Homemade, Entirely Sugar Free Dried Cranberries
I’m just gonna give it straight to you guys…
When I made these, I thought NEVER AGAIN!
In fact, I wasn’t even done making them that already I was thinking NEVER AGAIN!
I was so disappointed. I thought that making my own dried cranberries would be such a revelation.
You see, I simply adore dried cranberries, but the naturally sweetened ones are very hard to come across, and when you do find them, well, they always contain *some* kind of oil, to prevent the fruits from desperately clinging to one another.
I’m not crazy about that.
Personally, I’d prefer to do without, even if it means that I would get little clusters of fruits instead of neatly separated and individualized fruits.
Also, I was recently told by a “producer” that even the ones that are naturally sweetened with apple juice also have *some* other form of sugar added, otherwise they would go bad in no time…
Hmpft… not sure I like the sound of that!
Last but not least, I figured that by making my own dried fruits, I would save tons of money because, let’s face it, dried cranberries tend to be on the expensive side and the organic, unsweetened variety will generally cost you an arm and a leg.
Now I know why!
And you’re about to, too!
First off, you need to buy fresh cranberries. They don’t always come cheap…
Lucky for me, they were on sale that week, going for 2 bucks a bag, so I grabbed a whole bunch of ’em.
I used two for this recipe.
Also, that very same week, my favorite grocery store was giving away small bottles of pure pomegranate juice with every purchase of $70 worth of groceries.
That juice has a retail value of $4.
So we’re at $8 now, right? Right!
Alright, we have all our ingredients, so let’s get started.
First off, you want to cook your cranberries very slightly in the pomegranate juice.
So throw the fruits as well as the juice in a large heavy bottomed pan.
That’s two 340g bags of cranberries and one 236ml bottle of pure, unsweetened pomegranate juice.
Bring that to a boil over high heat and cook until your cranberries start to pop. You will hear them, kind of like popcorn.
At this point, you want to kill the heat and press on them with the back of a large cooking spoon to help them all pop. DO NOT let your cranberries cook for too long. One or two minutes is all it takes.
Let the fruits rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, you want to line a baking sheet with paper towels. 3 layers of them.
Oh, and start the oven at the lowest possible setting you can get it at.
Mine doesn’t go any lower than 170F.
If you can do 150F, that’s even better…
Add a layer of parchment paper on top of the 3 layers of paper towels.
When your cranberries are cool enough, transfer them to the prepared baking sheet and squeeze them some more (there oughta be a few ones that didn’t get squeeshed, I’m sure!)
Yep, there are…
See that one right there, in the middle? And there’s another one right beside. And I see a few in the corner, too…
So squeesh and squoosh some more.
Then place the baking sheet in the oven, but by all means, find something else to do. Don’t just stand there and wait for your cranberries to be ready, ‘cuz it’ll be a veeery long day if you do!
You’re gonna have to leave them in there for AT LEAST 5 hours, probably even more.
Of course, it depends on how dry you want them. But figure at least 5 hours.
Wait! Where do you think you’re going?
I know, I said 5 hours… but you can’t leave the house!
Why?
‘Cuz you’re gonna have to take these babies out every 3o minutes to an hour and separate them, peel them off from the paper, move them around a bit, maybe even squoosh and squeesh some more.
Until you are left with something that looks like this:
WHAT?
This can’t be it! Is that it?
”fraid so… That IS it!
Took mine 7 hours to get there, plus one entire night drying in the oven after I turned it off.
That’s not even 3 cups. Perhaps not even 2.
To be honest, I was so disappointed that I didn’t even weigh or measure them.
In fact, I was so convinced that I was never going to make them ever again that I just threw them there on the corner of the table and snatched a couple of quick shots, without even putting my heart into it.
I figured I would at least log them, that I owed that much to all the people out there who would be tempted to also give the experience a try.
So there you have it…
Homemade, Unsweetened Dried Cranberries…
Messy, lengthy, expensive… not worth it.
– NEXT!
But wait…
Then something happened.
The darn things were in the fridge, you know…
So I had a handful here…
And a handful there…
Well, lo and behold, they grew on me!
Now I find I am LOVING them…
They’re so tart, so tangy, so… moreish!
Hmpft! This can only mean one thing.
I will HAVE to make them again.
If you want to give them a try, be my guest. Don’t say you haven’t been warned, though.
You might very well get hooked, too!
74 Comments on “Homemade, Entirely Sugar Free Dried Cranberries”
hahaha I love your honest writing, Sonia. You’re too funny. Ya, I would be disappointed too if after ALL that all I was left with was 2 cups of dried cranberries. But hey, at least you learned to love them!
