Cranberry Brie Bites, by Cheryl

A few people posted this recipe on Facebook (one of those quick video demonstrations that make everything look easy and quick) and they looked delish so I had to make them! They were easy and yummy and a great appetizer. We ending up adding a little bit of brie on each one after they cooled since the warmed brie lost a little flavor. I would definitely make these again. Yum!

Ingredients;

1 tube crescent dough
cooking spray
flour, for the dough
8 oz Brie
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I didn't use these)
6 sprigs rosemary

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the crescent dough, and pinch seams together. Cut into 24 squares. Place squares into muffin tin slots.

2) Cut brie into small pieces and place inside crescent dough. Top with a spoonful of cranberry sauce, some chopped pecans, and one little sprig of rosemary.

3) Bake until crescent is golden, about 15 minutes.

4) Serve warm

Thanksgiving Monkey Bread, by Diane

We found this recipe on Tasty via Facebook on Thanksgiving morning, and at the last minute we knew we needed to add this to the appetizer list! It was a good thing we did- this was unreal. It took significantly longer to cook through than the recipe stated, so next time I would bump up the cooking temperature and time, or lay them in a single layer in a casserole dish. I also increased the herbs for more flavor. YUM!

Ingredients:

2 packages of biscuit dough
1 large wheel of brie
2 tsp each rosemary and thyme
1 can whole cranberry sauce, mixed well so it spreads easily

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 (the recipe said 350 but I think it needed a higher temp). Spray a bundt pan and set aside.
2. Cut brie into small pieces (32 to be exact!). Rip each biscuit in half, and wrap the dough around a brie piece to form a ball.
3. Place a single layer of balls in the bottom of the pan, sprinkle with herbs and cranberry sauce. Repeat for about 3 layers in all.
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the dough is cooked on the inside of the ring. Place a plate under the pan to flip over and serve.

Fall Baked Brie, by Diane

Our bookclub this month is devoted to fall, and the majority of what we are making contains pumpkin and squash. But I wanted to create an appetizer that used other fall goodies such as apples and cranberries. This recipe was a huge hit and it will definitely be on rotation for the fall holidays, especially thanksgiving!

The inside- pre-wrap!

Original recipe from: http://www.thespicehouse.com/recipes/baked-brie-with-apples--cranberries-recipe


Ingredients:

1 medium gala apple, chopped and peeled
1/2 cup pecan pieces, chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 Tablespoon brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon butter, melted 1 round (8 ounces) brie cheese 
2 puff pastry sheets, thawed

Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Combine the apple, pecans, cranberries, brown sugar and cinnamon in small bowl and mix gently. Stir in butter just until ingredients are moistened.

3. Spread puff pastry on an ungreased cookie sheet. You will need 1 1/3 to cover the brie as it's quite tall, so gently press the seams together on one edge.

4. Cut brie in half horizontally. Place one half of brie, rind side down, in the center of the pastry. Spoon half of the apple mixture onto bottom half of brie, spreading evenly. Top with remaining half of brie, rind side up. Spoon remaining apple mixture over top. Begin to wrap the brie with the pastry, one corner at a time, until it is completely covered with pastry. Squeeze the ends together and press down. You can use any remaining pastry to make a fall shape and decorate the top if you want! The above photo is just hand carved leaves I did with a knife.

5. Bake 25 minutes, or until cheese is soft and just begins to melt and pastry is a golden brown.