Baked Goat Cheese Roasted Cranberry Appetizer

This fancy baked goat cheese roasted cranberry appetizer recipe is easier to make than it looks! It is the perfect appetizer for holiday gatherings like Thanksgiving and Christmas! 

Do you remember the first time you had baked goat cheese? No? Well, I do. It was kind of a pivotal appetizer moment for me. Oh, you don’t have pivotal appetizer moments either? … … … I may, or may not, be obsessed with food. I am not ashamed to say that eating goat cheese for the first time, hot, baked and creamy, was when I realized that appetizer cheese meant more than some cheese cubes next to stale crackers.

Don’t get me wrong – I will still plop myself down in front of a cheese tray and slightly gorge myself. It’s just not something I plan on. Baked goat cheese, however, is something I plan. And crave. And maybe dream about.

This baked goat cheese roasted cranberry appetizer is definitely something out of my dreams. I can see myself and my family sitting at a table, with some wine, noshing on this while the turkey cooks on Thanksgiving.

I can also see us eating it at Christmas… and New Year’s Eve… and my birthday (in July). Cause it’s my party, and I will eat holiday appetizers when I want to.

Go out, grab a log of goat cheese and some fresh cranberries, and get to celebrating.

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How to Make This Baked Goat Cheese Roasted Cranberry Appetizer

This delicious appetizer is super easy to make. Wash your cranberries and while they’re draining, mix up the balsamic and honey in a small bowl. Toss in the cranberries and set the bowl aside.

After you roast the almonds, chop them up and then roll the goat cheese into the almonds. This gets a little messy so I usually throw on some disposable kitchen gloves.

Seriously, those things are amazing.

I usually use the cutting board I chopped the almonds on because its great for leverage and I can pick up whatever almond shavings may getaway.

Anyway, manipulate the goat cheese into a disc shape (see above picture for an example) and place the cheese in the center of a pie plate.

Then pour the cranberries all around the goat cheese log. Did a little balsamic honey dribble on top of the goat cheese? That’s awesome. It’s just going to add more flavor to the appetizer.

Sprinkle some additional almonds on top, throw it in the oven and let it bake.

When you pull it out of the oven, you are going to have a gooey, cheesy, sweet pile of awesome. We usually serve this with crackers or bread – pictured are little toasts imported from France and olive oil crackers.

Cranberry sauce is a necessary holiday side dish but I think many people just open up that iconic Thanksgiving cranberry-sauce-in-a-can and then go on with their merry way.

This holiday appetizer just might change the way you think about cranberries.

Looking for more cranberry recipes?

Try these:

• Bacon Cranberry Pistachio Dressing
• Cranberry Jalapeño Cream Cheese Appetizer
• Apple Cinnamon Cranberry Mimosa (or Fauxmosa)
• Vanilla Cranberry Mimosa (with Video!)

Did you make this recipe? Tag @thethirstyfeast on IG!

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