Yeah, well, that’s the problem. Now I will have to make more. I’ll try and simplify the technique some, though… good thing it’s cranberry season! 😉
Have you considered getting a dehydrator?
I really appreciate this post! I have an inner-cranberry struggle too, meaning that I love the things, splurge on a “naturally sweetened” bag once or twice a year, and want desperately to make my own but can never bring myself to do so. Maybe this year! Thanks!
Good to see I’m not the only one… Now I just know I will have to give these little guys another try. I just love having totally guilt free dried cranberries on hand. So what if I have to keep them in the fridge. I just have to find a way to make the process less painful! 😉
OK Sonia you have thrown the red flag down or is that one of the paper towels soaked in the cranberry juice? Whatever… I. Now. Must. Make. Dried Cranberries. I love cranberries. I love anything tart with a bit of sweet and this sounds just up my alley. I’ll let you know how my day went. Thanks for the great idea!
Cath
Can’t wait to hear all about your experience, Cathy! If you love tart with *a little bit* of sweet, you will just fall in love with these. Be real careful, they ARE highly addictive! 😉
that is some determination and hard work there! The final result looks very delicious but just thinking about the amount of time you have to spend on them makes me want to spend arm and leg on organic dried cranberries. thank you for your honesty and warning!
I’ve been looking for dried cranberries with no sugar added and haven’t been able to find them. Guess I know what I’ll be doing this weekend…
an American Harvest food dryer would help make this easier!
If you aren’t opposed to dropping $40 for an inexpensive dehydrator, you can make them that way. You can apply the same cooking method OR just poke them with a knife (otherwise they turn into cranberry puffs!). The upshot is I use the dehydrator to make unsweetened banana, apple, pear, and orange chips. You can also make fruit leathers with any kind of fruit/vegetable puree. I wasn’t sure how much I would use the dehydrator when I first bought it, but its been invaluable for dried snacks without added sugars. Plus, it’s maintenance free, so you can prep everything before bed or before work and come home to tasty treats. Also, you can store unsweetened cranberries in the fridge or freezer.
Shana, thanks a bunch for that!!! I am not opposed to dropping that money at all… as a matter of fact, I love the idea of making my own dried fruits and making fruit leather is something I would definitely like to try. Do you have any recommendations for me? I would truly appreciate your insight.
Hi, I have an Excaliber 8 tray dehydrator & I think it’s the berries! It is probably one of the more expensive ones on the market, but worth the price in my opinion. Like everyone else here I have given up on trying to buy TRULY unsweetened dried cranberries. Even the organic “naturally” sweetened ones have more carbs & sugar than the ones that come right out & say sweetened. That’s when I googled how to make them at home & found this blog. Yea, it does sound like an enormous pain to do myself, but I’m gonna give it a try using my dehydrator; but I’m just going to use water to do the pre-cook rather than Pom Wonderful juice
and if you dehydrate them on a very low heat, they will retain all the phyto-nutrients and live nutritional value. t just takes longer, but you don’t have to watch them.
The Sedona dehydrator is super easy, smaller, and accommodates a busy schedule with the ability to reduce dehydrating to 50% power if you do not have time to unload it when it is done… but the BEST one… Cabellas makes it. They have two sizes… a large one and one that is half the size of that (about the size of a dorm fridge). This is by far the best and most cost effective dehydrator I have found. I own both of the above and choose which one to use based on project or sometimes both are going.
Maybe we should all just sample yours? Great post…
Thank you Tender. And erm… as far as you guys sampling mine, I got so little that I could probably afford to send only one teeny weeny cranberry per person. Not what I would call a decent sample. Not enough to make up your mind anyway. But hey, I’m definitely planning on making more. Especially since cranberries happen to be in season right now! 🙂
I have a no frills Oster: http://www.oster.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=2434. I believe we picked it up at Wal-Mart or Target. Just finished a batch of banana chips this morning!
AND THEY’RE CRUNCHY????? Like the fried things? I LOVE those but never eat them anymore since I found out they were fried. So all you do is slice up the bananas and throw them in the dehydrator? Now I so badly want one! Thanks much for the link, I’ll definitely look into it!
YES! I slice a firm banana using a mandolin slicer and dehydrate them for 12-24 hours. I know that’s a big time difference but they seem to require different times based on the batch.
Oh my! I am so excited to try this! I need to get me a dehydrator ASAP! Thanks so much for inspiring me, Shana! 😀
Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
I’m so happy you experimented with this to save me the trouble 😀
I’m sure they’re delicious but two cups?! No no no. It’s not like I can get that juice over here anyway. I wish I could find unsweetened cranberries too. Only have sugar sweetened. Oh well. I don’t use them that often!
