Sugared Cranberries

Two ingredients turn fresh cranberries into a sparkly garnish for drinks, cakes, and cookie platters. Here is how to make them.

Use these candied cranberries to garnish holiday drinks or dress up a cheese and cookie platter. Scatter them over a cake or top a batch of vanilla cupcakes. They add a festive pop to Thanksgiving and Christmas desserts. Or just eat them by the handful.

Sugared cranberries can be made in just a few steps. All you have to do is coat fresh cranberries in a sugar syrup and then roll them around in sugar to give them that sparkly festive look. Other than having to wait a little for them to dry, it's a very easy and quick recipe.

How to Make Sugared Cranberries

Start with fresh cranberries. Pick out any soft or bruised ones, then wash and dry the rest completely. Any water left on the berries will keep the sugar from sticking.

Coat them in the warm sugar syrup, then move them to a rack to dry. Give them at least an hour. You want the surface tacky, sticky enough to grab the sugar but not so wet that it comes off on your fingers.

Keep the berries separated while they dry so they don't clump together. Once they are tacky, roll them in sugar a small batch at a time. This gives you an even coat and keeps the extra sugar from clumping in the bowl.

How to Use Sugared Cranberries for Drinks and Garnish

These are made to garnish a drink. Drop a few into a sparkling cocktail, a glass of prosecco, or a bowl of holiday punch. They float and catch the light, and a sprig of rosemary next to them adds to the festive touch. Thread two or three onto a cocktail pick if you want them to stay put.

They spruce up a holiday platter too. Scatter them across a cheese board or a cookie tray for a pop of red. Use them to finish desserts: a few on a slice of spiced gingerbread cake, scattered over a pumpkin cheesecake, or piled on a frosted layer cake.

And you can just eat them. They are tart, sweet, and crunchy, and they disappear fast.

Can You Use Frozen Cranberries?

Use fresh. Frozen cranberries release water as they thaw, and that water keeps the sugar from sticking. You end up with a patchy coat instead of an even, sparkly one.

Fresh berries give you the best result. Pat them dry with a paper towel after washing so there is no extra water going into the syrup step. 

If you are wondering about freezing the finished cranberries, I haven't tested that, so I can't tell you how the coating holds up. I make them the day I need them.

How to Store Sugared Cranberries

These are best the day you make them, when the coating is crisp and bright. If you need them ahead of time, store them at room temperature in an airtight container for a day or two.

The coating softens as they sit. When the sugar starts to look wet or sticky, roll them in a little fresh sugar.

What to Do with the Leftover Syrup

Don't pour out the syrup. It is cranberry-tinted simple syrup, and it has plenty of uses.

Stir it into a cocktail or a glass of sparkling water to sweeten and tint the drink. Brush it between cake layers to keep them moist.

While you have it going, candy some orange peels or candied ginger, or frost a few rosemary sprigs to set out alongside the cranberries.