Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 long, thin loaf of French or Italian bread, sliced on an angle, about 1/3” thick
- 12 oz. fresh cranberries (or frozen, thawed out)
- Softened butter
- 1 small container of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- Sugar (about 1/3 cup or to taste)
- 1/2 cup of your favorite nuts, chopped, I used pecans
- 1/2 cup of raisins
Maple Sugar Glaze
- 4 Tbsp. maple syrup
- 4 Tbsp. light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
Garnish
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, for sprinkling over the top
- mint leaves
Instructions
- Slice the baguette of bread into 1/2″ slices on an angle. Spread some softened butter on top of each slice.
- Using the broiler in your oven, broil the bread slices until golden in color . . . this happens fairly fast (in less than 5 minutes), so keep your eyes on these so thy don't burn. Remove from the oven when golden.
- Set the mascarpone cheese out to come to room temperature. When that is finished, in a small bowl, add sugar to the mascarpone cheese to taste, and with a fork stir it up really good.
- In a small sauce pan, bring the maple syrup, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar to a boil. Then turn down the heat and simmer until foamy, about 2 minutes.
- Spread the sweetened mascarpone cheese on top of each toasted bread slice.
- Place each slice on a baking sheet and return to the oven on 350 dgrees (the oven should still be warm), and allow the cheese to melt for about a minute or two. Remove from the oven when the cheese is a warm, soft consistency and not runny melted.
- Sprinkle cranberries, raisins, and nuts all over the mascarpone cheese.
- Sprinkle some brown sugar and a mint leaf on top of each crostini.
- Drizzle with maple sugar glaze.
- Serve WARM and enjoy! Buon Appetito!
Keywords: crostini, cranberries, cranberry, Christmas, Thanksgiving, appetizer, dessert, finger food,
