Baked Brie

This is a recipe I learned from one of my good friends. She's basically the only reason I try new things. When she said we were going to have baked brie, I was like brie? What kind of weird vegetable is that? For those of you who don't get the joke, brie is a cheese. 

A miracle happened a few weeks ago. You all know about my dairy allergy, but I can do goat cheese because it is 100% more gentle on my digestive parts that you don't want to hear about. Anyway, I live in a town of heathens that don't believe in fresh fruit or non-cow cheeses. Anything that is not just plain straight up goat cheese is basically impossible to find, which is why I replace all my cheeses with plain jane goat cheese. Anyway, MIRACLE! I found goat cheese brie. I don't know who you are that convinced the store to carry it, but I want to marry you. 

Baked brie is probably the simplest dish I have ever made and it is a great snack and reheats really well. What you need: 

5-8oz brie (it can be goat or cow cheese, they are equally delicious)
1 roll of pillsbury crescent rolls
Your choice of jam (raspberry is first choice)
Glazed Walnuts (I can't remember how I usually do this, so I will add a recipe for that). 

Here is the recommended walnut recipe that I'm trying to remember off the top of my head: Chop walnuts. Put oil in a pan and heat, add walnuts, and mix to coat. Add cinnamon, brown sugar, something something....and cook until it begins thickening and congealing around the nuts. The recipe is good, but I'm not sure it is correct. I urge the SO of this recipe-giver to comment on what the real recipe is, you know who you are. This is a more specific recipe I just found for making glazed walnuts: Spread 2/3 cup of finely chopped walnuts on the bottom of a baking dish. Bake 10-12 minutes until toasted, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and stir in 1/4 cup of coffee flavored liquor, 3 tbs of firmly packed brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Set aside. 

I'm not sure how that particular recipe will taste, but it sounds right. The full recipe is here. 

I used a pie dish to bake my brie, but you can also use a cookie sheet or anything you can cook in. Spray the bottom. Roll out your cold (but not frozen) crescent rolls into a rectangle or in such a way that it fits the pie pan. Mash the sutures together so there are no holes. Place the brie in the middle, place the walnuts on top, and you can either add the jam now or serve it on the side. I always serve it on the side. Bring the edges together to cover all the ingredients and mush the top pieces together so there are no holes. You can remove excess dough and bake it on the side and eat that separately with jam or butter. Bake in oven on 350F for about 12 minutes or until the dough is brown and cooked. Serve with crackers (I prefer townhouse) and jam. 

Baked goat brie is actually really good, if you want to know. I think it has a better flavor than cow brie but that could just be because I secretly hate cow milk products (but I love cheese). I served it without walnuts this time because of the brunch member with a nut allergy and it was the saddest day of my life. My poor, lonely walnuts. I did have both plum and raspberry jam, and I have had blackberry jam with it before and it's all really good. This was, as usual, a success and it was gone within minutes. If you are feeding more than four people, I recommend you make two.