Pretty photos again!
I need to experiment some more though, ‘cuz now I have a huge problem. I retried the store bought stuff after making my own and I didn’t care for them at all. I find they lack that tartness I like so much.
That can only mean one thing: I’m stuck making my own from now on! Good thing I just bought a truckload, I guess! 😉
Thanks for the post.
I wonder if you could simplify the process by making cranberry fruit leather instead. You could puree or mince the raw cranberries with a little bit of honey, spread it on the parchment and dry it in sheets. Then you could either use it as fruit leather, or dice it into small cubes to eat as craisins. You could cook it with a little bit of honey if you wanted the cooked texture/flavor or use them as a raw, dehydrated treat. It would simplify the watching/tossing process. 🙂
Might be worth looking into, Tina! Thanks for the idea! 🙂
Hey Tina, Super great idea. Sounds so much simpler to do it that way then cut the resulting leather up into tiny chunks. So glad I finished reading all the comments before I tried to do this at home
Why doncha just get a dehydrator? And why do they have to be cooked first? I’d think I’d prefer simple plain, whole, organic, dried cranberries, without diminishing any of the nutrients by first cooking, then baking.
I’ve got a dehydrator, but no access to fresh cranberries aside from around Thanksgiving…..
Yeah, I’ll definitely have to give that a try, sometime. I was really planning on getting a dehydrator, but sadly, I am running out of storage space in the kitchen…
I think I need a bigger house. Or maybe I could squat one of the kids’ bedroom to store my kitchen supplies!
Have you ever tried dehydrating cranberries at home in a dehydrator? I’d be very curious to know the outcome! If it worked great, then I would definitely get a dehydrator and would even keep it in my bedroom if I had to! 😉
I loved reading about your experience.
I almost made some your way… they sound so good in the juice!
However, I read from this person…
http://www.consciouseatery.com/search?q=cranberries
and the process sounds a bit easier.
Will let you know how it goes. Thanks BERRY much!
Joyce, I absolutely LOVE this method. I really have to give it a try. Thank you so much for sharing!!! Can’t wait to hear how it goes for you. Please DO let me know! 🙂
You can try the slow cooker too – http://www.momprepares.com/2012/11/04/make-dried-cranberries-in-the-slow-cooker-food-storage-and-candy
HA! If only I had a slow cooker. That’s one thing I should definitely look into buying… Thanks for the link, though. If I ever get one, I’ll definitely give it a go!
Thank you so much for posting this! I was getting very annoyed and frustrated that all the dried cranberry sources I was finding had the despised sunflower/safflower oil, or sugar – apparently just as you did. I will definitely be giving this a try as soon as I find fresh cranberries!
Pleasure is all mine, Megan. The task is not really pleasant, but very well worth it in the end. Let me know how it went for you if and when you give it a try!
I have always been wondering if it was possible to make dried cranberries without sugar since I am diabetic. I am fortunate that I am able to gather my own wild cranberries and not only avoid GMO’s, but able to pick them at the perfect stage (commercial cranberries are rarely fully ripe and wild berries are always more flavourful than cultivated). They ripen in the fall, but can be picked the following spring although they are more softer having been frozen then thawed out repeatedly. I have found the previous years cranberries still edible in the month of May, so this is why I doubt that sugar is needed to prevent spoilage, these berries are very acidic which acts as it’s own preservative. I believe the reason they add sugar to commercial dried cranberries is obvious, to make them taste sweet and irresistible at the very first taste. Eating raw cranberries is an acquired taste, so if the commercial dried ones were unsweetened, many who try them may not buy them again (and the sellers certainly don’t want that to happen!)
Many thanks for posting this article!
I LOOOOOOVE fresh cranberries (read: I could easily eat a whole pound by myself while watching a movie or something…) and I envy you so much for being able to eat the real thing. What I wouldn’t give to be able to pick them up in the wild. And then of course, I would have to try to dry those at home! 🙂 And you might very well be right about the sugar situation, too. Maybe one wouldn’t be able to keep them on the shelf without the added sugar, but at the very least, I’m sure they could easily be kept for a [long] while in the fridge!
thank you for sharing this! I am allergic to all grass family foods so I can’t have any sugar. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get unsweetened dried cranberries all week. I’m going to try the cooking then dehydrating method. thanks!
