Apple Bacon Bleu Cheese Crostini

Apple Bruschetta

If you are looking for a delicious passed appetizer for your next party, these Apple Bacon Bleu Cheese Crostini are sure to impress your guests. This bruschetta style recipe made with sweet and savory ingredients is is the perfect balance of flavors.

Bacon & Apples

While apples and bacon might not be a traditional flavor combination, it is certainly one you must try. Much like in this Caramelized Bacon Apples recipe, the combination of tart apples with salty and rich bacon is mouthwatering.

For this Apple Bruschetta recipe, we took the apples and bacon and layered them over a whipped bleu cheese on top of a crostini. The chewy French bread with the creamed cheese and crunchy apples and bacon will have all your senses alive and excited.

• Caramelized Bacon Apples

How to make Apple Crostini

To get started, follow this simple homemade crostini recipe to make the best crostini. It is as simple as slicing a loaf of French bread into 1/2 inch slices and drizzling them with olive oil. Finish them off with some flakey sea salt and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350F.

The result will be a beautiful golden and crispy piece of bread that still has a nice chewy center that is perfect for topping or dipping.

• homemade crostini recipe

Whipped Bleu Cheese

While the crostini are baking, add 4 ounces of cream cheese and 4 ounces of gorgonzola (or whichever bleu cheese you prefer) to a food processor. Mix on high until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

How to naturally keep apples from browning

Next up you will want to prepare your apples. Chop the apple into 1/4 inch cubes, leaving the skins on. The skins add beautiful color to the apple crostini.

Add the chopped apples to a bowl of cold water with a generous splash of lemon juice. The lemon juice will naturally help prevent the apples from browning, while also adding a subtle addition of acidity.

Assembling Crostini

When assembling any crostini or bruschetta, you want to do it just before serving. The moisture from the whipped cheese or fruit can make the French bread soggy if prepared too far in advance. I typically like to assemble my crostini within an hour of serving them when possible.

Top each crostini with a tablespoon of whipped bleu cheese. Top a tablespoon or two of chopped apples and crumble a 1/3 slice bacon over each. Finish with a tiny sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves. The thyme is optional, so feel free to omit it or substitute with other herbs such as sage or chives.

Arrange the crostini on a platter and cover. Store refrigerated and bring to room temperature about 10 minutes before serving.

Bleu Cheese Substitution

While we love the pungent bleu cheese flavor paired with apples and bacon, we understand it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. If you and your guests aren’t the stinky cheese types, then you can make an easy substitution that will appeal more to your crowd.

The best substitution for bleu cheese in this recipe will be feta cheese. It has a very similar texture and still adds a nice salty bite to the dish. Another great option would be goat cheese. It also has a distinct flavor that most people tend to have a love or hate relationship with.

If neither of these options sound great to you, you can keep things very simple and just use plain whipped cream cheese. It will result in a milder bite, but between the apples, bacon and fresh thyme, there are still plenty of great flavors going on.

Fancy Appetizer Recipes

Crostini are one of the easiest ways to make a fancy appetizer that is quite simple to make but fantastic as a passed appetizer or finger food. Here are some of our other crostini recipes that you can add to your line up when planning your next party menu

Pomegranate Goat Cheese Crostini – Whipped honey goat cheese topped with crunchy pomegranate seeds and fresh mint is a lovely combination.

Caramelized Onion & Cheddar Apple Crostini – This recipe takes a little more time to prepare, but boy oh boy are the flavors worth it.

Blueberry Balsamic Goat Cheese Appetizer – You can serve this on a platter to be scooped up with crostini or assemble them individually for guests. Either way, this is one of our most popular appetizers for good reason!

Strawberry & Whipped Feta Bruschetta – This is another great combination of sweet fruit paired with savory cheese.

• Pomegranate Goat Cheese Crostini
• Caramelized Onion & Cheddar Apple Crostini
• Blueberry Balsamic Goat Cheese Appetizer

Serving: 1 g | Calories: 115 kcal | Carbohydrates: 10 g | Protein: 4 g | Fat: 6 g | Saturated Fat: 3 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3 g | Cholesterol: 15 mg | Sodium: 268 mg | Fiber: 1 g | Sugar: 3 g