Homemade Candied Cranberries Step by Step

Here are some neat treats to make for others, to serve at gatherings or to bring to potlucks that we have been making. These are essentially "raw" cranberries that have been candied. Think of them being a cranberry center with a crispy sugary shell.

I brought some of these to a work potluck and they were very well received! So, here is the recipe as even those that don't bake can make these creations! 

Ingredients

• 2 Cups of fresh (never frozen) Cranberries
• 1 Cup of Water
• 1 Cup + 1/2 Cup of Sugar
• 1 teaspoon of lemon zest

*We bought our fresh, never frozen cranberries from Costco! They had the best looking cranberries around!

Instructions

1. Create the simple syrup by pouring water and 1 Cup of sugar into small pot. Add lemon zest to pot. This will will help add more dimension to the flavour. Heat mixture until sugar has dissolved into boiling water.
   
   
   
2. Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes. Add cranberries to the simple syrup.
   
3. Cool the cranberries in the syrup until room temperature. Put cranberries and syrup into air-tight container. Rest in the fridge for at least 8 hours or up to 48 hours (2 days).
   
   
4. Strain cranberries out from syrup - this same syrup can be reheated and reused again. Let cranberries dry for about 5 minutes.
   
   
5. Put 2-3 tablespoons of sugar into a small dry cup. Placing one cranberry in at a time, roll the cranberry in the dry sugar. If you add too many cranberries at once you'll get clumping.
   
   
   
6. Keep the candied cranberries in an air-tight container in the fridge. It should keep for a few days in the fridge before getting soft. Alternatively, you can package them off as gifts in an air-tight container.
   
   

Hope you enjoyed these candied cranberries!