Sugared Cranberries are so festive and are an easy way to dress up desserts for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Candied cranberries have just 3 ingredients and will make any dessert sparkle.
These frosted cranberries are beautiful as a dessert topping like Cranberry Bundt Cake, but they’re also a fun addition to a holiday cookie platter.
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We love cranberries for the holidays from Cranberry Sauce to Sparkling Cranberry Punch. They make everything more festive and these sugared cranberries are such a treat.
Sugared Cranberries Video
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What are Sugared Cranberries?
Sugared cranberries are essentially candied cranberries, dipped in a simple syrup of sugar and water then rolled in sugar until well coated. This recipe only requires 3 ingredients and it’s easy to scale the recipe up or down.
The Best Sugar for Cranberries: We love granulated sugar because it gives the cranberries an even coating and the granules are still large enough to make the cranberries look frosted, but you can also use cane sugar.
How to make Sugared Cranberries
- Heat the Syrup – In a medium saucepan, simmer 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar for 3 minutes.
- Stir in cranberries to coat then remove from heat and stir another 1 minute.
- Remove cranberries with a slotted spoon and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet or rack and dry out for 1 hour
- Roll sticky cranberries in remaining sugar to coat.
Tips for making sugared cranberries
- Rinse and dry the cranberries. The syrup will stick better to dry cranberries and you don’t want to incorporate excess water into your syrup.
- Simmer syrup on low heat for 3 minutes after it’s come to a boil. You want the sugar to fully dissolve and form a slightly thickened syrup for coating cranberries.
- Fully Coat the cranberries in the syrup. I like to stir them for a minute off the heat.
- Remove Cranberries before they burst. You don’t want them to release their juices or soften.
Can I eat candied cranberries?
Sugared cranberries are edible. They are sweet, tangy, and delicious. Raw cranberries can be very tart on their own but once they are coated in that sweet syrup and a layer of sugar, they almost taste like candy.
How to serve cranberries in sugar:
- Snacking – Sugared Cranberries are great for snacking and look amazing on a holiday cheeseboard.
- Garnish – Try them over a Cranberry Cake, or scatter them on Pumpkin Pie or a cooled Apple Pie.
- Decorate Main Dishes – decorate the serving platter of your Baked Ham or Prime Rib.
- Make Desserts Festive – Decorating Vanilla Cake or Cupcakes with sugared cranberries will instantly make them look Christmasy and festive.
What can I do with the sugar syrup?
You can discard the sugar syrup or make great use of it to:
- Soak Cakes: Adding the simple sugar syrup to a Sponge Cake adds sweetness and moisture.
- Add to Drinks: you can use the syrup for Homemade Lemonade or add it to your favorite Cranberry Pineapple Punch.
Storing sugared cranberries
Store sugared cranberries covered at room temperature in a cool, dry environment for up to 2 days.
Pro Tip: If the sugar starts looking moist, you can re-roll them in a little more sugar to freshen them up.
What to do with leftover sugared cranberries?
If your cranberries have softened or you just have leftover cranberries, You can put them into a saucepan with a little water and make a quick homemade cranberry sauce.
More Holiday Desserts
- Christmas Sugar Cookies – our go-to Christmas Cookies
- Caramel Sauce – nothing beats homemade
- Almond Snowball Cookies – melt-in-your-mouth delicious
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad – a staple at holiday dessert buffets
- Tiramisu Yule Log Cake – a stunning bouche de noel
- Red Velvet Cake – with the best frosting
Sugared Cranberries (Easy Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 3 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and dried
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and let it simmer on low heat for 3 minutes.
- Stir in the cranberries to fully coat in the syrup then remove from heat and stir 1 minute.
- Remove cranberries with a slotted spoon and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet or a metal rack to let cranberries dry out for 1 hour.
- Roll cranberries in batches in the remaining 1 cup sugar to coat.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Just made these today for the 1st time. I can’t source fresh cranberries where I live, so frozen to the rescue. They turned out perfectly! I can’t wait to showcase these topping my Frosted Cranberry Jell-O Shots Christmas Eve! Thanks for such a simple and beautiful recipe!
Hello
I purchased fresh cranberries several weeks ago and froze them. Can i still use the cranberries I froze?
Hi Canda, one of my readers reported great results using frozen cranberries: “I actually used frozen cranberries and they turned out great! They were still cold/frozen after the one minute stir in the sugar syrup, so I put the sugar syrup with the cranberries back on the stove just to warm it up and they plumped, unfroze and were yummy!”
I just made these today using frozen cranberries and they turned out perfectly! Merry Christmas from Canada!
Cranberries stuck together after an hour, but weren’t too hard to separate and roll into sugar. Everyone loved them and they were great for Thanksgiving!
I’m glad you were able to seperate them, Reyna!
can you use frozen cranberries? I can’t find fresh cranberries
Hi Jan, one of my readers reported great results using frozen cranberries: “I actually used frozen cranberries and they turned out great! They were still cold/frozen after the one minute stir in the sugar syrup, so I put the sugar syrup with the cranberries back on the stove just to warm it up and they plumped, unfroze and were yummy!”
Easy and yummy! Used as a garnish for an autumn brunch platter.
I bet it was gorgeous. I would have loved to see a picture. You can always tag me on instagram or facebook #natashaskitchen.
Every year my guests gobble gobble these up!! Simple and delicious and even healthy!! Thanks!
Love your recipes and energy! Can these be made ahead and how should they be stored?
Hi Mia! Yes, they can be. See my note above for storage instructions.
I can’t find the term storage answer either. What did you do in the end?
Debi! There’s a note in the blog post above the recipe card- “Store sugared cranberries covered at room temperature in a cool, dry environment for up to 2 days.”
Cranberries only needed 20 min to dry enough to cool and coat. An hour would have been way too long. However, worked good and cranberries coated for my Buche De Noel log cake.