Get into the holiday spirit with these Vanilla-Orange Candied Cranberries. Perfect for a dessert, cheeseboard or your favorite cocktail.

Candied Cranberries

We are feeling a little festive here at Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps. I’m not sure what it is but this year, more than ever, I want to put up my Christmas decorations early and forget about all the chaos that’s been surrounding us. So, for this week’s Mini Chef Mondays we are going to have a little Christmas cheer with these easy-to-make, versatile Vanilla-Orange Candied Cranberries.

I had the chance to visit a cranberry bog a couple of weeks back and fell in love again with the cranberry. I’ve always been a fan but something about visiting the bog made me want to work with this unique fruit even more.

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I brought home a few containers of fresh cranberries and knew I wanted to make something seasonal with them for this week’s recipe. 

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The Mini Chefs and I gathered in the kitchen and decided to make Vanilla-Orange Candied Cranberries. We thought these would be a nice addition to our desserts, cheese boards and maybe even a cocktail or mocktail. Our candied cranberries are a little different from what you might be used to because we coated them with two kinds of sugar – regular granulated sugar and coconut sugar for an over-the-top candy coating.

To begin, we prepared our cranberries by combining water, granulated sugar and orange and vanilla extracts in a pot. We then added our cranberries and allowed them to simmer for a bit. When they were done, they cooled on parchment paper allowing the sugar to get sticky on the cranberries. From there we rolled the cranberries in the sugar mixture until completely coated.

Candied Cranberries

The result were these beautiful cranberries that look little little snowballs.

Candied Cranberries

Vanilla-Orange Candied Cranberries

The perfect sweet treat.
Prep Time2 hours
Cook Time5 minutes
Servings: 2
Author: Linda Arceo | Mini Chef Mondays

Ingredients

  • 1 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 cups fresh cranberries
  • 1 teaspoon orange extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup coconut sugar

Instructions

  • Combine 1 cup sugar and 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, about 2-3 minutes. Add extracts. Stir in cranberries until well coated. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to wire rack; let dry for at least 1 hour.
  • Working in batches, roll cranberries in remaining sugar mixture (combine two sugars into a bowl) until well coated; let dry for at least 1 hour.

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Be sure to check out each of their Mini Chef posts as well!

Don’t you think these would be perfect for the holidays? For a fun variation, dip the bottoms in chocolate and allow to cool. Makes a great gift!

 

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