Sugared Cranberries are the perfect festive garnish for so many treats. Made with just cranberries, sugar, and water, this easy to make sparkling garnish is a beautiful way to elevate your desserts and cocktails or it can be enjoyed as a snack all on its own.
We love using cranberries in all sorts of ways during the holidays. This tart little berry is perfect in desserts like Cranberry Orange Streusel Cake, Cranberry Cheesecake, or Cranberry Bars, in breakfast treats like Cranberry Sauce Muffins or Cranberry and Dark Chocolate Scones, or in cocktails like this Holiday Cocktail with Cranberry.
These Sugared Cranberries are another fun way to make the best use of this tart berry. These beautiful sparkling cranberries make a gorgeous garnish for desserts, cocktails, waffles, and more. They are equally tasty to just snack on, as is.
Sugary crystals make these plump cranberries look like they are coated in frost. I especially love using them for Christmas treats for this very reason – they look so wintery and pretty.
As with many of my go-to recipes, this one is a simple one. Just 3 ingredients are needed, and one of them is water! These sugared cranberries require a simple syrup to be made, for the cranberries to soak up some of it, and then they are tossed in sugar. Easy enough for a novice to make, yet elegant enough to garnish and elevate so many of your holiday treats.
Why we love this recipe
- These sugared cranberries are simply gorgeous. They are a beautiful way to garnish all sorts of holiday treats.
- They are so festive.
- Just 3 ingredients are needed and one of them is water!
- You can use them to garnish all sorts of holiday desserts like cupcakes and cakes, breakfast treats like waffles or pancakes, or even cocktails.
- They make a nice sweet and tart snack on their own.
Ingredients for Sugared Cranberries
- Water: used in equal parts with sugar to make a simple syrup for the cranberries to soak in.
- Sugar: granulated white sugar is used to make a simple syrup but also to toss the cranberries in to get that beautiful sparkly coating.
- Cranberries: fresh cranberries are a must for this recipe. Firm and plump cranberries that hold their shape are a must. Frozen berries will be too soft.
**Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
How to make Sugared Cranberries
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, place the water and a 3/4 cup of sugar. Simmer together for about 5 minutes, whisking often until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cranberries to ensure they are coated well in the syrup. Let them soak in the syrup for about 10 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cranberries to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Allow them to cool for 1 hour.
- Place the remaining sugar in a bowl. Working in small batches, roll the cranberries into the sugar. The cranberries will be sticky and so the sugar should easily adhere to them.
- Enjoy the sugared cranberries as a snack or add them as a garnish to desserts.
Tips for making sugared cranberries
- Use fresh, plump berries only. Take a minute to inspect your berries and pick out any soft, shriveled berries.
- Let the syrup cool before adding cranberries. While you want your syrup to be warm still, I recommend letting it cool for about 5 minutes before adding your fresh berries to it. This will help prevent over-cooking your cranberries and causing them to burst open or soften.
- Don’t leave your cranberries in the syrup too long. For the same reason as above, you do not want to soften or burst your berries.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove your berries. This will help you get rid of excess syrup.
- Spread the cranberries out to dry them. This will prevent the cranberries from sticking together.
- Toss the cranberries in sugar in batches. Working in small batches will help ensure the berries are all evenly coated.
- Making these the day you intend to serve them is best but a day ahead is okay too.
Storing sugared cranberries
Sugared cranberries are best when made and served within a few hours. If making them last minute isn’t possible, you can make them a day ahead and store them in the fridge in an airtight container. Refrigeration will add moisture to the cranberries and they may become wet. This can cause the sugar to melt or slide off of them. If that happens, you can toss the cranberries in more granulated sugar to restore their frosty look.
It is for this reason that I recommend storing them in an airtight container on their own. If you plan on using them as a garnish or topping, it’s best to add them just before serving. This way, if you need to re-toss them in sugar, it can easily be done.
How to use sugared cranberries
- Snack: while cranberries can be quite tart on their own, when they are candied like this, they become a much more palatable sweet (but still tart) treat to munch on.
- Served with cheese: A little bowl added to a cheese platter or used as a topping for brie.
- Garnish:
- Waffle, pancake, oatmeal, or yogurt topping
- Cocktail garnish: Skewer a few sugared cranberries on a cocktail pick for a beautiful cocktail garnish.
- Decorate cakes or cupcakes. I often use them to decorate my Cranberry Cheesecake and my Cranberry Orange Streusel Cake.
What to do with leftover syrup
After the cranberries are done soaking in the simple syrup, there is a lot of syrup leftover. It can be discarded but I personally prefer to put it to good use instead. You can use the simple syrup in cocktails, lattes, teas, and other drinks. It can also be spooned onto cakes to add moisture (and sweetness). The syrup has a very light cranberry flavor.
If you plan on using the leftover syrup, I recommend straining it into a glass mason jar (or similar) with a secure lid and storing it in the fridge.
Looking for more cranberry recipes? Check out:
Cranberry Orange Streusel Cake
Cranberry Bars
Cranberry Cheesecake
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Holiday Cocktail with Cranberry
Cranberry Sauce Muffins
More holiday favorites:
Hot Cocoa Cookies
Peppermint Mocha Recipe
Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies Recipe
Gingerbread Latte Recipe (Starbucks Copycat)
Gingerbread Cookies
Christmas Kiss Cookies
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Sugared Cranberries
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 1/4 cups sugar divided
- 2 cups fresh cranberries rinsed and dried
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, place the water and a 3/4 cup of sugar. Simmer together for about 5 minutes, whisking often until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cranberries to ensure they are coated well in the syrup. Let them soak in the syrup for about 10 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cranberries to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Allow them to cool for 1 hour.
- Place the remaining sugar in a bowl. Working in small batches, roll the cranberries into the sugar. The cranberries will be sticky and so the sugar should easily adhere to them.
- Enjoy the sugared cranberries as a snack or add them as a garnish to desserts.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
