I love a good appetizer. And its hard for me to resist one with cheese, let alone Brie. MMMmmm… Brie! My friend Erika makes this amazing appetizer she calls “Brie Cups”. I was asked to bring an appetizer to a family bridal shower this weekend and I called her up for the recipe. I was shocked at how effortless it is!

What you’ll need:

Red Pepper Jelly

Brie Cheese wheel

Mini Fillo Shells (ready made/already baked shells can be found in the freezer section at the grocery)

Start by cutting open the Brie wheel. I tried to avoid the rind because I thought it may not melt as well as the rest of the cheese but the rind is edible if you want to include it.  Then I made small tablespoon-ish sized balls of Brie. I just rolled them in the palms of my hands to help them fit into the shells without overflowing out of the shell. That also help me make uniform sized portions for each shell. I followed up by dropping small spoonfuls of pepper jelly onto each ball of cheese. For the assembly process I found it easier to leave the shells in the tray that came in the box, as you can see in the picture above.

Place the filled shells on cookie sheet and bake for about 4 minutes at 375 degrees (F). You only need to bake long enough for the cheese to melt since the dough is already baked. Serve warm… although they still taste very good once they’ve cooled. I found that the Brie wheel filled 30 fillo shells (2 frozen packages) and I used about a third of the jar of jelly. I was sort of disappointed with how far the Brie went and I might try to make it go further next time by using the rind as well.

The shower was a blast and I got to see my awesome family and celebrate with a beautiful bride! The Brie cups were a huge hit at the shower! And my cousin made similar fillo cups with Brie! Great minds think alike. Instead of pepper jelly, she used blueberry preserves on some and sprinkled Thyme on others. Delicious! I’ll have to remember those combinations for next time I make these.

PSSSST! You may also like my recipe for Apple Goat Cheese Bruschetta.