Cranberry Baked Brie is an EASY 15-minute sweet and savory appetizer recipe! Gooey, melted brie topped with cranberry sauce, rosemary, honey, walnuts, and flaky sea salt. It’s an easy crowd pleaser for holiday parties and only takes minutes to prep.

If you’re looking for an easy and delicious holiday appetizer recipe, this Cranberry Baked Brie recipe is for you!

You can make your own cranberry sauce, or use any leftovers that you may have. Serve this melty brie with all your favorite crackers and you’ve got a winning appetizer recipe!

Cranberry Baked Brie: An Easy Holiday Appetizer

It’s officially the holiday season! Time to whip up fun holiday appetizers like this festive Cranberry Baked Brie topped with crunchy pecans to bring on the Christmas cheer.

We love hosting holiday parties every year and this baked brie is a must make. It’s always the first appetizer to get totally gobbled up by guests!

Entertaining is a ton of work. I love it, but it’s not the easiest thing to facilitate a holiday party so I always turn to some home runs that I know will be crowd pleasers. If they’re easy and quick to throw together, all the better!

The whole recipe for Cranberry Baked Brie only takes 15 minutes to throw together and that’s WITH the homemade cranberry sauce. Just whip up the cranberry sauce, top the brie, and bake for 8-10 minutes until the brie is soft and gooey. Serve with crackers and let the holiday festivities begin!

Sweet and tart cranberry sauce is just the perfect pairing with the creamy and melty brie. The rosemary and walnuts add crunch and flavor and the drizzle of honey really rounds out the flavors.

This is an easy and yummy appetizer and finger food option for your Christmas and New Year Eve parties.

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

Easy – This recipe for Cranberry Baked Brie couldn’t be easier to throw together! The cranberry sauce comes together with a handful of ingredients and bakes for less than 10 minutes. What could be easier than that?

Festive – This is the perfect holiday appetizer! It’s festive, delicious, and perfect for Christmas or New Years! This is also the perfect recipe for using up leftover cranberry sauce.

Vegetarian Appetizer – With the holidays and Christmas being sort of meat-heavy holidays, I love having a couple of vegetarian appetizers for my guests. This Cranberry Baked Brie is so, so good!

How to Make Cranberry Baked Brie

This recipe couldn’t be easier to make! No fancy equipment needed.

Tools Needed

• Small Saucepan
• Small Baking Sheet
• Sharp Knife
• Cheese Board
• Cheese Knives

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Brie. I used an 8 oz round here. Opt for high quality double or triple creme brie.
• Cranberries. Fresh or frozen work fine!
• Orange. You’ll need both the zest and juice for the cranberry sauce.
• Grand Marnier. Optional, but a bit of grand marnier or orange liqueur is my secret ingredient for a great cranberry sauce.
• Sugar. Cranberries are extremely tart so the sugar helps create balance.
• Rosemary. A bit of fresh rosemary adds a savory note to the cranberry sauce.
• Walnuts. Toasted walnuts add the perfect amount of crunch and texture to the Cranberry Baked Brie.
• Honey. A drizzle of honey after the brie is baked is absolute perfection.
• Flaky sea salt. Top the brie with a bit of flaky sea salt after baking.

The Process

1. Make the Cranberry Sauce. Combine all the ingredients for the cranberry sauce in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the cranberries have burst and are soft. Cool the sauce to room temperature.
2. Score the brie. Score a diamond pattern into the top of the brie. Only go about 1/8 of an inch deep. Place the brie on a parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Top and bake. Top the brie with half of the cranberry sauce and bake at 400 F for 8-10 minutes, until gooey. Remove from the oven.
4. Top and serve. Transfer the parchment with the brie to a serving board or platter. Top with the chopped walnuts and more rosemary. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Serve with fruit, crackers, and the rest of the cranberry sauce.

Tips and Tricks for Cranberry Baked Brie

This recipe couldn’t be easier to throw together but here are my best tips for baking the perfect Cranberry Baked Brie!

• Make the cranberry sauce ahead of time. Make your life even easier! You can prep the cranberry sauce up to 3 days in advance and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
• Bake the brie on parchment paper. Once the brie is soft and gooey, it’s difficult to move. Bake the brie on a piece of parchment and transfer the parchment with the brie straight to the serving board. Easy peasy!
• Bake the brie from cold. If you bake from room temperature, cut the bake time in half. Trust me, I made this mistake and ended up with a lake of melted brie. Baking from cold ensures that the center is melted while still holding its shape.
• Bake the brie right before serving. This isn’t a dish that fares well baking in advance, so bake right before you plan to serve so that the brie is still warm when people dig in. It’s still great even if the brie isn’t melted, but the melty brie makes it even better.
• Microwave to keep it melty. If the brie firms back up, simply pop in the microwave for a few seconds to make it melty again.

That’s it! This Cranberry Baked Brie is so easy to make. It’s the perfect appetizer recipe for Christmas or New Years.

More Easy Appetizer Recipes

Fried Coconut Shrimp
Potato and Onion Pierogies
Smoked Salmon Dip
Caramelized Onion Dip

This post contains affiliate links from which I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links allow me to keep providing great recipes for free and I never recommend products that I don’t love and personally own.