Baked Vegan Brie in Puff Pastry with Cranberries and Almonds

Brie baked in bread, or Brie En Croute, is one of my favorite ways to eat vegan brie! I mean seriously, it’s cheese baked inside of flakey puff pastry.

Carbs and cheese are my love languages, so this recipe speaks to me on all the levels. The vegan brie is cashew based and comes together rather quickly. It does however take some time to firm up in the fridge, so I suggest making the brie a day or two in advance if you are planning on making and serving this dish.

I used raspberry jam in this recipe but you can use whatever jam you like or even cranberry sauce.

This dish is beautiful and so tasty. This brie gets rather creamy and gooey once baked inside or the pastry and is delicious served with fruit or crackers. I like to just eat it with a fork, but maybe that would be frowned upon if serving at a party. Bwahahhaha, I’ll try to keep my manners in check.

I think this recipe would be beautiful and impressive for any holiday party or any gathering, or you can just make it for yourself, fork in hand and zero judgment!

INGREDIENTS:

VEGAN BRIE:

1 cup unsalted, unroasted cashews (plus water for soaking)
1 cup water
1/3 cup refined coconut oil
1/3 cup sauerkraut, without the juice
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons tapioca starch
2 teaspoons agar powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
cheese cloth

BRIE IN PUFF PASTRY:

1 puff pasty, Pepperidge Farm brand is vegan
1 six inch round of vegan brie
3 tablespoons raspberry jam
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4-1/3 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons plant milk mixed with 1 tablespoon maple syrup

INSTRUCTIONS:

For the Brie: Place cashews in a microwave safe container and cover in water. Microwave for 3 minutes. You can also cover in hot water, and let them soak for a few hours if you do not have a microwave.
Drain cashews, and add them along with remaining ingredients to a high speed blender or food processor. Blend until COMPLETELY smooth. If you are using a food processor, add the nuts first and try to break them down a bit before adding everything else.
Transfer mixture to a medium size sauce pan, over medium heat, and stir continuously until the mixture becomes thick and bubbly. This will only take a few minutes.
Line a 6 inch cake pan, or similarly sized shallow bowl, with a piece of cheese cloth that is large enough that it hangs a good bit over the sides of the bowl. Pour the mixture into the bowl and cover with the excess cheese cloth that is hanging over the sides. Place in the refrigerate for at least 4 - 5 hours to allow cheese to firm up.
Once the Brie is done, thaw puff pastry according to package instructions.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Roll puff pastry out into a 12 inch x 12 inch square on a floured surface.
Smear the jam in the middle of the puff pastry square and place the wheel of brie on top of the jam.
Place the dried cranberries and almonds piled up on top of the brie.
Carefully take each corner of the puff pastry dough and fold it over the top of the brie. Just one corner at a time until the cheese is covered. Brush the top with the milk/maple mixture. This will help the puff pastry to brown. You could also just give it a light spray with some cooking oil.
Place the brie on a baking sheet and into the preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and flakey.
Allow the the brie to cool some before cutting into it . Serve with crackers and or fruit.

If you like this recipe, try these:

Vegan Brie with Cranberries and Candied Pecans

Ok, ok, ok….hear me out if you think this is a weird idea. Also try and say Vegan Bacon Butter Brown Sugar Bites threes times fast!

These are basically crunchy candied vegan bacon crackers. They are sweet, smoky, salty and perfectly crunchy.

They are SO easy to make and really kind of addictive.

My sister in law’s sister, Heather, who is as good as family to me, posted a non vegan version of this the other day. It popped up in my Face Book feed and I literally JUMPED out of my seat and had these babies in my oven within 10 minutes.

It’s the holiday season so I am always looking for new, EASY, recipes for taking to parties, or dinners, or whatever. These are them!

The recipe you needed when you are too busy ( that would be all of us, am I right) to do much else. These vegan bacon butter bites are just the recipe we all needed! You could use whatever vegan bacon you prefer. I like Lightlife smart bacon and it worked very well for this recipe and oddly enough Ritz cracker are actually vegan.

Hooray who would have thought?!?!. So go ahead and bake yourself up a batch of these first, just so you can, you know “quality control” taste test them, then bake up a batch the next time you need a super quick and easy party snack to share.

INGREDIENTS:

1 sleeve vegan butter crackers. You can use round or rectangle crackers
1 package vegan bacon, we used Lightlife
Brown sugar, 1 teaspoon per cracker
A pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the cracker on the sheep spaced out so they are not crowded.
Cut uncooked bacon slices to fit whatever size cracker you are using. I cut my bacon into thirds for the round crackers and the pieces fit nicely. Place one piece of bacon on each cracker.
Spread 1 teaspoon of brown sugar over each cracker. Sprinkle a little salt over the tops of all the crackers.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until all of the brown sugar has melted and is bubbly. Allow crackers to cool completely before serving. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

If you like this recipe, try these:

Vegan Marshmallow Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

Super easy vegan bacon butter brown sugar crakers