maple bacon baked brie

The holidays were a whirlwind. Flights, family, parties, food, and lots of wine. Before I knew it I was traveling to NYC, Idaho, back to Georgia… back to NYC and Idaho again. November and December were in flux and I’m so excited to be back in a small routine.

And in some crazy turn of events, our small winter wedding planned for December of 2019 quickly turned into a summer event (this June!!) in Idaho with everyone we know, which is definitely an exaggeration but it feel like it.

Our venue and vendors are booked, dress purchased, invitations about to be sent out, and all we have left are the small details, my favorite kind. We are wanting the weekend to be full of fun and excitement for our guests and in February we get to set the menu! Food! And themed food that encompasses our love story in a meal, as corny as that sounds, is what I’ve been looking forward to most with the whole process. Do we include favorite foods from restaurants we’ve grown to love over the past five years or create a menu based on a mixture of Idaho-foods and Georgia-foods? Either or, we are having Georgia peach popsicles during the cocktail hour as a nod to where we met and grew in our relationship. Anyway, enough wedding planning details for today.

I made this little recipe during the wedding-Thanksgiving-travel-Christmas craziness, which is why you’re just seeing it now, but in no way does that make it a back-burner appetizer. Creamy, sweet, and salty from the bacon, it’s everything that the holiday indulgent self would gobble up in 5 minutes (mind you, she was also 6 lbs lighter).


maple bacon baked brie

serves 8

Maple: bacon’s forgotten, yet perfectly-paired best friend. Top with a warm baked brie + flaky crust and you’ve got yourself a holiday appetizer that just keeps on giving.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400º. Over medium heat, cook bacon until crispy. Remove bacon and roughly chop. Drain fat from the skillet and add maple syrup and stir until combined.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Roll out puff pastry and spoon all but 2 tablespoons of the maple bacon mixture into the center of the pastry. Place brie directly on top of the pastry. Fold up each corner of the pastry and brush with egg wash to seal.

Gently flip over and place in oven until puff pastry is golden. Begin checking at 10 minutes.

Top the brie with 2 tablespoons of maple-bacon mixture. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Ingredients

6 slices bacon, chopped

1/4 c. maple syrup

1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted

1 wheel brie

Egg wash, for pastry

Bread, for serving