You made drying cranberries sound so difficult! You boil water, throw cranberries in for 90 seconds, they pop, you throw in I’ve bath to stop cooking, you dry out with paper towels, place in dehydrator, and walk away for 16 hours give or take based on your humity. I have a Excalibur food dehydrator that has 9 flat square trays, I line each tray with parchment paper so there’s no cleanup. Banana chips, apples pears etc all take same time. I can fit 2 bags of cranberries on one tray. They don’t stick together and all come out individual, no fuss. With this type of dehydrator the air flow back to front inside of bottom to top so the flavored from other trays won’t mingle. I don’t sit there and squish and squish, as the 90 seconds in boiling water already popped them. If I notice one or two un popped I poke them with a toothpick. One way you can guarantee they are popped is by cutting them in half which I imagine taking forever.
It all sounds fantastic until one gets to the dehydrator part… What if you don’t own one of those? Sure, your dehydrator does sound great, but at $250, I don’t know that I’m ready to make that kind of investment just yet.
Although you did make it sound really tempting, I admit… hopefully I can fit this into my budget some time soon.
Until then, I’m afraid I’ll have to stick with the oven technique, however difficult it may be!
I know this is an old post, but thought I’d give you an idea.
I have 2 of the round dehydrators. No, they’re not as “good” as the Excalibur, but since a “friend” borrowed mine, destroyed it and then didn’t replace it, and I needed a dehydrator, I went shopping. At a thrift store. Found these for $5 each!
They work. They work better if you check on them every few hours (depends on what you’re dehydrating and how long they take) and rotate the trays from bottom to top. Only takes a few minutes and doesn’t break the bank on a new Excalibur.
How long will these last in the pantry? I have some from a few months ago that didn’t get eaten. (Imagine that) they were hiding and completely forgotten about. Just don’t know how to tell if they have gone bad. Just starting in my preservative free lifestyle and don’t know how long things last. Thanks for you help
I kept mine in the fridge Amy and they kept for well over 2 months. I say if they don’t have any mold on them, it means they were well dehydrated and should still be good!
I agree with you Sonia, if they don’t have mold on them or smell rancid (which they shouldn’t, since they have no added oils) then I feel sure they would be fine to eat. Expiration dates or Best if Used By dates on store bought foods really ae meaningless. They are put there by the seller so you will throw it out & buy more. My husband just recently finished eating the last 2 eggs from a carton that had a Sell By date of May 15, 2014 & he didn’t get sick. If an egg sinks to the bottom of a container of water, then they are still good. I also do home canning & still have turkey & turkey broth that I canned in 2008 & they are still just fine. I do Roma tomatoes in a low oven (roasted/dried) sort of like you’ve described here. Since I’m not really completely dehydrating them, I store them by putting in zip lock bags & put them in the freezer. Doing tomatoes like this takes a barely edible, no taste, tomato into something totally sublime. You just slice them in half, toss with a minimal amount of olive oil & then put on cookie sheets with parchment paper & roast at 170 – 200 degrees for several hours.
My husband is type 2 diabetic, we found the Craisins have too much sugar for him. This sounds like our solution, except now to find the fresh or frozen cranberries. If anyone knows of a good reasonable source please email their link or addy. Thanks muchly~
Donna Houseright
Donna, Now that the Holidays are upon us, take the opportunity to buy all the fresh cranberries that you can fit in your freezer when they are on sale. Then just be sure to place them, still in their own package, into an actual freezer bag so that they don’t dry out in your frost free freezer. They can be kept this way for years & years until you find the time to do the drying process as Sonia described or try one of the other methods posted in the comments here
Total appreciation for this blog!!!
I’m going to try this as I LOVE cranberries, but also not keen on high sugar, preservatives etc in dried ones.
Love your honest writing and had a chuckle aswell 🙂
Thank you, Kirsty, that is so incredibly nice of you to say! Have fun making the cranberries (or not… maybe I should say enjoy eating the fruit of your labor, instead!) 😀
Wow! I finally met someone as determined as me. Yet I have not made unsweetened dried cranberries. Impressive. I did find a company that makes them.
http://www.shorelinefruit.com/cart/14/unsweetened-dried-fruit/dried-unsweetened-cranberries—1-lb
If you’re interested. Probably you’re content making them. Thanks for this great bedtime story!
Many well wishes this new year!
DouggieFresh
Thanks for the tip, Doug! It appears that they ship to Canada, so I may very well end up ordering some. Not sure I enjoy making them all that much… 😉
Happy 2015 to you as well!
Do you still make your own? I found a dried cranberry product called Honestly Cranberry – no added sugars, juices, or oils. And they’re delicious! http://www.honestlycranberry.com
Bloody unreadable. What is “…moreish…”?
