holds its shape, making it perfect for holiday snack recipes. One way to enjoy it is Baked Brie with Jam – baking an entire wheel of cheese in a pastry crust, topping it with jam, and using crackers to scoop up the melted goodness.

The best thing about these Cranberry Brie Bites? You bake bite-sized pieces of brie in small squares of crescent dough and top with cranberry orange sauce for individually sized appetizers!

Ingredients

  • Crescent Roll Dough Yup, you pop the tube and roll out the dough, cutting it into squares instead of rolling up the triangles. You can also use a puff pastry sheet.
  • Brie Cheese – Brie is a very mild cheese that pairs really well with both sweet and spicy flavors.
  • Orange Marmalade – This is optional, but I love the flavor profile of the sweet orange and the tart cranberry sauce. Apricot jam is also nice.
  • Whole Cranberry Sauce – Use a canned sauce, or make my Homemade Cranberry Sauce. If you don’t have cranberry sauce, strawberry or raspberry jam is a lovely substitute.
  • Nuts – Chopped pistachios, walnuts, almonds, or pecans.
  • Fresh Rosemary

How To Make Cranberry Brie Bites

See the recipe card below for full, detailed instructions

Prep: To start, you’ll need a mini muffin pan, the one with 24 cups. Spray them really well with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat your oven – it will be ready to bake once you finish prepping the ingredients.

Prepare the Brie Cheese: Cut up 6 ounces of brie into small squares that will fit into the mini muffin tin cups. Mine were about 3/4-inch to 1-inch in size. You can find a wheel of brie in 6 ounce wheels at my grocery store, but If you need to buy a larger one, just eat the rest! Feel free to leave the rind on because it’s edible. Keep it refrigerated until you’re ready to assemble the bites.

Mix Topping: Combine cranberry sauce and orange marmalade and set that aside as well.

Small pieces of crecent dough pressed into muffin cups.

Prepare the Dough: Roll out crescent roll dough and cut it into 24 squares. Use flour on your cutting board to keep it from sticking. Press the cracks in the dough together and stretch the dough out into a square shape so you can cut evenly. Press those squares into each muffin cup.

Crescent dough in muffin cups with squares of brie cheese.
Crescent dough in muffin cups with brie cheese topped with cranberry sauce and pistachios.

Assemble the Bites: Grab the brie squares and set one into each muffin cup. Drizzle a little of the cranberry sauce mixture on top and around the cheese square. Sprinkle on some chopped pistachios or pecans.

Cook: Bake for 10-13 minutes. Oven temperatures can vary so watch closely after 10 minutes so your cranberry brie bites don’t burn. Just before serving, top with a sprig of rosemary.

Serving Suggestions

Let the bites cool slightly then serve immediately; it’s best to eat them warm. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days. Reheat in the oven to melt the cheese. I don’t recommend freezing them.

Storage and Freezing

Can cranberry brie bites be made in advance? Because we’re using Pillsbury crescent dough to keep it super simple, these are best baked and served immediately. If you want to make them in advance, I’d recommend using puff pastry dough instead.

How do you reheat cranberry brie bites? Place the bites on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes or until heated through.

How do you store leftovers? Place leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. Or freeze for up to 3 months and reheat from frozen in a 350 degree oven.

Expert Tips

  • To really spice things up, try mixing a pepper jelly with the cranberry sauce instead of orange marmalade.
  • You can definitely use puff pastry if you prefer. I like the crescent roll because it’s just a little easier to work with. If using puff pastry, roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper.
  • To make the dough glisten, brush just the edges with a little egg wash (whisked egg with a tablespoon or so of water.
Cranberry brie bites on a wooden surface.

