sugared cranberries

These festive little gems are the perfect finishing touch for your holiday desserts.

Sugared cranberries are so simple to make, you can get the entire family involved.

The recipe below is a basic sugared cranberry recipe. Feedback for this recipe has included the following:
“Superfine sugar is not necessary, we used regular sugar for rolling and it came out fine.“

Difficulty: Simple
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Ingredients

2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup superfine sugar

Note: if you can’t find superfine, create your own by adding granulated sugar to a food processor for about a minute.

Optional: A few grates of orange zest and 1 or 2 cloves or vanilla added to the syrup adds a deeper flavor. Tweak and twist it a bit to suit your flavor and make the recipe your own.

Directions

Using a toothpick, poke at least one hole in each cranberry to ensure the sweetened syrup gets inside the berry, otherwise they tend to be a bit too tart.
Combine sugar and water, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a simmer, not a boil and remove from heat.
Stir in cranberries, pour mixture into a medium bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Remove cranberries and drain in a colander over bowl, reserving cranberry simple syrup. DO NOT RINSE the berries. The syrupy coating is needed. Refrigerate the left-over simple syrup for cocktails.
Place superfine or granulated sugar in a shallow dish or rimmed baking sheet, add cranberries and roll to coat completely with sugar. Note: if some of your berries are too wet, blot lightly with a paper towel, being careful not to dry them completely. This will help to keep the sugar from “clumping”.
Spread finished cranberries in a single layer on baking sheet lined with parchment. Let stand approx. 1 hour at room temperature until dry.