Cranberry Jalapeño Baked Brie Dip

Thanksgiving prep has begun. I start the week before because Thanksgiving for me isn't a single day, it's a campaign. Lists are drafted. Ingredients are inventoried. The turkey is ordered from the butcher — eighteen pounds, fresh, not frozen, because I have opinions about turkey and one of them is that a bird deserves to arrive at my kitchen without having been frozen and thawed like a commuter at a bus stop.

This year's Thanksgiving is at our house again. Mom and Dad, Kevin's parents, just us. Craig's going to Debbie's family in Omaha. So it's ten people: six adults, three kids, and Phyllis, who is somewhere between. She has more bad days than good days now. Dale compensates — he orders for her at restaurants, he finishes her sentences, he holds her hand in the car. Kevin watches his parents and I watch Kevin watching, and neither of us says the thing we're both thinking, which is that Phyllis is disappearing and Dale is disappearing with her, inch by inch, the way caretakers do.

I made a test batch of cornbread stuffing to experiment with a new recipe — cornbread crumbled with sausage, celery, onion, sage, and chicken broth, baked until the top is crispy and the inside is moist. It was good. Not better than my regular stuffing, but different. I served it as a side dish for Wednesday dinner and everyone weighed in. Noah: "Equal to the original." Emma: "Different but acceptable." Jack: "The cornbread adds structural complexity." Kevin: "Is there more?" Scientific consensus: the cornbread stuffing will be an addition to the Thanksgiving lineup, not a replacement. The original stuffing is safe. Revolution averted.

I ordered five pounds of butter for Thanksgiving. Five pounds. Kevin looked at the receipt and said, "That's a lot of butter." I said, "Name one Thanksgiving dish that doesn't need butter." He thought about it. He couldn't. Because there isn't one. Thanksgiving is the national celebration of butter, and I will not be caught short. Five pounds. Minimum.

With ten people coming—including three kids who will absolutely start grazing the moment they walk through the door—I needed something to set out that would feel festive and buy me time to finish the stuffing without interruption. This cranberry jalapeño baked brie dip has become my secret weapon: it’s warm, it’s a little surprising, and it gives everyone something to cluster around in the living room while I do the real work in the kitchen. It’s also one of the very few Thanksgiving dishes that doesn’t require butter—which means my five-pound reserve stays exactly where it belongs.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 (8 oz) wheel of brie cheese
1/2 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce (canned or homemade)
1–2 jalapeños, seeded and finely diced
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Crackers, sliced baguette, or apple slices, for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 375°F. Line a small baking dish or oven-safe skillet with parchment paper.
Prepare the brie. Score the top rind of the brie wheel in a crosshatch pattern with a sharp knife, cutting just through the rind without removing it. Place the brie in your prepared baking dish.
Make the cranberry jalapeño topping. In a small bowl, stir together the cranberry sauce, diced jalapeño, orange juice, orange zest, honey, and red pepper flakes if using. Taste and adjust heat by adding more jalapeño if desired.
Top and bake. Spoon the cranberry jalapeño mixture generously over the scored top of the brie. Bake for 12–15 minutes, until the brie is visibly soft and beginning to ooze at the edges and the topping is bubbling.
Serve immediately. Carefully transfer to a serving board or leave in the baking dish. Surround with crackers, baguette slices, or apple wedges and serve right away while it’s warm and gooey.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cranberry Jalapeño Baked Brie Dip — Something to Keep Everyone Out of the Kitchen While I Finish the Stuffing