Happy New Year! I know it’s taken me a long time to post in 2017, but I have my reasons. I’ve been lazy. I’ve taken up knitting. But most importantly, I haven’t wanted to post anything healthy. January is the time when everyone goes healthy, and yet I’m still eating a lot of cheese. This recipe for cranberry brie pull apart bread is perfect for the holidays… or those of us still wanting to cling to the lovely food and decadence of the holidays. Plus it’s crazy easy to make, and delicious, and yes, cheesy – so you’re welcome.
This recipe is crazy easy because you use Pillsbury flaky biscuits for the dough. Those biscuits are perfectly engineered food. How could anything be so buttery, flaky and moist?! They are so unbelievable satisfying. Not only the taste, but popping open that tin is a real thrill. I’m not joking, I love doing it. Anyway, this dough gets rolled into balls to make an easy pull apart bread. Perfect for parties or for your own enjoyment. I won’t judge if you eat this alone.
The cranberry sauce is another reason this recipe is legit. Full disclosure, I will eat cranberry sauce with a spoon, straight from the container, while standing in front of the fridge with the door open. It’s true and I’m only slight embarrassed by this. Since I had a bag of frozen cranberries in my fridge I went ahead and made the sauce, and the instructions for how to do that are in the recipe below. However, you can use canned sauce just as easily. Do what works, this recipe is crazy simple.
Finally let me tell you the best part of this recipe. It’s the melted brie encased in perfectly golden biscuit dough. When you take this bread out, you can pull individual pieces away, take a bite, and inside is heavenly warm pockets cheese. The salty cheese, mixed with sweet and tangy cranberries, and eaten with bread is perfection. Sure, these are the flavors of the holidays but they’re worth eating in January too. [For reals though, I know I should get back into vegetables and healthy foods. What healthy things are you eating in 2017?]
Adapted from Buzzfeed.
Messy level: The preparation for this recipe is so straight forward that there is very little mess. You’ll make the biggest mess once it’s time to eat. Be careful! Don’t gobble it up too fast or you’ll have cranberries and cheese down the front of your shirt!
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- 6 oz fresh cranberries
- ½-3/4 pound brie
- 16 oz (8 count) tin of Pillsbury Flaky Layer Biscuits
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, divided
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts, divided (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Grease a bundt pan.
- Heat sugar and water in a small saucepan over high heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar is melted. Bring to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling add the cranberries. Lower the heat to medium-low.
- Simmer the cranberries for 10 minutes, or until it's become a thick garnet sauce. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Cut the brie into bite sized chunks.
- Remove the biscuit dough from the tin. Tear each biscuit into 3-4 pieces.
- Flatten biscuit dough pieces, place brie in the middle, then wrap the dough around the cheese.
- Place about ½ the cheese-dough balls into the bundt pan. You don't have to wedge them in their too hard, they'll expand as they bake.
- Drizzle half of the cranberry sauce over the dough.
- Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of thyme and ¼ cup chopped walnuts over the dough balls.
- Arrange the rest of the dough balls on top of the sauce.
- Drizzle the rest of the cranberry sauce, thyme, and walnuts over the dough.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until golden.
- Let cool in pan for a few minutes. Then flip over and serve while warm.
- Pull apart pieces and enjoy the flavor!
