Boozy Sugared Cranberries

These Boozy Sugared Cranberries are the perfect garnish for all of your holiday cocktails or just a delicious little treat to add to your holiday spread. Soaked in orange liqueur and rolled in sugar, you can’t go wrong with this sweet and sour combination.

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On my quest to make something delicious with my leftover cranberries, I ended up with some delicious Boozy Sugared Cranberries as well as a Cranberry Orange Liqueur Syrup. Talk about two-for-one! These small and delightful treats are sweet and sour and pack a ton of flavor! This recipe was inspired by A Spicy Perspective.

How to Make Boozy Sugared Cranberries

1. Place 1 cup of sugar, the water, vanilla extract, and orange liqueur in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar completely dissolves but do not bring to a boil.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the cranberries. Place something heavy on top to keep the cranberries submerged.
3. Once the mixture has cooled enough, cover with foil or plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 12 hours or overnight.
4. Strain the cranberries through a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. Once fully drained, place the syrup in a sealable bottle or container.
5. Put the remaining sugar in a container with a lid. Put the cranberries in the container, put on the lid, and gently shake and turn to fully coat the cranberries with sugar.
6. Place the cranberries on a piece of wax paper to dry for at least an hour. Once dry, place the cranberries in a sealable container until you are ready to use or serve.

How to Store the Sugared Cranberries and Syrup

Both the Sugared Cranberries and the syrup need to be stored in sealable containers. My container of choice for the cranberries was a plastic container with a lid. I put the syrup in a sealable bottle like this one and stored it in the fridge. The cranberries will stay good for a week and the syrup should last about 2 weeks in the fridge.

What To Do With Boozy Sugared Cranberries

Well, obviously these are going to make an amazing garnish on a cocktail. Or several cocktails, LOL! They are also a delicious treat to put out for a cocktail party or holiday get together (see below for the kid-friendly version). How great would these look on a holiday cheese plate or Thanksgiving table?

How to Make these Cranberries Non-Boozy

If you are going to have kiddos around and want to make them their own sugared cranberries without the booze, all you need to do is substitute the orange liqueur with orange extract. You can also leave out the orange entirely and just have regular candied cranberries. Everything else stays the same.

Tools to Make Boozy Sugared Cranberries

More Boozy Recipes to Check Out

• Luxardo Cherries Recipe
• Fresh Fruit Shrub Recipe
• Homemade Creme de Cassis
• Pumpkin Pie Liqueur
• List of Bar Tools

Boozy Sugared Cranberries

These Boozy Sugared Cranberries are the perfect garnish for a holiday cocktail or a delicious little treat to add to your holiday spread.

5 from 19 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Chilling/Cooling Time: 13 hours

Total Time: 13 hours 10 minutes

Servings: 2 cups

Author: EmilyFabulous

Equipment

• small saucepan
• fine-mesh strainer
• sealable bottle or bowl for syrup
• sealable container for cranberries
• wax paper
• small plate or bowl to submerge cranberries

Ingredients

• 1½ cups sugar, divided
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier)
• 2 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed

Instructions

• Place 1 cup of sugar, the water, vanilla extract, and orange liqueur in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar completely dissolves but do not bring to a boil. This will take only a few minutes.
  
• Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cranberries. Place something heavy on top to keep the cranberries submerged (be careful not to overflow the pan). I had a round flat bowl that worked perfectly or a small plate should work as well.
  
• Once the mixture has cooled enough, cover with foil or plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 12 hours or overnight to allow the cranberries to soak in all of that delicious syrup.
  
• After soaking, strain the cranberries through a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. Once fully drained, place the syrup in a sealable bottle or container, place it in the fridge, and save for cocktails!
  
• Put the remaining sugar in a container with a lid (or a small bowl if you don't have one). Gently put the cranberries in the container, put on the lid, and gently shake and turn to fully coat the cranberries with sugar (if your cranberries are in a bowl, use a spoon to carefully mix the cranberries in the sugar to coat).
  
• Place the cranberries on a piece of wax paper to dry for at least an hour. Make sure they are separated so they have room to dry.
  
• Once dry, place the cranberries in a sealable container until you are ready to use or serve. They should last up to a week.
  

Any nutrition calculations are only estimates using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.

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