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Pumpkin Baked Brie is a fun and festive appetizer that comes together in minutes. Made with just a few common ingredients like store-bought puff pastry, a wheel of brie or camembert cheese, pumpkin butter (homemade or store-bought) and chopped pecans.
Once assembled brush on a beaten egg and bake. The egg wash gives it a nice golden crust.
You won’t believe how perfect pumpkin butter and cheese are together. This is a surprisingly delicious combo just in time for fall entertaining!
Baked Brie with Puff Pastry
Baked brie appetizers are extremely popular, and for good reason. Gooey melted cheese is always a favorite treat and this recipe does not disappoint. I particularly love Bake Brie en Croûte or brie wrapped in puff pastry and baked.
For this recipe I often use a ripened Camembert which has a little stronger flavor than brie cheese. You’ll need an 8 ounce wheel of cheese and either variety works fine.
Ingredients Overview
- large egg
- frozen store-bought puff pastry dough
- a wheel of firm brie or camembert cheese
- pumpkin butter (affiliate link), store-bought or homemade
- chopped pecans
- coarse sugar for topping (optional)
Key Equipment
- kitchen or butchers twine (affiliate link)
- Rolling pin
- pastry brush
- baking pan
- parchment paper
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How to make Pumpkin Baked Brie
Prep the pan, oven and pastry
- Start by thawing the puff pastry according to package directions, about 30 to 40 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a small baking pan with parchment paper or a silpat mat and set aside.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the pastry out on a lightly floured work surface to a 12-inch square. Trim the pastry to a circle by cutting and rounding the corners. Reserve the scraps to make the pumpkin stem and leaves.
Making the puff pastry pumpkin
- Next spoon pumpkin butter into the center of the pastry so that it is the same size as your wheel of cheese. Spoon and pile the pecans around the outside edge of the pumpkin butter circle to form a donut shape leaving an opening in the center. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg. This will help seal the pastry.
- Place the cheese wheel over the pecans and pumpkin butter. Bring the sides of the pastry up and over the cheese. Continue to wrap the cheese until sealed in puff pastry.
- Cut three or four 15-inch pieces of baker’s twine. Turn the wheel upside down so the seam is on the bottom. Wrap the wheel in three or four evenly spaced pieces of twine so it resembles a pumpkin shape. Brush the entire pastry with the egg wash. Lightly sprinkle coarse sugar over the pastry. Place the cheese on the prepared pan.
- Cut a long strip of pastry from the scraps. Fold in half then twist to form a pumpkin stem. Place on the baking sheet and brush all over with egg. Continue creating cut-outs using up all remaining pastry.
Bake the pumpkin, stem and leaves
- Bake until the exterior is deep golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. The small pieces like leaves and stems will bake more quickly and should be checked after 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Carefully cut away and remove the kitchen twine. Push the stem into the center of the cheese wheel (where there are no pecans). Add a leaf or two if using to decorate.
- Finally, allow the cheese to rest for another 15 minutes while preparing the fruit and crackers.
How to serve Baked Brie
Place the puff pastry pumpkin on a platter, plate or cutting board. Serve with crackers, baguette or apple slices and any of your favorite nuts and fruit.
Allowing your puff pastry pumpkin to cool a bit before serving will help prevent all the cheese from oozing out when sliced. The cheese will still be soft and warm (oh yum) but not liquid. It’s spreadable, edible, crazy good and perfect served with pumpkin butter and pecans.
Which is best? Brie or Camembert Cheese
Either cheese works well in this type of recipe. However, camembert has a more intense flavor which pairs perfectly with the sweet pumpkin butter and toasty pecans. It’s smooth, creamy and very satisfying.
Brie is a bit more mild, buttery and silky. Both are phenomenal cheeses so just use whichever you can find. The prices are typically very close for both cheese. I recommend that you go with the one that is unripe and sold in an 8-ounce wheel. (Unripe cheese will be slightly more mild.)
Storing and Reheating
This flaky puff pastry appetizer is best eaten the day it’s made. However, leftovers are pretty great though not as crispy and flaky.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To reheat slice off whatever is needed and microwave on 50% power for 30 seconds. Additional time may be needed depending on the size of the serving and the power of your microwave. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Baked Brie
Equipment
- kitchen twine
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry approximately 9×9-inches
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 8 ounce wheel firm Brie cheese or Camembert
- ⅓ cup pumpkin butter (80g or 2 and 3/4oz)
- ½ cup chopped pecans (50g or 1 and 3/4oz)
- kitchen twine
- coarse sugar for topping optional
Instructions
- Thaw the puff pastry according to package directions. (About 30 to 40 minutes at room temperature.)
- Preheat oven to 425℉. Line a small baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll the pastry into a 12-inch square. Using a sharp paring knife, trim the pastry to create a circle by cutting off / rounding out the corners. Use a pie plate or bowl for a guide if desired. Reserve the scraps to make the stem and leaves.
- Spoon the pumpkin butter into the center of the pastry so it's the same size as the wheel of cheese. Spoon / pile the pecans around the edge of the pumpkin butter to form a donut shape leaving an opening in the center. Brush the edges of the pastry round with beaten egg.
- Place the cheese wheel over the pecans. Bring the sides of the pastry up and over the cheese wheel. Continue to wrap the cheese until completely sealed. If the pastry is too thick feel free to cut away any extra as long as the entire cheese wheel is covered.
