Brie and Pecan Canapes, for When Guests Show Up Unannounced - Easy

It's getting to be that time of year when friends and relatives like to drop in unannounced.  These canapes  are easy to throw together when you see those inconsiderate surprise guests walking up the driveway.  




I had originally made open-faced kinda-sorta grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch the other day.  I say kinda-sorta because they were baked, rather than grilled.  Calling them baked cheese sandwiches conjurers up pictures of macaroni and cheese on white (hold the mayo), and I didn't want to confuse you, Dear Reader, any more than you must be right now.

Where was I?  Oh, yeah .. baked grilled cheese.  Using my oven-oven (because I don't have a toaster-oven) I broiled the tops of bread slices, then flipped them over and covered them with brie.  After a quick broil of the cheese, I topped 'em with pecans and drizzled 'em with honey. 

No, wait ... guess I should have called them broiled grilled cheese.  Oh, well ....

Oh, so elegant!  Sorry, was too hungry for fancier staging.

After looking at the result, I thought these babies could be promoted to canapes! So  I cut each bread slice into 4 squares.  If you want to make them really fancy-schmancy, trim off the crusts before serving. 

This recipe takes about 5 minutes, start to finish.  No need for the broiler to come up to full broil.  Crank 'er up, then start gathering the ingredients.  The hardest part is watching the bread toast, because it will be almost done, almost done, blink, burnt.  You might be thinking, "Hey!  My toaster has a one-side setting, I can use that instead!"  Well, you can, but it's going to be a bit clumsy keeping the brie on the bread, what with gravity and all that.

Brie and Pecan Canapes - Easy
Yield:  16 Canapes

4 slices of thin white bread
brie cheese, thinly sliced into 16 1-inch squares
16 pecan halves
4 tsp. honey

My broiler doesn't broil evenly

Start up the broiler element in your oven.  Place bread in a single layer on baking sheet.  Place 6 inches under broiler for 1 to 1/2 minutes; watch carefully to prevent burning.

Be sure to slice and center brie squares evenly :P

 Remove pan from oven.   Flip over bread slices.  Place 4 cheese squares just in from the 4 corners of each bread slice. 

Return pan to oven for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until cheese starts to melt and bubble, or until bread is browned to your liking.  Watch carefully to prevent burning.

Or drizzle on honey, THEN cut into squares.

Remove from oven; place a pecan on top of each cheese square.  Transfer bread to a cutting board and cut each slice into quarters.  
Arrange on serving platter and drizzle evenly with the honey.  Serve immediately.