An EASY, gluten-free appetizer that's festive, inviting and delicious! Brie baked until it is warm and melty, topped with a simple tart & spiced cranberry chutney and served with your favorite gluten-free baguette or crackers. A cheese lovers dream!.
Looking for an easy and crowd-pleasing gluten-free holiday appetizer?
This Baked Brie with Cranberry Chutney is naturally gluten-free, festive, inviting and delicious!
The tart and cozy, spiced flavors of the cranberry chutney are perfectly balanced by the warm, creamy brie.
Served with a gluten-free baguette, crostini or cracker it is super flavorful and indulgent tasting.
And it is easy to make, which is exactly what you want when you’re hosting!
Making it gluten-free…
Most baked bries are made in a phyllo dough or puff pastry and while there now exist several gluten-free puff pastries on the market, we opted to keep this super simple and simply bake the brie and serve with a gluten-free baguette, crostini or crackers.
Still so indulgent-tasting and delicious!
All you need is:
an entire wheel of brie-style cheese * (see notes just below)
homemade cranberry chutney (recipe below)
and either a gluten-free baguette or gluten-free crackers for serving
apples or pears
dried figs and or dried apricots for finish the platter
Let’s talk about the brie cheese…
I’ll be honest, while I love cheese, I am not a cheese expert. But I am very lucky as we have a great cheese shop nearby and they are always happy to impart their knowledge! So if you have a great cheese shop or cheese department at a local supermarket, definitely ask for help in selecting cheeses.
Over the course of baking a number of brie wheels, here is what I learned:
when baking a brie wheel, what we think of as a brie, is often a brie-like cheese, as a real brie wheel is much larger. But brie-like cheeses taste the same and melt beautifully!
There are many different brands of brie-like cheeses, so don’t worry about looking for a particular one. We loved one called Gossamer one time, it wasn’t available the next time I went to purchase it… so I used another brand that was equally tasty!
As for size, we have baked both 1/2 pound and pound sizes depending on how many we’re serving, and what’s available.
Even the same brand will have slightly different moisture content from batch to batch. Moisture content will impact how the cheese melts and if it melts through the rind while baking. Some batches will melt through the rind faster than others (which is why I recommend baking it on an oven-safe dish or small crock if you are at all concerned about melting cheese).
If you are fortunate enough to have a great cheese store or department, definitely tell them that you plan to bake it and they will can help you choose one if you need help like I do!
When it comes time to baking it, it couldn’t be simpler…
All you do is place the brie on a small oven-safe dish or crock and bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes… that’s it!
I actually baked mine on a baking sheet but it is a safer bet to bake in on a dish or crock so that if the cheese melts through the rind at all you won’t miss out on any!
Let’s take a look at the Cranberry Chutney…
It’s super simple but flavorful and pairs so well with the baked brie.
It is based on our Famous Cranberry Sauce but the quantity is much less and we added some warming spices and a touch of apple cider vinegar to give it some brightness.
All you need is:
fresh cranberries
orange juice
cranberry juice
sugar
apple cider vinegar
ground ginger
ground cinnnamon
ground cloves
and orange zest.
It is truly the easiest recipe!
It comes together quickly and can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator.
All you do is:
bring the juices and sugar to a boil
add in the apple cider vinegar and spices
add in the cranberries and orange zest and bring to a boil until the cranberries start popping. Then let simmer about 15-20 minutes, and let cool.
It will thicken into the tastiest cranberry chutney!
Serving ideas…
You can serve the Baked Brie with a gluten-free baguette lightly toasted to make crostini or with gluten-free crackers.
We used baguettes from Everybody Eats NYC. This is not an affiliate link, we just love their bread (it’s the same bread with used for our gluten-free stuffing.)
Everybody Eats NYC delivers nationwide I believe, and ships Monday -Thursday. We received our loaf almost overnight.
And to make crostini we just baked slices in the oven at 300 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes.
And to make a platter, it’s fun to to serve it with some apples or pears which are also great for dipping, and some dried fruit – we used dried figs and dried apricots.
And it goes without saying that you could skip the cranberry chutney but does make it super festive and tastes amazing with the warm brie!
Hope you love it as much as we do!
PIN it!
Scroll down for recipe and leave a comment/ rating if you love it.
An EASY, gluten-free appetizer that's festive, inviting and delicious! Brie baked until it is warm and melty, topped with a simple cranberry chutney and served with your favorite gluten-free baguette or crackers. A cheese lovers dream!.
1wheelbrie or brie-like cheesethe one here is approximately 1/2 pound in weight
Cranberry Chutney
¼cuporange juice
¼cupcranberry juice cocktailwe use Ocean Spray Original
⅓cupgranulated sugar
1tablespoonapple cider vinegar
¼teaspoonground cinnamon
3 large pinchesground ginger
2-3large pinchesground cloves
1 cupfresh cranberries
1teaspoonorange zest (or more to taste!)
Serving Ideas
gluten-free baguette, sliced, toasted optionallywe used Everybody Eats baguettes, see how to make crostini below
gluten-free crackers
apple or pear slices
dried figs
dried apricots
Instructions
Baked Brie
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and set aside a small oven-safe dish or crock to bake the brie in. Alternatively, you could bake it on a parchment lined baking sheet and transfer to your serving platter as I did here, but a baking on a small oven-safe dish or crock is a great option if you are concerned at all about the brie melting out of the rind.
Place room temperature brie on your baking dish or sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until warm and soft to the touch but still holding it's form .
Transfer brie to a serving platter or serve directly in the baking dish (just be careful as it will be hot!) , top with cranberry chutney, slice into it and enjoy!
Cranberry Chutney
In a small saucepan, add orange and cranberry juices, and sugar. Dissolve sugar in juices while bringing to a boil.
Add apple cider vinegar, ginger, cinnamon and ground cloves. Stir to combine.
Add cranberries and orange zest, mix to combine, and cook until the berries start popping (generally medium low flame, stir frequently)
Continue heating on low for 15-20 minutes.
The chutney will thicken while cooling.
Can be made ahead. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Freezes well
How to make Crostini
Use the same 350 degree F oven.
Slice gluten-free baguette into approximately 1/2 inch slices (diagonal or straight depending on how big you want your crostini).
Place baguette slices on a baking sheet with space between each one and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until toasted and golden. No need to flip, both sides will get toasted. For more golden edges, bake on top rack.
Hi! My name is Karen, and I’m the mom in our Healthy Gluten-Free Family. My posts and pictures here and on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter are labors of love that allow me to share a very personal journey with you, one our family has taken together — learning, experimenting and sharing how to raise a healthy happy gluten-free family. Read more ...