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These Cranberry Brie Pastry Tarts are my favorite last-minute appetizer. They’re quick, easy, and most importantly, everyone loves them! Puff pastry, creamy brie, and fresh cranberries all baked together to create the perfect cheese filled mini tarts. Finish each tart off with a little fresh thyme for a festive appetizer that’s perfect for holiday entertaining.
Happy day before Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is just as excited as I am. We have all of the family here…and then some…for tomorrow’s big meal. My parents house is very full, and will continue to be through the weekend.
I know this might sound cheesy, but I’m feeling extra thankful this year. It’s been such a busy year. The last two months have been non-stop, and filled with a lot of work and not enough sleep…and I would not change it for a thing. I’m just so excited for all the growth that HBH has seen this year. And so thankful for all you, who loyally read my rambles day in and day out.
It’s funny, when I’m writing each day’s new blog post I never think about how many people will read it, or what you guys might think. I just write and share my life with you all. I love that this space feels like I’m chatting with friends every single day. It’s truly the best, and I’m very thankful to have SO many of you to talk and share my recipes with daily!
Since we’re down to the wire, and somehow Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I wanted to share an incredibly easy recipe that’s also incredibly delicious.
Enter these cranberry brie pastry tarts.
These tarts are hands down one of the most delicious appetizers you can serve up. They still have a nice classic holiday flavor combo. But they’re made into cute tarts that are the best little three bite appetizers. They’re perfect for tomorrow, or any other party this holiday season.
I mentioned the other day that one of my go-to short cut ingredients is puff pastry. I kind of love it. Puff pastry is great for quick dinners, beyond delicious appetizers, and sweet desserts.
That said, if there’s one thing I love to use puff pastry for the most, it’s brie. Brie and puff pastry are like peanut butter and jelly. They’re delicious on their own, but better together (really throwing out all the cheesy lines today…).
As you can imagine, these are simple, but don’t let that fool you, they are so good. I guarantee that if you put these on your appetizer table, every last tart will be gone in minutes.
Start by mixing fresh cranberries with a little brown sugar and cinnamon. Since we’re using fresh cranberries it’s necessary to sweeten them with some form of sugar, or they’ll be too tart to eat. I like to use anywhere from 3 to 4 tablespoons of sugar, but use more or less to you taste. The cinnamon adds the perfect warming touch that pairs nicely with the tart cranberries and creamy brie.
Now, cut each sheet of pastry into rectangles and spread with fig preserves. The preserves add another layer of flavor and also help to balance the cranberry’s tartness. You could also use an equal amount of maple syrup or honey.
Top the preserves with slices of brie, add the cranberries, throw them in the oven, and done.
Quick, easy, and perfect.
When these come out of the oven, some of the brie may have melted over the sides of the pastry. Don’t worry, this is totally fine. You just need to scoop any brie that melted off, back onto the tarts. Brie is a melty cheese, so just be aware that will most likely happen.
In my opinion, the meltier and messier the tarts are, the better.
I finished each tart off with some fresh thyme leaves for a pop of festive green color, and a hint of savory flavor. It’s hard to describe just how good these are, but if you love cranberries, and you love brie, you must make these mini tarts.
Promise, they will be the favorite appetizer of the night! I am very much looking forward to making them tomorrow for my family.
Hoping you all have a very wonderful Thanksgiving, full of good food, family, and friends! If you need any last minutes recipe ideas, check out my Thanksgiving menu.
Taking tomorrow off to cook (I’ll be on Instagram though, with fun behind the scenes stories). I’ll be back on Friday with my first ever pot pie recipe!
Happy Thanksgiving!
If you make these cranberry brie tarts be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch The How To Video Here:
Cranberry Brie Tarts from Half Baked Harvest on Vimeo.
Looking for other easy appetizer recipes?? Here are my favorites:
Spinach and Artichoke Dip Rolls
Pull-Apart Garlic Butter Bread Wreath
Cranberry Brie Pull Apart Bread
Mini Pastry Wrapped Cranberry Baked Brie Bites
Easiest No-Boil Brie Mac and Cheese
Pastry Wrapped Cranberry Baked Brie
The 50 Most Popular Holiday Appetizers and Cocktails (+mocktails)
Bacon Wrapped Date and Goat Cheese Pastry Twists
Cranberry Brie Tarts
Servings: 12 10
Calories Per Serving: 777 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon salted butter, melted
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 2-4 tablespoons brown sugar, use more or less to your taste (I use 2 tablespoons)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 2 (8 ounce) wheels of Brie, each cut into 12 slices (leave the rind on)
- 1/3 cup fig preserves
- 1 egg, beaten
- coarse sugar, for sprinkling
- fresh thyme, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. In a medium bowl, combine the butter, cranberries, brown sugar, and cinnamon. 3. Cut each sheet of puff pastry into 6 rectangles. Spread each rectangle with about 1 teaspoon fig preserves, leaving a 1/4 inch border. Top with 2 slices of brie and then mound the cranberries over the brie, pressing them into the brie to adhere slightly (see above photo). 4. Fold the edges of the pastry inward to enclose the brie. Brush the edges of pastry with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. 4. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the brie melted. Top with fresh thyme. Serve and enjoy!
