Baked Feta with Honey and Herbs

As far as entertaining goes, I’m going to contest there is literally nothing more crowd pleasing than melty cheese with some sort of dipping mechanism.  Tell me about your favorite appetizers – they almost all have melted cheese in them in some fashion.

One of the appetizer favorites tends to be baked brie.  I’m never going to fight anyone who wants to serve me baked brie.  Never, ever.  But let’s acknowledge that baked brie tends to be a little messy.  If it’s hot, then it’s oozing all over the place (again let’s establish, this is not a bad thing, it’s just a messy thing).

But feta cheese is different than brie in that it retains its shape when it’s heated.  So you still get the warm, creamy appetizer in baked feta but without all the mess.

Baked feta and honey is a perfect salty and sweet combination on its own, but the addition of cranberries and fresh thyme make it elegant enough to be worthy of any holiday party.

Baked Feta with Honey and Herbs

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 8-10 oz feta cheese, not crumbled
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup honey, plus extra to garnish
• 4-5 sprigs thyme leaves
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• ¼ cup fresh cranberries
• 1 french baguette, sliced thin

The best thing about this baked feta recipe is that it’s perfect for entertaining.  Put everything together in an oven proof baking dish before guests come over, then heat it up when everyone arrives.  It really couldn’t be simpler.

Start with a large wedge of feta cheese – the only caveat here is you don’t want crumbled feta cheese.  You want feta cheese either in brine or uncrumbled in blocks, and the creamier the better.

Preheat the oven to 400 and add the feta cheese to an oven proof baking dish.   Break the block of feta just slightly then add the olive oil and honey to the baking dish.  Add the thyme sprigs to the baked feta dish along with the fresh cracked black pepper and fresh cranberries.

Place the dish of baked feta in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the feta is golden brown, and the honey and olive oil have come together to create a bubbly syrup in the bottom of the dish.

Let the baked feta cool slightly before serving.

While the baked feta cools, slice a french baguette on a bias and bake for 5 minutes in the 400 degree oven.  Serve the warm bread with the honey baked feta.

This dish can be served warm or at room temperature, though the cheese will become less spreadable as it cools.  Your friends won’t even remember that there’s brie missing from the party!

Print

Honey and Herb Baked Feta

Honey and Herb Baked Feta with Cranberries and Fresh Thyme is the perfect easy entertaining appetizer for your next holiday party 

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American, Greek

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 8-10 oz feta cheese not crumbled
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup honey plus extra to garnish
• 4-5 sprigs thyme leaves
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• ¼ cup fresh cranberries
• 1 french baguette sliced thin

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400

2. Add the feta to a baking dish then drizzle with olive oil, honey, thyme, pepper, and cranberries

3. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes

4. Remove from oven and let the baked feta cool.  Slice the baguette and bake for 5 minutes

5. Serve the baguette with the warm baked feta