What's more delicious then warm melty cheese??? Not much! And baked brie is always a fun and tasty appetizer that never lets us down! This Hazelnut Honey Garlic Baked Brie is a warm and comforting cheese dish with the perfect balance of sweet and savory!
Why bake brie?
If you've ever had a basic brie by itself and were disappointed, we get it - been there. A low quality brie can lack flavor and has a bitter rind that can be unpleasant. But good brie is amazingly creamy, tasty, and very versatile. But we aren't in France, and hunting for top-quality brie can be a challenge.
Any quality brie will take to the amazing transformation that baking will provide. It turns a mediocre cheese on its head and makes a good brie memorable. Baking results in a lava-like, melty, ooey-gooey texture giving you a cheese dip to beat all cheese dips!
The components of this recipe are fairly easy and straightforward, but they elevate the brie to another level.
What's in the Hazelnut Honey Garlic Baked Brie?
Our version combines orange blossom honey with garlic confit and toasted hazelnuts with the brie. You will love this sweet and slightly nutty, creamy and irresistible cheese dip with some crusty bread or crackers.
Garlic Confit vs Roasted Garlic vs Fresh Garlic
We use garlic confit in this recipe for its flavor and how easy it is to make. If you aren't familiar, garlic confit is the result of slowly cooking cloves of garlic in oil. Cooking garlic this way results in these sweet morsels of amazing garlic flavor without the harsh bite and with the added sweetness similar to what you get with roasted garlic.
Garlic confit is super easy to make and takes about 20-30 minutes with little oversight. It can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container on your counter for months. We have a jar of garlic confit in our kitchen at all times. We highly recommend you do the same as it has a variety of uses and the garlic oil itself is so delicious when drizzled on pasta, salads, or as a dipping oil for bread.
You can also use roasted garlic if you prefer, and it will still be delicious. But roasting garlic takes a bit more time and won't hold its shape when squeezed out onto the brie.
The instructions for garlic confit are included below. But check out THIS fun variation with lemon, thyme and crushed red pepper if you want a slight twist.
We would not recommend using raw fresh garlic here because of how sharp and assertive it can be.
Tips for Baked Brie
- Keep the rind on
The rind on brie, although bitter with a sometimes off-putting smell, is in fact edible and delicious to many who love brie. When baking brie, it is really important to keep the rind on. This is mainly because the creamy cheese on the inside will become very melty as it heats up in the oven and the rind prevents it from becoming a skillet of cheese soup. Although, I wouldn't mind eating cheese soup either, to be honest. We are looking for a fondue like texture inside the rind when its done baking. - Allow Baked Brie to cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving
If you cut into the brie immediately, it will all flow out very quickly like molten lava. Letting it cool slightly allows the cheese to remain gooey and melty but not pour out like a river. Also, for everyone out there who has had pizza mouth, you know that eating molten cheese is never a good idea! - Add the toppings on after baking
Specifically with this recipe, and for many others you will find, the toppings are added after you take the brie out of the oven and before you serve it. The purpose of baking here is to melt the cheese rather than imparting flavor into the cheese. Adding the garlic confit, honey, toasted hazelnuts and thyme to the skillet when the brie comes out of the oven allows these ingredients to warm up and meld together so that when you cut into the brie, all the flavors combine perfectly with the melty cheese.
Enjoy!
We hope you enjoy this recipe for Hazelnut Honey Garlic Baked brie! If you give it a try, leave us a comment below, and tag us on Instagram @cooking_with_wine!
If you want more recipes like this, check out more of our popular recipes below:
- Roasted Poblano and Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese
- Brie and Passion Fruit Pepper Jelly Grilled Cheese
- Truffle Mushroom White Pizza
- Parmesan Risotto and Mushroom Ragù Phyllo Cup Bites
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📖 Recipe
Hazelnut Honey Garlic Baked Brie
Ingredients
Baked Brie
- 8 oz wheel of brie
- 5-6 cloves garlic confit (see instructions below)
- 2-3 tablespoon orange blossom honey (or honey of choice if orange blossom is not available)
- 3 tablespoon hazelnuts, roughly chopped
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves (additional sprigs for garnish)
- pinch of flaky sea salt
Garlic Confit
- 1 head garlic
- 1.25 cup olive oil
Instructions
Garlic Confit
- Peel garlic cloves without smashing them and place them in a sauce pan with the oil over low heat. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until garlic begins to brown slightly. Remove and allow to cool while the brie bakes. Store garlic in its oil in an airtight container at room temp and use garlic infused oil and garlic confit as desired in a variety of recipes.
Baked Brie
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Remove brie from its wrapping, keeping the rind on, and place the entire wheel in a cast iron skillet or oven safe dish.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- While brie bakes, toast the hazelnuts over medium to medium-low heat in a dry skillet for about 3-5 minutes for until the aroma is nutty and the hazelnuts begin to brown slightly.
- Once the brie is done baking, remove from the oven, add 5-6 garlic confit cloves, honey, hazelnuts, thyme and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Let the brie sit for about 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve with crusty bread or crackers.
Paul says
does the garlic confit require any oil?
I didn't use any as directed and not sure where the garlic infused oil is?
Angela and Mark says
Hello! Yes, in step 1 you add the garlic cloves to the oil (see ingredient section for quantities) to make garlic confit. Then you can preserve the excess oil and cloves to use at a later time. Enjoy!