This post was originally published on November 21, 2018
Will the cranberries cook in such a short time? Would it be ok to heat them in a sauce pan first? I’m bringing this to a party and will assemble and baked when I get there
Hi Kat,
Sure, that would be just fine for you to do. I hope you love this recipe! Happy Thanksgiving! xx
Thank you! I prepped the cranberries tonight and will thaw out, somewhat, prior to topping tomorrow
I mis-typed, my apologies. I did use puff pastry as your ingredient list called for, not phylo, I am absolutely certain, and I bought it one day prior to making the recipe, bringing your link with me to the store to be certain I got everything correct. The ingredient list otherwise is way off. It would be absolutely impossible to add as many cranberries as your recipe calls for; I could barely squeeze in half of a 12 oz. bag, and since 12 oz. is the standard size bag, 2 cups would never make sense to begin with. I used a large baking tray which was covered end to end in cheese upon melting, using only 1 and a half standard 7 oz. wheels, rather than 2 8 oz. wheels your recipe calls for (which is not standard size). You also contradicted yourself re: the brown sugar, once saying you used 2T, and another time 3-4T. Respectfully, the ingredients are so far off, it is questionable if this is a pretty image generated for clicks rather than a recipe you made yourself to share with friends and loved ones.
Incorrect amounts given in recipe. 1st, the amount of cheese and cranberries are way, way too much. It calls for 2 c. cranberries, (16 oz.) Cranberries come in a 12 oz. bag & it was all I could do to use half a bag. Brie comes in 7 oz. wheels. I used 1 1/2 wheels and melted cheese was everywhere. (Recipe calls for 2 8oz. wheels, using 2 sheets of phylo (12 squares). In recipe she says she uses 2T. brown sugar; in her description above the recipe she says she uses 3-4T. These were a soggy mess with melted cheese absolutely everywhere. Brie needs to be served piping hot immediately as well or it becomes gooey/ unappwtizing. If you make these, follow your instincts & cut way, way back on cheese and cranberries. Fig flavor gets lost in the massive cheese volcano unless cheese is cut back. Also, make the phylo baskets before adding cheese and cranberries otherwise you waste valuable time trying to keep berries in place & wrapping dough around too much cheese. Thyme tastes like sticks. Do not attempt to take to a holiday party= time consuming Pinterest fail. Looks beautiful in pictures but as others have mentioned there is way too much cheese which ruins everything. My apologies… I followed recipe to a T… disappointed.
Hi there,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, I’m sorry to hear you had issues. I think the major problem for you here was using phyllo dough, the recipe calls for puff pastry which is completely different. I really think you would have had a much better experience if you had used the puff pastry. Please let me know if there is anything else that I can help with! xx
These look amazing! Could i prep them ahead and then put them in the fridge until ready to bake, or will the pastry dry out?
Hey Megan,
If you cover with a damp dish towel I think that would be just fine for you to do! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
Préparés aujourd’hui, rapide à faire et très beaux. Merci pour la recette!
I just made these babies and though they came out a bit messy, they’re insanely good. The tartness of the cranberries is perfectly balanced by the creamy brie and sweet fig spread. I added some crumbly goat cheese just because I’m feeling a little crazy tonight. These totally come together in a tight 30 minutes, and if it takes you an hour to melt some butter and fold some puff pastry maybe you need to work on your time management.
I almost passed on these because of the four-star review average and I’m so glad I didn’t! If someone can explain to me why on god’s green earth someone would leave a one-star review on a recipe just because they don’t know how to follow directions I’ll eat my hat. Actually in lieu of a hat, I’ll just keep eating these tarts, because they’re the bomb. Thank you Ms. Half Baked Harvest!
Hi there! Thank you soooo much for trying out this recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 xT
There is no way this recipe takes 30 minutes. It took us way longer than that, very stressful when trying to make it for Christmas dinner. Also a bit of a disaster baking it and didn’t taste good when it cooked down. Wouldn’t recommend.
Hey Babs! I am so sorry this recipe didn’t turn out for you! Thank you for giving the recipe a try and I appreciate the feedback! xT
I made these for the second time this morning. Both times the taste is phenomenal but the tarts were a complete mess the first and second time. This time I lost more than half the tarts due to being burnt on the bottom and cheese spread all over the pan. I think that this recipe calls for too much cheese and/or maybe my oven runs too hot. Any tips appreciated because even with the issues the taste is sooo good! 😂
Hi Brandi,
Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear you are having some issues. I would use less cheese next time and line your baking sheet with parchment paper. I hope this helps! Happy Thanksgiving! xx
777 cal per serving????
Hi Lea,
I always recommend that if the nutritional information is important to you, you use your own personal calculator. Ours is automatic and controlled by google. It’s not something we’d prefer to be using. We are required to. I’m sorry for the trouble, we do our best! Hope you enjoy the recipe! xT
Hello! Can you make this in advance or does it have to be served/eaten right away?
Hi Sophia,
You could prep them in advance, but these are best served warm:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Could you make these without the fig preserves, or is there another fruit preserve that would be a good substitute?
Hi Lisa,
I would use honey in place of the fig preserves. I hope you love this recipe! xx
Are there any recipe modifications if using frozen cranberries? Do you just let them thaw first before using? Thanks!
Hey Amy,
Yes, go ahead and let them thaw and drain an extra liquids then follow the recipe as written. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
What do I do with the cranberries?
Hi MaryAnn,
The directions for the cranberries are listed in both steps 2 and 3. Please let me know if I can help in any other way! xx
Wow Maryann, that was rude. It’s literally in the recipe directions. Fix your review.
Are these better warm or cold?
Definitely better warm! xT
These were a huge hit at Thanksgiving Making again for NYE holiday gathering tonight… Any advice on using frozen cranberries?
Should I use them the same or wait till thawed?
Hey Crlyn,
I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your review, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! You could use them frozen, that will work well for you! Happy New Year! 🎊🎈