- Cut three or four lengths of kitchen twine approximately 20+ inches each. Turn the wheel upside down so the seam is on the bottom. Wrap the wheel in evenly spaced pieces of twine so that it resembles a pumpkin. Brush the entire pastry with beaten egg. Lightly sprinkle coarse sugar over the pastry.
- Place the pumpkin on the prepared pan. Cut a long strip from the scraps of pastry. Fold the pastry in half then twist to form a thick pumpkin stem. Place on the baking pan and brush all over with egg wash. Continue creating cut-outs or leaves as desired. Brush with the egg wash and place on the prepared pan.
- Bake the cheese wheel until the exterior is deep golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. The small pieces like leaves and stem may bake more quickly and need to be checked after about 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the kitchen twine by carefully cutting it away. Discard the twine. Push the baked stem into the center of the pastry (where there are no pecans) and add a leaf or two if using to decorate.
- Allow the cheese to rest for another 15 minutes then serve immediately with apples, fruit, crackers and/or baguette slices.
Recipe Notes
- Substitute apple butter, apricot preserves or hot pepper jelly if desired.
- For this recipe you can use a firm ripe or unripe Brie or Camembert cheese. Unripe cheese will have a more mild flavor
Nutrition
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Susan
Hi Tricia,
I also love your recipes and when I saw this one, I knew this is the appetizer I want to make for a luncheon for friends. I love your charcuterie board and would like to use the same items on mine or something similar. Is it a cranberry bread and also can you please tell me what kind, size of cookie cutters you used and how long did you bake them? Since I haven’t used puff pastry before, I want to make sure the Pumpkin Baked Brie, the leaves and cute pumpkin will come out right.
Many thanks for any help you can give me; I greatly appreciate it!
Susan
Tricia Buice
Hi Susan! I believe I purchased those Pie Crust Punches from Williams & Sonoma. If you search “fall pie crust cutters” or “punches” on Williams & Sonoma or Amazon you’ll get a wide variety to pick from. I have about 10 different sets so I’m not sure if the pumpkin came with the leaves or if that was separate. The cutouts baked for about 15 minutes. I would check them frequently to make sure they don’t burn. You’re going to LOVE baking with puff pastry. It’s so easy and a breeze to work with. The cranberry “crackers” came from Wegman’s grocery store. These kinds of crackers seem to be very popular so perhaps you can find them at your local store. Good luck and let me know how it turns out for you!
Susan
Hi Tricia,
MANY THANKS for your quick reply; I really appreciate it. I’ll do some research for the different kinds of cookie cutters.
I can’t wait to make this for my friends and I’ll let you know how everything turns out, which I’m sure, since it’s your recipes, it’ll be delicious!!
Hope you have a great weekend!
Susan
Tricia Buice
Thanks Susan! Your comment made me very happy. Happy baking!
Susan
Hi Tricia, I did a trial bake for your pumpkin baked brie before my friends come to lunch and would like to share/ask a couple of questions. First of all it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!! I made your pumpkin butter (that was delicious as well) and had enough leftover to freeze. Since I never worked with puff pastry, I wanted to ask if yours was ever wet on 1 side? I left both of them out to thaw as I wanted to experiment and make more cut-outs on the extra one. I also crisscrossed the 3 pieces of twine on the bottom of my board and then turned the wheel upside down. It was easier for me to pull the twine up to tie but they were a little too short so I will add some length to them next time. I wasn’t sure how tight to tie them so they would make the intentions to look like a pumpkin. Next time, I won’t leave the 2nd pastry out the whole time as it was too soft and the cut-outs didn’t look like yours 😆 and had to use a spatula to lift them to my pan as the dough was too soft? They puffed up too much as I don’t think I rolled it out thin enough. All in all this recipe is not only delicious but a show stopper!! MANY THANKS for your suggestions (I bought my pie crust stamps from Williams Sonoma) and help. I can’t wait to make this for my appetizer next week.
Thanks again.
Susan
Tricia Buice
Hey Susan! Thanks so much for trying this fun and delicious recipe. I’ve never had my puff pastry get wet before. Be sure to flour your work surface well and don’t over-thaw the pastry. Good idea to keep the second thawed pastry in the refrigerator until needed. As for the twine, I tie it as much as I can without tearing the pastry. It should fit snug against the cheese wheel. It’s going to puff up and bulge out so no need to over do it. I’ll update the recipe to indicate 20 inches on the twine to make sure. Thanks for letting me know. The pastry will get soft if left out too long. Try rolling it out on a piece of parchment to help keep it from sticking to the counter top. That way you can just transfer the parchment to the baking sheet and remove the scraps. The small pieces will puff up but you can push them down a bit while baking. Rolling the pastry out a little thinner should work too. Good luck next week! Be sure to let it rest a few minutes before serving so all the cheese doesn’t pour out. So glad you made the pumpkin butter too! Yummy stuff. ❤️
Jan
Tricia,
I love your recipes, but lately there have been so many ads that cover the texts and ads that you cannot get rid of when you go to print the recipe. It is very annoying and a waste of paper and time when the printed recipe is covered with ads. Can you not do something about this?? Now there are ads that blurt out music that is further annoying!! Help!!!
Tricia Buice
Hi Jan. It’s very troubling to hear that the printable recipe has ads covering it. Are you clicking on the PRINT RECIPE button on the recipe card? If you go to the top of a post, then click JUMP TO RECIPE it will take you to the recipe card. There are three buttons under the photo. One is for RATE RECIPE, then PRINT RECIPE then PIN RECIPE. You should not have any ads printing on your copy. I’ll talk to my ad company and make sure nothing has changed. I really don’t like my site to be over optimized. Thanks for letting me know.