Why You Need To Break Out The Air Fryer For Your Next Baked Brie

Baked brie is a crowd pleaser and a party favorite. Because let's face it, everyone loves cheese. Especially when it's warmed to a gooey, spreadable goodness. And wrapped in buttery puff pastry. And accompanied by your favorite garnishes and dipping vehicles. You get the idea ... baked brie is something special.

But "baked" doesn't have to mean in the oven. There are other ways to cook this creamy cheese to perfection, like the ever-popular, ever-so-easy-to-use air fryer. Everyone loves the air fryer. That's because, similar to convection ovens, the way the small countertop gadget is designed allows the food to be completely circulated with hot air, as Simply Air Fryer explains, delivering food that's crisp on the outside and tender on the inside — all while requiring less oil and less cooking time. It's all the perks of deep frying, without the actual deep frying.

Here's why you should break yours out the next time you whip up some baked brie.

Baked brie isn't just a favorite for guests, but for hosts too; it's easy to make, it requires minimal prep, it looks fancy, and it tastes delicious. There's good reason why so many air fryer baked brie recipes are popping up, which are especially useful for all of you hosts who want to seriously upgrade your charcuterie board.

Air fryers notoriously deliver that extra bit of crispiness, crunchiness, or flakiness to your food that makes the end result restaurant-worthy. If there's anything you want crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, it's baked brie. The efficient high heat of an air fryer takes the flakiness of the buttery puff pastry to the next level while melting the wheel of brie cheese inside of it just enough.

Not only does the dish cook to a perfect golden brown — it looks beautiful and tastes delicious — but air fryer baked brie is also just plain practical. The air fryer will cook the large hunk of pastry-wrapped cheese in under 20 minutes, while most oven recipes will require 30 minutes to an hour to brown and crisp up enough. It'll save you time, and free up your oven if you have bigger fish (or brie) to fry!

Brie cheese hails from Seine-et-Marne in France, and it gets its quintessential creamy, soft texture from the rind, which does the work of smoothing out and enhancing its interior (per Castello). The beauty of baked brie is that it's a sophisticated snack that can be built with many variations.

Since the nutty, buttery, almost-mushroomy notes of brie complement so many other flavors, every iteration is delicious. From fruits to nuts to herbs, the pairing possibilities are endless.

You can always keep things simple and leave out the pastry entirely for a classic baked brie that lets the cheese shine. Or you can try swapping out the traditional puff pastry with phyllo for an exterior that's extra light and flaky. Enhance your baked brie with figs or apricots for a fruity element, pecans or walnuts for a more toasty crunch, or even maple syrup or honey for something sweet. Whatever your next masterpiece will be, your air fryer awaits.