If you gave up Craisins® when you gave up sugar, today is your lucky day. And if the sugar content in dried cranberries isn’t enough to scare you away, maybe a recall is. Today’s recipe is a twofer. Not only do you get an easy recipe to make sugar-free dried cranberries to top your salads and such, if you come back tomorrow you get a gluten-free, low-carb Christmas granola recipe. Cranberries are on sale everywhere right now, I picked up two bags for $3.00, you will want to do the same. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a year and no need to thaw before using. This is a very simple recipe, no dehydrator required, takes about 10 minutes to prepare and 8 hours worth of patience until you have perfectly sweet dried cranberries.
In a sauce pan add 1/2 c. water + sugar-free sweetening option.
To the sweetened water add 12 oz. of cranberries.
Stir cranberries around to coat and turn heat to medium-high.
Cook cranberries for about 10 minutes until they have all popped. Use the back of a spoon to pop the cranberries that are stubborn. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. At this point you have cranberry sauce, although, I make mine with more water and really mash those cranberries. For cran-orange berries go ahead and add orange extract.
Line a sheet pan with doubled up paper towels and then lay a sheet of parchment over top. Spread cranberries out and dry in oven at 170º F for 7-8 hours. At this point you are doubting whether this wet sticky mess is going to turn into dried cranberries. Have faith, it will.
After 4 hours take cranberries out of the oven and using a spatula transfer them to a new sheet of parchment paper, spreading them out some. They will still be wet and sticky, but you can see they are starting to resemble dried cranberries. Return to oven for another 3-4 hours.
And they are done! 7 1/2 hours in the oven and a little separating with my fingers after cooling and we have dried cranberry bliss. I let mine sit out on the counter overnight covered with a paper towel and then placed in a sealed container.
Sugar-Free Dried Cranberries
Original Recipe by Laura Dolson
Pictorial and Adaptations by Healthy Living How To
Pictorial and Adaptations by Healthy Living How To
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 12 oz. Cranberries
- 1/2 c. Water
- Sugar-Free Sweetener
Sweetening Options (choose 1)
- 1/2 tsp. NuNaturals Pure White Stevia Extract Powder
- 1/4 tsp. NuNaturals Pure White Stevia Extract Powder + 4 Tbsp. Xylitol ranular
- 1/4 tsp. NuNaturals Pure White Stevia Extract Powder + 6 Tbsp. Erythritol Granular
Directions
- In a sauce pan add 1/2 c. water + sugar-free sweetening option.
- To the sweetened water add 12 oz. of cranberries.
- Stir cranberries around to coat and turn heat to medium-high.
- Cook cranberries for about 10 minutes until they have all popped. Use the back of a spoon to pop the cranberries that are stubborn.
- Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Line a sheet pan with doubled up paper towels and then lay a sheet of parchment over top.
- Spread cranberries out and dry in oven at 170º F for 7-8 hours.
- After 4 hours take cranberries out of the oven and using a spatula transfer them to a new sheet of parchment paper, spreading them out some.
- Return to oven for another 3-4 hours.
- The cranberries are done when they are no longer wet, you choose how chewy you want them. The longer you go the more chewy they are.
- Let cool, separate and store in a sealed container.
If you are wondering about the health and safety of sugar alcohols, namely xylitol & erythritol, I will defer your questions to Primal Expert and author of the Primal Blueprint, Mark Sisson. His article, Sugar Alcohols: Everything You Need to Know, is a fantastic resource. I keep a bag of both erythritol and xylitol in my cupboard (you won’t find any white sugar in there). Local sourcing may be difficult so I always buy online at Netrition.
Hi, I will try this recipe but I was wondering if anyone tried it using agave nectar?
Denise, I do not recommend agave….it is 75-90% fructose which is a higher fructose content then HFCS. Frustose is toxic to the liver.
Looks like a great way to dry cranberries without a dehydrator! I recently had some mango flavored crasins that were to die for! Can I use mango juice instead of sugar?
There is no sugar used in this recipe.
you talk about Stevia but can I use Truvia?
Hi Faith. I do not recommend Truvia, it is derved from GMO erythritol and corn. You can read my Guide to Stevia….http://healthylivinghowto.com/1/post/2012/08/guide-to-stevia.html
Hi Vanessa, Thanks for this recipe – I will try it out without any sweetener at all I think, and then use them for baking and cooking. You are so inspiring!!
I am ordering xylitol & erythritol for the first time this weekend and see that this recipe uses a different brand than some of your other recipes I’ve saved which use “Smart Sweet” brand, not “NOW” brand. Is this so you can order all through Netrition conveniently or is this a change in your recommendations for other reasons, such as taste? Thank you! I love cranberries on salad and in trail mix so this looks perfect.
Melissa, my change in recommendation is due to quality. After researching the two brands I found the Smart Sweet Xylitol and Erythritol to be the highest quality, derived from non-GMO sources and made using a fermentation process without chemicals.
I have a dehydrator that someone gave me, no cookbook included. Can you tell me how long to dry the berries in my machine using your method? Thank you!
I don’t have a dehydrator Mary. Google may be able to help.
Just wanted you to know that we made these with just a slight bit less of the recommended sweetener and they are DELICIOUS! I wonder what the disadvantage of eating half a batch in one sitting are…
Seriously though, these are fantastic and are filling yet another “need” I have for certain foods that I have missed since being sugar-free. Thanks!
Glad you liked them Melissa!