Brie and cranberry baked together in a bread bowl might be the easiest impressive appetizer you’ll ever make. Warm, melty brie, tangy cranberry sauce, and a rustic bread bowl to scoop it all up with. It looks like it took real effort. It’s really just assembly.
This recipe was tested by a real home cook, and her feedback is exactly what led to the update of this recipe. Her family enjoyed the flavor and loved the presentation. But she was honest that the original homemade bread bowl version was more prep than she thought worth it. So we simplified it to use a store-bought bread bowl instead. Same flavor, way less work.
Here in Minnesota, we grew up topping baked brie with lingonberry jam, true Scandinavian style. But a cranberry brie bread bowl is the version most of the country reaches for, and honestly, it’s just as good. Tangy, berry cranberry sauce against all that gooey melted cheese, with the bread doing double duty as the serving bowl and the utensil.
The original version of this recipe had you making the bread bowls from scratch with frozen dough, and if you want to go that route, I’ve still got you covered below. But here’s the thing: small round rolls (or one larger round loaf, a boule or sourdough works beautifully) from the bakery section of your grocery store work just as well, and it turns this into a fifteen-minute appetizer instead of an overnight project. Some days you want the process. Some days you just want the brie melted and the snack in your hand. Both are valid. This recipe works either way.
Ingredients
- 3 round bakery rolls (about 4-5 inches wide, kaiser rolls or small boules), or 1 large rustic bread boule
- 8 oz brie cheese, rind on, diced
- 1 cup cranberry sauce or lingonberry jam
- 2 tbsp melted butter or olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- Fresh thyme leaves, for topping
- Kosher salt, to taste
Ingredient Tips
- Bread: Look for something sturdy, a rustic boule or sourdough round holds its shape best once hollowed out. Soft sandwich-style rolls will collapse.
- Brie: Leave the rind on, don’t trim it off. I didn’t realize this myself for a long time, but that white rind is completely edible, it’s a cultivated mold, the same family as other soft-ripened cheeses, and it’s there on purpose. Once it bakes, it melts right into the cheese and you won’t even notice it’s there. If you’ve only had brie rind cold and firm, straight from the fridge, this is a totally different texture. A triple cream or double cream brie bakes up extra rich if you want to upgrade it.
- Cranberry sauce: Homemade or canned both work. If yours is on the tart side, the honey drizzle at the end balances it out.
- Butter or oil: Either works for brushing the inside of the bread. Butter gives a slightly richer, toastier flavor.
Forming the bowls is a simple matter of cutting out the center of the dough. If the dough is soft enough, you can also press the dough inside down with a spoon to create an even larger serving space.
Fill the bread bowls with diced brie as full as you can, bake until it gets melty on the edges. Take it out of the oven and gently stir it with a spoon. Add more cheese and bake again, if needed.
Top the melted brie with cranberry sauce as full as you dare, top with a wedge of brie, and return it to the oven for a few minutes to warm the cranberries and melt the bit of cheese on top. Usually about 5 minutes.
Make-Ahead Tips
- The bread bowls can be hollowed out up to a day ahead. Store the hollowed rolls in an airtight container or wrapped in foil at room temperature until ready to fill and bake.
- Dice the brie ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble.
- Don’t add the cranberry sauce or bake until just before serving. This one’s best made fresh right at the end, not fully assembled and reheated.
Storage
- – Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
- This one’s best fresh. The bread loses its texture once it sits, and it doesn’t reheat as well as it bakes the first time.
- But if you have leftovers and need to reheat, warm in a 300°F oven until the cheese is melted through again. Skip the microwave, it makes the bread chewy.
Anyone that has baked brie knows what a treat this is. If you haven’t yet tried it, do so! It is an easy, delicious, and beautiful appetizer. I know I say to make this for parties and get together s but, the truth is, I make this for football games. And Tuesday nights. It is just too tasty, lovely, and easy to be restricted to special occasions.
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Baked Brie in Bread Bowls with Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a sharp or serrated knife, carefully cut the top quarter off each roll. Hollow out the inside of the bread, leaving about a half-inch of bread on the sides and bottom to hold everything in.
- Brush the inside of the bread with melted butter or olive oil. Place the brie in the bread bowls, dividing evenly. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and stir the melted cheese gently in each bowl. Top with cranberry sauce, dividing evenly between the three.
- Return to the oven for 3-5 minutes, until the cranberry sauce is warmed through and the cheese is fully melted.
- Drizzle with honey, sprinkle with thyme leaves and a little kosher salt. Serve immediately with the pulled-apart bread pieces and sliced apples alongside for dipping.
Nutrition
Notes
- Divide a loaf of thawed, frozen Rhodes bread dough into thirds, shape into balls, and let rise in a lightly oiled, loosely covered bowl until doubled (about 2 hours).
- Bake according to the package instructions, but pull them just before they turn golden so they don’t overbake later.
- Let cool slightly, then hollow out and follow the recipe from step 3.