More Appetizers You’ll Love


Recipe

Cranberry Brie Bites

4.89 from 105 votes
Cranberry Brie Bites are a sweet and tangy bite-sized appetizer. Creamy baked brie in a flaky crescent roll cup topped with sweet cranberry orange sauce.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
Total Time 28 minutes
Servings 8 people

Ingredients
  

  • 8 ounce tube crescent roll dough
  • flour for rolling out the dough
  • 6 ounces Brie cheese
  • ¼ cup orange marmalade
  • ¼ cup whole cranberry sauce
  • ¼ cup chopped pistachios, pecans or walnuts
  • fresh rosemary or candied orange pieces for garnish
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Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease a 24-count mini-muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Cut the brie into small, about 1-inch (or a little less) squares and set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.
  • In a small bowl, mix together orange marmalade and cranberry sauce. Set aside.
  • Lightly flour a flat surface, like a large wooden cutting board, and roll out the tub of crescent dough. Stretch slightly to form an evenly sided rectangle and pinch seams together. Cut into 24 even sized squares.
  • Place the squares into the prepared muffin cups. Top with brie cheese square and a teaspoon (or a little less) of the orange-cranberry mixture. Top with a few of the chopped nuts and a small sprig of rosemary.
  • Slide the muffin pan into the oven and bake for about 10-13 minutes, or until golden brown and dough is cooked through.
  • Let cool 5-10 minutes and serve warm.

Notes

Can cranberry brie bites be made in advance? Because we’re using Pillsbury crescent dough to keep it super simple, these are best baked and served immediately. If you want to make them in advance, I’d recommend using puff pastry dough instead.
How do you reheat cranberry brie bites? Place the bites on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes or until heated through.
How to you store leftovers? Place leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. Or freeze for up to 3 months and reheat from frozen in a 350 degree oven.
Keyword cranberry brie bites

Nutrition

Serving: 3bitesCalories: 229.65kcalCarbohydrates: 22.53gProtein: 6.23gFat: 13.74gSaturated Fat: 6.47gCholesterol: 21.26mgSodium: 364.46mgPotassium: 71.72mgFiber: 0.55gSugar: 12.54gVitamin A: 141.82IUVitamin C: 0.87mgCalcium: 46.96mgIron: 0.61mg

Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.

Kristin Maxwell

Kristin Maxwell is the creator and main recipe developer, writer, and photographer of Yellow Bliss Road. A self-taught cook and self-appointed foodie, she specializes in easy, flavorful and approachable recipes for any home cook.

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Comments

  1. Gabby M says:

    I made these for our Thanksgiving celebration and they were a MASSIVE hit…I should have doubled the recipe! I love in South Africa so I had to make some substitutes based on what we have here – puff pastry instead of crescent dough and a cranberry fig jam instead of cranberry sauce, but it was still so good! The little sprig of rosemary really made a big impact.

    1. Kristin says:

      That’s so awesome Gabby! Awesome feedback, thanks for stopping by to share.

  2. Allie says:

    Ok, I know Iโ€™m the problem here. The cheese keeps melting all over the place. Any tips? They taste so good but I canโ€™t get it right.

    1. Kristin Maxwell says:

      It’s hard to know what’s happening because I’m not in the kitchen with you, but I’d try cutting smaller pieces of cheese, and make sure to keep the rind on the cheese. A higher quality cheese might help too. Feel free to email me and I can try to help troubleshoot.

  3. Loubna says:

    I made it too many times and it turned out so so good thanks for sharing your recipe

    1. Kristin says:

      That’s so awesome Loubna! You are so welcome.

  4. Christine says:

    I donโ€™t know if you got my comment, but I only have a twelve cup pan, can I double the recipe? And, if I do, will it come out like itโ€™s supposed to?

    1. Kristin Maxwell says:

      Hi Christine, I answered your other question but didn’t realize what you are asking. A 12 count pan will have larger cups so they final result won’t really be bite sized. A mini muffin pan would be best, but a 12-cup could work (but isn’t the best option, if that makes sense).

  5. Christine says:

    Can this recipe be doubled?

    1. Kristin Maxwell says:

      Yes it’s very easy to double. Just click the “2x” in the recipe card.

  6. Susan says:

    What can I substitute instead of Marmalade. I don’t like the taste of orange in cooking.

    1. Kristin Maxwell says:

      You could substitute with another jam or just use the cranberry by itself.

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