Mini Baked Brie en Croute is an elegant but surprisingly simple appetizer made with mini wheels of cheese and frozen puff pastry. It’s the ultimate holiday finger food!
You’ve probably seen these cute individual Brie cheese rounds, they’re adorable, and I always pick them up and then put them back on the shelf when I realize I haven’t a clue what I’d do with them. Well, good news, I figured out what we can do, and it’s really easy and perfect for guests. Trader Joe’s sells them in packages of 5 for a reasonable price. The rind on these minis is very mild, so there’s no sharpness to them, and they’re very creamy. Of course you can eat them as is, but this is so much more fun and more impressive.
These are miniature whole rounds of Brie cheese, complete with their rind. They come in their own little containers so they stay fresh for a long time.
The little mini cheese gets encased in puff pastry and baked until golden. These are two-bite appetizers that will please everyone.
I know you have a box of frozen puff pastry in your freezer. Everybody does. Take a sheet out and thaw it, either overnight, or on the counter for about an hour until it’s pliable. One of the perks of buying pre-made dough like this is that it’s very user friendly.
I just rolled out the sheet a little bit, into a 12×12 square, and then cut that into sixteen 3″ squares, and then set the little Brie, which are about 1 1/2″ diameter, in the center of each.
Bring the corners up around the Brie, stretching a bit, and twist them to secure. The cheese is fully encased in its rind, so no worries about it melting out.
Brushing with an egg and water mixture helps them get golden brown in the oven.
The crust gets crispy and the cheese melts inside the rind, so when you bite into one it oozes out. They’re great.
Serve these mini baked Brie with a spicy or sweet and spicy condiment, I’ve got lots on the blog to choose from, here are a few of my favorites ~
I love to bake full sized wheels of Brie, too. My BAKED BRIE WITH FIGS AND HONEY is amazing when you can find fresh figs. And my BAKED BRIE WITH APPLES, PECANS, AND MAPLE SYRUP is a must for apple season.
Mini Brie en Croute
Ingredients
- 1 sheet thawed puff pastry
- 16 mini Brie rounds
- 1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp water for brushing
Instructions
- set oven to 400F
- When the pastry has thawed, lay it out on a floured surface. Roll it out gently into a 12x12 square. You can use your hands at the end to get it just right. Cut the sheet into sixteen 3" squares.
- Lay a Brie round in the center of each square, and bring up the corners to meet in the middle. You can do a little stretching--- it won't tear the dough. Twist the ends together to secure.
- Set the pastries on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet and lightly brush with the egg mixture.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the pastries are golden browned.
- Serve hot with your favorite jam.
Notes:
- You can make these ahead, without baking, and keep in the refrigerator. Bake when needed.
Don’t forget to pin these Mini Baked Brie en Croute!
How would these go with your Pomegranate Wine (Kofta) Sauce?
Thank you for all your recipes (I just found your site today)!
Welcome in Phil! You’ve landed on two of my older recipes, I haven’t made either in a while. As I remember the wine sauce is fairly thin, so I’m not sure it would be an ideal sauce for the Brie, but you could prove me wrong 🙂
Thank you! Maybe I’ll have to try both dishes on the same day so the sauce will have somewhere else to go 🙂
Would babybel cheese work?
I would think so, especially if it melts when heated.
I love this idea! I don’t have a Trader Joe’s in my area, so I tried using a regular sized brie wheel, but cubed it. It did not work. Instead of the oozy cheese inside of the puff, it seems like a lot of the brie came out of the pastry during the baking process. I guess the rind is necessary for holding in the cheese? Has this happened to anyone who tried using a regular brie wheel?
The rind keeps the cheese from oozing out, Becca. I have done this successfully with chunks of Brie but I have to make sure the pastry is completely sealed all around. You can also try chilling the cubes first to help keep it from oozing while the pastry is cooking.
Ah, I’ll try that next time, thanks Sue!
Brfore twisting up these little beauties, I topped each of them with finely chopped pecans soaked in Kahlua then twisted them. They were yummo!
Wow. How did you stop yourself from eating all those pecans first? Sounds great.
OMG these are so cute!!! Can I make these Mini Baked Brie ahead and freeze them Or for how long we can keep it in the refrigerator?
Baked puff pastry doesn’t really keep all that well, Diana, so I would recommend assembling them ahead and baking them just before needed.
I’ve used packaged croissant dough. It works just as well, I believe.
Thanks for the tip Betsi.
You really gave me a good laff about having a pkg of puff pastry in the freezer….. mine has been there for at least 6 mos…….. now I have a reason to use it. Thanks for the great recipe & amazing pics.
It’s never a bad idea to have some PP in the freezer 🙂
The View from Great Island | It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere Friday: Mini Brie en Croute
By the way, can’t get the mini bries here in Elkins, West Virginia. How many ounces are in the minis so I can guess how much to use from the wheel?
Each little wheel is .9 ounces.
Made the cream cheese/hot pepper jelly ones last week for a party in phyllo shells. Went over very well. We were actually discussing using other cheese like brie and jam, and a mozzarella ball and marinara. Such a versatile recipe.
Really love brie. These are so pretty too. Thanks for the idea.