And now for something truly fatty…
I signed up to bring an appetizer to my office’s holiday gathering. Two days ago, I fretted over what to bring as my friend and I raided the dairy fridge at Costco. “I was thinking baked brie, but…” My sentence trailed off, the silence longingly filled with suggestions of healthier, less gut-bomb-ish food.
“Oh, everyone loves baked brie,” Shelby said with assurance. And since I’m easily swayed and a 13.5 wheel of brie at Costco is only around $8, I went with it.
And OMG. I can’t really say anything redeeming about the nutrition of this dish (you can use whole wheat in the pie crust?), but there’s nothing quite like an entire wheel of creamy brie spread with jam and baked until piping hot and gooey inside a golden, flaky crust, accented with a drizzle of honey and toasted nuts. As much as I embrace eating healthily most of the time, there are some occasions that call for a no-fail, universally crowd-pleasing appetizer and this is IT. (Unless you’re lactose-intolerant, celiac, a cheese hater, a sweet + salty hater, a buttery flaky pie crust hater etc…) The last time I brought baked brie to an event, there were only crumbs left after 15 minutes.
The best thing about this version of baked brie, in my opinion, is that you don’t have to go out and buy puff pastry. I only ever use one sheet of pastry at a time and the other one almost always goes bad in my freezer before I get around to using it. Instead, you can easily whip up a tiny batch of pie dough with ingredients you have in your kitchen. Pie crust used to make me cringe, but watching my cousin make the pie dough for an apple pie over Thanksgiving made me realize it’s really not that hard.
It’s the holidays, people. Eat healthy and then SPLURGE.
Note: Some people swear by a savory version of baked brie, smothering the brie in pesto before baking. I’ve only ever gone the sweet route and used jam, honey and nuts. I used raspberry jam several times before a woman at a cheese shop recommended sour cherry preserves to create a tangy contrast to the sweet honey and creamy cheese–so good. In fact, if you have any leftover cranberry sauce, that would be fantastic. Either way, this is always a crowd-pleaser.
Baked Brie
Ingredients
- 1 small to medium wheel of brie anywhere from 8 to 14 oz.
- For the dough:
- ½ cup flour all-purpose, whole wheat, etc. + more if needed
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2.5 tablespoons butter very cold
- 2-3 tablespoons ice water
- Jam
- Untoasted sliced almonds if desired
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Cut the butter into 1/4-inch cubes and sprinkle over the dough. Pinch the cubes between your fingers to flatten while working the butter into the flour with your hands: your goal is to have as many tiny flakes of butter distributed throughout the flour as possible—big chunks of butter are not allowed, unless you want greasy holes in your crust.
- Add 2 tablespoons of ice water and stir until a pliable dough comes together. Add more water, a teaspoon at a time, if dough seems dry or crumbly.
- A few minutes before the dough is done resting, preheat your oven to 375F. On a lightly floured surface or between two pieces of plastic wrap, roll out the dough until it is large enough to cover your wheel of brie. If you have a smaller wheel, your dough may be able to entirely enclose the brie. With my larger 13.5 oz. wheel, I was only able to cover the top and sides of the brie, tucking the edges underneath.
- Shave some of the rind off the top of the wheel if you like (leave the bottom intact for your best chance at minimizing cheese ooze) and spread liberally with jam. Enclose the wheel in dough and place on a baking sheet, jam side up. Brush the pie dough with a few teaspoons of milk or a bit of egg. Top with sliced almonds if desired—they’ll toast in the oven.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle with honey. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Melanie Young
I love baked brie and am really excited to make it with a homemade crust this year! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe! (Also I’m going to use my homemade berry jalapeno jam!)
erika
So glad to hear it Melanie! This is honestly one of my favorite recipes to make during the holiday season to bring to potlucks. Your homemade jam sounds fab!! Hope this turned out well for you!!
Pang
“Brie” me everyday, why could you? I love love love baked brie, and yes the oozing cheese is the best part 😀
Jess
Oh wow – can you come to my next holiday party, Erika!? Baked brie is always great, but with a homemade crust. Swoon!
erika
Jess–I’m so there! 🙂
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl
Oh girl, this looks amazing! If you were selling it, I would be buying it! Looks incredible, yum.
erika
I wish! Thanks Pamela 🙂
Alice
Hi Erika, firstly big wow to the delicious baked Brie and secondly, big wow to the new blog! I remember sometime back you were shifting it all (to self host.) I love the new text & fonts for your graphics etc.
