Crispy Baked Brie and Apple Tartlets: Gooey Cheese Dessert

This Baked Brie Apple Crisp is my favorite way to ease into fall. I always resist the end of summer — I love warm afternoons and cool drinks — but the seasons change, and food helps me make the shift. Apples are a gentle bridge: still bright and fruity but naturally leaning toward cozy fall flavors. Recipes like Apple Bottom Hootenanny Pancakes and Brown Butter Apple Oat Walnut Bread with Whipped Honey Butter are other easy ways to welcome autumn.

After months of avoiding the oven, I always enjoy returning to baking crisps, cobblers, and cobblers. This Baked Brie Apple Crisp is different from a classic apple crisp: it’s still simple to make, but the melted Brie takes it to a comforting, indulgent place. The recipe centers on three components that come together like a warm sweater for chilly days.

This Baked Brie Apple Crisp recipe has 3 distinct components

• Hazelnut crisp topping
• Spiced, sweet apples
• Melty, buttery Brie cheese

The dish brings together classic fall textures and flavors, then deepens the experience with creamy Brie. It’s a rustic, one-skillet treat that fills your kitchen with warm, familiar aromas. First-season apples are tossed with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and maple syrup. The apples move aside to make room for a whole wheel of Brie, rind and all, and everything is finished with a crumbly hazelnut oat topping.

The hazelnut topping is built from thick rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, chopped hazelnuts, all-purpose flour and cold butter. The result is a chewy, crunchy texture that contrasts the tender, spiced apples and the silky Brie.

Everything bakes in a single skillet, including that full Brie wheel

Yes, the Brie is baked with its rind intact. The rind is edible and contributes texture and subtle complexity; it also helps the wheel hold together during baking. If you prefer, you can peel back the rind after baking, but leaving it on keeps the cheese contained until you’re ready to pierce it and release the ooze.

Make the Hazelnut Crisp Topping

• Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom in a bowl and toss to mix.
• Work cold, cubed butter into the dry ingredients with your hands until the mixture is crumbly with pea-sized chunks.
• Stir in chopped hazelnuts until evenly distributed.
• Refrigerate or freeze the topping while you prepare the apple filling — chilling helps the topping stay crumbly as it bakes.

Cinnamon-scented apples, spiced oats and hazelnuts evoke autumn; the warm Brie is the finishing touch, melting into the fruit and crumb. Serve with grilled or toasted bread, sliced apples, a baguette or your favorite crackers.

Make the Apple Brie Filling

• Place the whole Brie wheel in the freezer briefly to firm it up; this makes the cheese easier to control during baking. It’s optional but helpful.
• Toss chopped apples with brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, maple syrup and melted butter in a cast-iron skillet or baking dish.
• Add tapioca flour and toss so it is absorbed; this will thicken the filling as it bakes.
• Move some apples to the side to form a well and nestle the chilled Brie wheel (rind and all) in the center.
• Spread the chilled hazelnut crumble evenly over the apples and cheese.
• Bake at 350°F for 40–45 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden and crisp.

How to serve the Baked Brie Apple Crisp

• Optionally sprinkle with sea salt flakes to balance the sweetness.
• Use a spoon to puncture the Brie so the cheese oozes into the filling.
• Serve immediately with grilled bread, baguette slices, apple slices or crackers.

The moment the Brie is pierced and the melted cheese flows into the crisped apples, the dish becomes unequivocally cozy. It’s a comforting way to accept the season change: pull on your favorite sweater and socks, gather some bread or crackers, and enjoy this easy, rustic Baked Brie Apple Crisp throughout the fall.

This post was made in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill. Thank you for supporting me and the brands I love.

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