Blood? Where? Who’s bleeding?
LOL!!! Let’s see if i follow.
Bloody, as in the UK slang.
Moreish is when you compulsively go back to eat more.
Now, for MY q. SIL has a fresh cranberry relish where only sweetening is from the candied ginger. I found a super spicy low sugar version. Is there any reason I can’t pop that in a jerky gun and make sticjs that way??
I dunno, Sandra. To be honest, I have no experience whatsoever with jerky guns… might be worth a shot, though! I know I would definitely try it. 🙂
Has anyone tried just throwing fresh cranberries in a dehydrator for a day or so?
I just did this and I am amazed. I thought they would be chewy but no. Most of them are perfectly round and crunchy. Beautiful and oh SO tart! At first they were too tart, now I can’t stop. Like the super sour candy without the sweet. They dissolve pretty quickly in your mouth and crunch easily between the fingers. I am going to try baking with them and crunching them into a salad. 😉
Super happy to hear the cranberries turned out to your liking, Mary! Thanks for taking the time to leave this great feedback, too. I sincerely appreciate that! 🙂
How long did you keep them in the dehydrator?
Thanks!
It was about three days. Some of them are still soft and squishy. I turned the drier off and hoping they will firm up.
Mary, love it that you decided to give it a try with just using the raw fresh berries without the pre-cook. That they came out dry & crunchy sounds very interesting & im going to try that method. And I’ll be using the cranberries that I stocked up on during the holidays of 2014 when I first found & commented on this blog. I’m going to have to us a new dehydrator though, cuz my hubby burned mine up on some project of his.
So time consuming for such a small amount. Can your recipe be used with a food dehydrator?
I guess it could, Marguerite, and it would probably be much easier, too!
I am wondering if you cut them all in half first, if that would solve the problem.
You can avoid the hassle by going to Sams or Costco and buying a 48 oz. bag of dried cranberries. Take a handful or two and soak them in a bowl with warm water and drain. Do this several times which will drain off most of sugar and oils. You can eat as is, or, pour boiling water over them and enjoy as plump berries when cool. Tart, delicious, quick and inexpensive without much of the sugar and oils.
Thanks for the idea. I will try rinsing them off. I hate the sweet. This might work with other sweetened dried fruit.
Arm and a leg sounds better than all that trouble. Lol
If you live in a dry-ish region with plenty of sunshine for 4-5 days in a row, dehydrator-smehydrator, just use the sun. Spread the stuff out in those food service aluminum trays, they focus the sunlight, creating an almost oven like effect, the heat keeps ants away, the reflection keeps birds away. I’ve dried my own chaat masala and Tajin spiced bananas, masala jerky, zukes, tomatoes and even watermelon. I’ll have to try cranberries, when I next see fresh ones for sale.
Thanks for your recipe and encouraging outcome.
My guess is any positive effects (unproven of course) of consuming cranberries for health instead of enjoyment and taste is overturned by the sugar loaded commercially available sweetened crapberries.
I am making these now!! They look awfully mushy post-cooking, but I’m still giving it a go. Love your work!
I love the Olive Garden food choices. HOWEVER, Olive Garden restaurants are extremely NOISY, so we no longer dine there. Tiled floors, wooden ceilings and walls, furnishings that do not absorb sounds and, worst of all, high volume (over the PA system) blasting what your managers consider to be “music” combine to create an exceptionally NOISY environment. Many of us do not like the same “music” you dispense nor do we care to dine where we have to scream at each other across the table to be heard. Try comparing the NOISE level in your Tracy, CA restaurant to the LACK OF NOISE in its nearby Applebees restaurant. I’ll dine anytime at Applebees over Olive Garden just to have peace and quiet.
What’s this got to do with this post?
Why are paper towels being used to line the pan going into the oven? Is it the same to use parchment paper? Thank you.
Paper towels are absorbent whereas parchment paper isn’t, so it’s best to stick with the former…
Sonia, I just read your post on Dried Cranberries from 2012. I too have been looking for just plain dried cranberries without the sugar and oil. I used to buy them at my local grocery store back in the 1970s. I miss them SO much. Well, long story shorter, I found someone who sells dried LINGONBERRIES!!!! The only thing I love more than cranberries is lingonberries. In Alaska you can pick wild cranberries that taste almost exactly like lingonberries. My cousin lived in Healy, Alaska at the time so I asked her to bring me some next time she came back home to the lower 48. She did and I fell in love. So now I buy all my dried ‘cranberries’ which are really lingonberries from these people.(also sold on Amazon) https://nwwildfoods.com/product/dried-wild-lingonberries/