Looking good! 🙂
erika
Aww thanks Alice! Ha, that seems so long ago now, but thank you thank you!! It’s been a fun journey and glad to rediscover your blog 🙂 🙂
Kelly
I’m not much of cheese fan but wow, this looks incredible Erika! I have never tried baked brie but if I were going to, this would be it! This must have been a huge hit at your office holiday gathering and that crust is just simply amazing 🙂
erika
Oh man. Well you should find a potluck to go to where this is present so you can try it! You’re probably better off not liking this hugely fatty thing, but it is seriously delicious…
yummychunklet
How fancy making your own pie crust!
Mary Frances @ The Sweet {Tooth} Life
All that melted cheese! I don’t think I’ve ever truly had baked brie, but wow, now this I could go for! Everything about this is perfect -the pie crust, the cheese, the jam, the nuts – drooling over here. It sounds like this would rank high on the comfort foods list! Have you tried a GF crust? I really want to try this for Christmas! Thanks Erika!
erika
Yes, it has skyrocketed to the top of my comfort foods list! I’m sure you’d love it too 🙂 I’ve never tried a GF crust but I’m pretty sure that would work well if you have a good recipe!
tahnycooks
The melted cheese is what actually caught my eye as OMYGOODNESS I want to pick at that! your crust looks fantastic!
erika
Haha Tahny that is EXACTLY what I did!! That bubbling gooeyness is my weaknessss.
The Vegan 8
Girl this looks beautiful! I’ve never had Brie before and I don’t eat cheese now, but I can imagine how sweet and moist and delicious all that crust is. I totally agree with you too, nothing wrong with indulging in something not so perfectly healthy sometimes and there should be NO guilt when doing it!! 🙂
erika
Brandi, you know what’s up 🙂
Joanne
Baked brie is far and above my favorite guilty pleasure!!
erika
Sigh. *swoon* same!
Bam's Kitchen
We can all diet later this baked brie looks amazing. I love both savory and sweet types of brie but yours with jam and nuts sounds amazing. Wishing you a very happy holiday season. Take care, BAM
erika
Thanks Bam! I’m going to have to try savory brie one of these days for sure! Hope you have a wonderful holiday season as well 🙂
janet @ the taste space
You are totally right: melted brie is always a hit at parties! Do you have an oven at work, though? I usually bring a cold salad for work potlucks so I don’t need to heat anything up…
erika
No haha and you are smart…that is a really good strategy. My plan was to bake it in the morning and then reheat it in the microwave just beforehand. Sigh. A logistical brain would be really helpful sometimes…
Mimi
So pretty. Love jam with Brie, just not too much. Honey with Brie is too much for me, but that’s just a personal choice! Splurge is right! Merry Christmas!
erika
Thanks Mimi! I kind of like to go all out with my baked brie toppings, but keeping it simple is great too 🙂
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
OHMAHGAWWWD.
you’re killin me
HOW WILL I EVER FIT IN A WEDDING DRESS WHEN THIS EXISTS??!
erika
Lol love you. You tiny thing, you’ll fit in whatever dress you like!
Two Red Bowls
GIRL, I like the way you THINK! I was JUST planning on making baked brie tomorrow — love that you did it too!!!! And I agree — the sweet route with jam is the only way to go. What kind of jam did you end up using? Love this. Bring on tha fat y’all!
erika
Oh man we are twins 🙂 Can I come over? I bet you make it better. I used sour cherry preserves! Yum yummm. Hahaha ditto. Fat: I’m ready for ya!!
Two Red Bowls
Omg love!!! I’m going tart too with cranberry jelly (SO twins!) I’m nervous because I’m trying homemade puff pastry tomorrow so I hope I don’t screw it up. We’ll see how it goes! Yours is perfectionnn. Hope you’re having a fabulous Friday night!
erika
!!!! Homemade puff pastry sounds amazing, I’m sure it’ll be brilliant! Looking forward to pics 🙂