One of the things I love about Thanksgiving and celebrating healthy holidays is recipe makeovers. Need a healthy stuffing recipe? Check! How about a healthy stand-in for mashed potatoes? Check! Healthy cranberry sauce without sugar? Check! Dinner rolls sans-gluten to slather ghee on? Check! How about healthy dairy-free pumpkin pie? Check and check! Let's face it, holidays are an excuse to eat unhealthy food only if you want them to be.
Yesterday while I was working at my treadmill desk, I got an e-mail from Whole Foods with a holiday recipe that called for my favorite seasonal low-carb fruit, cranberries. I love cranberries so much, I keep my freezer stocked year round with these antioxidant-rich little red gems.
A tip from me to you…at the end of the holiday season, when you see cranberries on sale, buy them and toss in the freezer. They keep for 12 months and no need to thaw when used.
The aforementioned recipe was called “Sugared Cranberries” and simply called for cranberries, water, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Sounds simply enough to transform, all I needed to do was nix the sugar. Can't say I've ever had sugared cranberries before, but my healthy version, which I am calling Not Sugared Cranberries, are easy to make, both sweet and tart, fun to eat and slightly addicting.
- Cranberry Pumpkin Spice Muffins
- Cranberry Syrup
- Sparkling Cranberry Juice
- Cranberry Granola
- Dried Cranberries
- Cranberry Orange Sauce
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Pound Cake with Cranberry Sauce
Do you love cranberries as much as I do? What are some of your favorite ways to use cranberries? Leave a comment, my inquiring mind wants to know!
Ingredients
- 3 c. Water
- 2 1/4 tsp. NuNaturals Pure White Stevia Extract Powder
- 2 Cinnamon Sticks
- 6 Whole Cloves
- 3 c. Fresh or Frozen Organic Cranberries
- 1/2 c. Smart Sweet Non-GMO Erythritol Granules OR Smart Sweet Non-GMO Birch Xylitol
Directions
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring to boil water, stevia, cinnamon sticks and cloves.
- Place cranberries in glass canning jar and pour boiling water over top.
- Seal jar, bring to room temperature then refrigerate overnight or 8 hours.
- Drain cranberries.
- To bottom of glass pie plate add 1/2 c. erythritol or xylitol, add cranberries about 1/4 c. at a time.
- Shake to cover and remove with slotted spoon to parchment lined baking sheet.
- Dry at room temperature for 2-3 hours then transfer to sealed container.
- Store in refrigerator.
Notes
Per 1/2 c. 30 calories, 0 g fat, 6 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 4 g NET CARBS, 0 g pro
These are wonderful. I brought them to Thanksgiving and they were great to munch on and so easy to make. Not to mention beautiful.
Aren’t these fun?! I plan to make another batch this week. Glad you like them.
What would you suggest as a substitue for the Stevia. I really don’t like the aftertaste of Steve – taste’s bitter to me.
Thank you for any suggesttions.
Hi Laura, I don’t have a recommended alternative to the stevia. I would be interested in knowing which brand(s) of stevia you have tried.
Here is a quick stevia 101.
Stevia Rebaudiana is the plant species which provides steviol glycoside extracts.
The two main extracts which make up the sweetener market are
(1) steviosides and (2) rebaudioside A.
The trade name for rebaudioside A is Rebiana aka Reb A. Cargill and Coca-Cola jointly devleoped Reb A and sells it under the trade name Truvia. Pepsi joined forces with Whole Earth Sweetener to patent their own form of Reb A and is sold under the name PureVia. Corn Product Int’l brand of Reb A is called Enliten. Reb A is the only stevia extract that has been approved by the FDA as a sweetener. Reb A has a lingering, unpleasant, sometimes bitter aftertaste.
Steviosides are another extract of the stevia plant, which have a very pleasant taste and leave no bitter aftertaste. NuNaturals is made from steviosides. Kal Pure Stevia is another brand that is derived from steviosides as is the SweetLeaf Brand. Steviosides are not approved as a sweetener but considered a dietary supplement.
I would just use the xylitol or erythritol personally.
I just finished making these and sampled……….DELISH!! I wonder if pomegranate seeds made the same way way would be just as delicious?