These easy tarts are filled with creamy goat cheese, cranberry sauce, and spiced nuts. They are quick to make and a perfect appetizer for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
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We love appetizer nights and I am always looking for something new to add to our menu.
These cranberry goat cheese tarts were created when I wanted something different, but didn’t want to run to the store.
I opened my fridge and saw that I had some goat cheese and left over cranberry sauce and came up with these tasty little morsels.
This makes a nice size batch of 24 tarts and they are good hot or cold.
Why this recipe works
These tarts look fancy, but are actually really easy to make.
The creamy goat cheese with tart cranberry sauce is a perfect combination. And by using refrigerated crescent rolls to make the tart shells you save a lot of time.
I always make my own cranberry sauce, but if you want to keep things super easy you can just use canned.
Ingredients
These tarts use simple ingredients that should be easily found at any grocery store.
- Refrigerated crescent rolls – This will form the tart shells.
- Almonds – Pecans would be great too
- Goat cheese – Look for a soft ripe goat cheese. I use just plain goat cheese, but cranberry goat cheese would be great too.
- Cranberry sauce – Make your own or keep it super simple with canned.
Instructions
Start by making the almond topping. Roughly chop the almonds with a sharp knife, then place them in a bowl, add the butter, sugar and cinnamon, stir it up and set it aside.
If you don’t feel like chopping the almonds yourself, sliced almonds will work just as well.
Next we will make the tart shells. Place a large piece of parchment paper on the counter, then open the tube of crescent rolls and unroll them onto the parchment.
Pinch together any seams that have separated, then place a second piece of parchment on top of the crescent rolls.
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 10×16 inches then carefully remove the paper.
Next, cut the dough into 24 small squares. I like to use a pizza cutter for this, but a sharp knife will work too.
Lightly spray your mini muffin tins with non stick spray and gently press one square into each cup.
Fill the tarts with a scoop of goat cheese, then a scoop of cranberries, then top them with the almonds.
Now pop them in the oven to bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes until tart shells are lightly browned.
Expert tip – Do not skip spraying the pan with non-stick spray, even if you are using a non-stick pan as these tarts will stick. However, silicone pans work great as well and you will not need to spray them.
Wait about 5 minutes, then remove the tarts from the pan and serve.
These tarts are wonderful either warm or cold, so you can serve them right away, or serve them later. Either way, they will be gobbled up in no time.
FAQS
If you don’t like goat cheese, brie would be a great choice, or you can use any other soft cheese that you like.
Sure! Crescent rolls make these fairly easy, but if you can’t get them where you live you could use puff pastry. If you want to make things even easier, you can use pre-made frozen tart shells.
More Appetizer Recipes
Recipe
Cranberry Goat Cheese Tarts
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Tube Refrigerated crescent rolls
- ½ Cup Whole almonds raw
- 1 tablespoon Salted butter melted
- 2 teaspoon Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ Cup Soft goat cheese
- ½ Cup Cranberry sauce homemade or canned
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Chop almonds coarsely with a sharp knife. Place the chopped almonds in a bowl and add the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon. Stir to combine and set aside.
- Take crescent rolls out of the tube and carefully unroll them onto a large piece of parchment paper. Pinch together any seams that have separated.
- Place another large piece of parchment on top of the crescent rolls and with a rolling pin roll into a rectangle about 10×16 inches.
- Carefully remove the top layer of parchment, then cut the crescent rolls into 24 small squares. (A pizza cutter makes this easy)
- Lightly spray 24 mini muffin cups with non-stick spray and then gently press each square into a cup.
- Add a scoop of goat cheese, then a scoop of cranberry sauce, then top each tart with the almonds.
- Place pans in the oven and bake for 15 minutes until tart shells are lightly browned.
- Let cool about 5 minutes and then remove from the tins and serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.