Candied Cranberries | No Sugar Added!
Published Nov 30, 2022 Updated May 15, 2024
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What Makes This Recipe Great
Cranberries are the fruit of the season! From cranberry sauce to cranberry orange scones to festive cranberry cocktails, this stunning fruit is everywhere this time of year. This candied cranberries recipe is a super easy way to jazz up your holiday favorites. Cake or cupcakes, cocktails, or cheeseboards. All you need is sugar, water, and fresh cranberries!
I’ve included swaps to make these sugar-free and keto, or regular if you prefer. Call them candied or sugared cranberries, they’re the same! Delicious, beautiful, and perfectly festive.
Ingredient Notes
Fresh Cranberries: Use fresh cranberries (not frozen cranberries!) and rinse them with cold water in a colander to clean them. Shake off any excess water and pat them dry with a paper towel.
Water & Allulose Sweetener: These together make a simple syrup. If you would like to make these sugared cranberries to be sugar-free and keto, use granulated allulose sweetener. You can also use white granulated sugar if you are not sugar-free.
Granulated Monk Fruit Sugar: This is used to coat the cranberries. You can also use Swerve granulated sugar or regular granulated sugar. Cane sugar is a bit more coarse, so I recommend granulated sugar.
Recipe Step by Step
- In a medium saucepan, add 1 cup of allulose and 1 cup of water. Cook this mixture on medium/low heat for 5 minutes or until the mixture is clear.
- Add the cranberries into the simple syrup and cook for 4 minutes on medium/low. Do not overcook or the berries will turn mushy and will become a mess.
- Removed the cooked berries with a slotted spoon and place them on a cooling rack in a single layer. Allow them to dry at room temperature for 30 mins to an hour. While drying the cranberries will become sticky.
- Roll each berry in granulated monk fruit or sugar. Place them on a plate to dry for another hour or so.
- Add in cocktails, on top of cakes/cookies or they are great for snacking.
How to Use Candied Cranberries
There are SO many ways to spruce up your holiday treats with these candied cranberries.
Decoration: Make everything festive! Use your candied cranberries to spruce up a holiday cheese board, add flair to a gingerbread house, or to give your serving platters a little extra something.
Garnish: Candied cranberries are the perfect garnish for festive holiday cocktails, like my sparkling cranberry gin fizz.
Baked Goods: Use them to top cakes, cookies, and other tasty treats.
Pro Tips
Sugar Swaps: Do NOT use granulated Monk Fruit as a replacement for allulose in the simple syrup. It will not have the same texture. Allulose creates a sticky coating that stays sticky once cooled. Unfortunately, monk fruit does not have the same effect.
Extra Simple Syrup: If you have extra syrup, save it! Add it to a jar and save it for cocktails, baked goods, coffee, or protein shakes.
Storage: Store your sugared cranberries in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Roll them in a fresh bowl of sugar to freshen them up when ready to use again.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Though they are quite tart, raw cranberries are totally edible. When you candy them like in this recipe, the added sugar cuts the tartness and they become a delicious snacking fruit.
It’s super important to only keep them in the simple syrup for 4 minutes on low to medium heat. Otherwise, yes, they can explode and not keep their round shape.
These both mean the same thing- delicious, sugary cranberries!
This recipe uses no added sugar. The allulose and monk fruit sweeteners are a natural, 0 carb, and 0 calorie sugar substitute. Cranberries, however, do have natural sugar. Using these as a garnish for your holiday treats is totally fine if you’re eating keto. If you want to snack on them, keep in mind your macros and eat accordingly.
Try These Delicious Cranberry Recipes…
Candied Cranberries | No Sugar Added!
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh cranberries cleaned
- 1 cup allulose or real sugar if not SF
- 1 cup of water
- 3/4 cup granular monk fruit or real sugar for rolling
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, add 1 cup of allulose and 1 cup of water. Cook this mixture on medium/low heat for 5 minutes or until the mixture is clear.
- Add the cranberries into the simple syrup and cook for 4 minutes on medium/low. Do not overcook or the berries will turn mushy and will become a mess.
- Removed the cooked berries with a slotted spoon and place them on a cooling rack in a single layer. Allow them to dry at room temperature for 30 mins to an hour. While drying the cranberries will become sticky.
- Roll each berry in granulated monk fruit or sugar. Place them on a plate to dry for another hour or so.
- Add in cocktails, on top of cakes/cookies or they are great for snacking.
Notes
- Decoration: Make everything festive! Use your candied cranberries to spruce up a holiday cheese board, add flair to a gingerbread house, or to give your serving platters a little extra something.
- Garnish: Candied cranberries are the perfect garnish for festive holiday cocktails, like my sparkling cranberry gin fizz.
- Baked Goods: Use them to top cakes, cookies, and other tasty treats.
Equipment
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
