Brie & Jam Bites
This is one of my favorite holiday appetizers, they are delicious and so easy to make. These are always on the menu for Thanksgiving and I often bring them to holiday parties, they are a huge hit. These bites only require 3 ingredients to make so it is a great recipe to have in your repertoire if you need a last minute appetizer. Feel free to swap in your favorite kind of jam, I recently made these with peach jam which I canned over the summer and they were amazing. I hope that you and your family enjoy these!
Brie & Jam Bites
Makes 24 bites
Ingredients:
1 package frozen puff pastry
1 small wheel brie cheese
1 cup jam (apricot, raspberry, peach or your favorite kind)
Directions:
Remove puff pastry from the freezer, take 1 sheet out of the box and thaw on a floured surface for 20 minutes or until the dough is pliable. If dough is still too stiff, let it thaw for a couple more minutes. It is easiest to unfold the puff pastry when it is thawed, if you try to unfold it right out of the freezer it may crack or break. If this happens you can easily mend it together when it thaws.
Preheat oven to 425 (Whenever using puff pastry it must be baked at at least 400 degrees for it to puff)
Cut some of the excess rind off the brie if desired. Next cut it into ½ inch thick strips and cut again into bite sized pieces, about ½ inch x ½ inch cubes.
If using a mini muffin tin, spray with cooking spray, or if using a sheet pan, line sheet tray with parchment paper.
Use a floured rolling pin to roll the puff pastry until its ¼ inch in thickness. If dough is too thick the bites will come out doughy. Next cut the sheet evenly into 24 squares which is 4 rows cut into 6 squares each. You can use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut the dough.
Taking each square in your hand one by one, use your fingers to stretch the dough slightly and place each square into the mini muffin tins. If using a sheet tray place each square of dough onto the parchment lined sheet tray.
Next fill each square with a ½ -3/4 tsp of jam and top with a cube of brie cheese. If you are baking these on the sheet tray, wrap each dough square into a little pouch, enclosing the jam and cheese inside of the puff pastry.
Place puff pastry bites in the fridge to firm up for at least 20 minutes. The dough being chilled helps the layers of butter in the puff pastry to produce a flaky bite that puffs in the oven. If the dough is too soft it may result in the dough being soggy out of the oven. If you aren’t using the muffin tin it is especially important for the dough to chill so that the bites don’t open up while baking.
Bake the bites in a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes and then lower it to 400 and bake for another 5-10 until golden brown. Release the bites from the muffin tin or sheet tray while still hot so that they don’t stick.
Serve on a beautiful platter and enjoy while warm!
