Cranberry Simple Syrup is a delicious treat to elevate your desserts or breakfasts!
I’ve made quite a few different varieties of simple syrup before, such as strawberry, blueberry, and blackberry. I’ve even done my own pomegranate simple syrup! Cranberry simple syrup is great to make just in time for Thanksgiving, which is right around the corner, or for any time of the year when you want that delicious blend of sweet and tart flavors.
Our Thanksgivings usually involve a buffet-style meal so everyone can get what they like and as much of whatever they like. This includes the desserts! A really cool option to do is an ice cream bar, and this cranberry simple syrup is a perfect topping for some vanilla ice cream with candied pecans. You can also put it on cranberry bread or fruitcake and give it a sticky, sweet coat. That might not really be a traditional use for syrup, but hey, no one’s stopped me yet, and they won’t stop you!
What’s great about simple syrup is that it is simple. You only need three ingredients to make something homemade and delicious! I love that it is so basic and doesn’t take much time yet it still impresses guests and tastes so, so good.
Fresh Is Always Best…
This cranberry simple syrup recipe is a bit different from other versions of simple syrup because it uses fresh cranberries rather than store-bought cranberry juice. I can assure you that fresh always turns out best! Luckily, with this recipe, cranberries are not a tricky fruit to work with, unlike something like a pomegranate, which has a similar tart/sweet flavor but is much harder to open and prepare. As long as your cranberries are clean, you’re good to go here!
How to Make Ahead and Store
You can store your cranberry simple syrup in a bottle. I like to save old mason jars or liquor bottles, so those work really nicely to store your syrup. Keep it in the fridge, and it’ll be good for about 2 weeks in your sealed container. Or, you can freeze it for up to 6 months. Please note that if you’re filling up a mason jar, leave a little extra space for expansion when it freezes. Otherwise, the jar might crack, and you’ll have to throw the whole thing out!
A Juicy Choice…
If you can’t get ahold of fresh cranberries, you can use cranberry juice. I do feel that the best taste will come from fresh or even frozen cranberries, but cranberry juice is delicious, too! Note that most cranberry juice has added sugar to make it more palatable; if it doesn’t, it’s very strong. You’ll want to play around with the ratio of water to juice, depending on what fits your taste. If you like the taste of the juice as it is, I would recommend just doing 1 cup of cranberry juice and 1 cup of sugar and making your syrup like that. You don’t want too much water content, or else your syrup won’t get sticky.
Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways to use this syrup! My personal favorite is as a topping for vanilla ice cream. But you can use it for your breakfast with Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes or mix it into a Healthy Baked Oatmeal. You can also use it as a part of cocktail or mocktail mixes!
For more tasty sauces and syrups, take a look at this Bourbon Caramel Sauce, this Dairy-Free Pumpkin Spice Syrup or this Spiced Maple Syrup.
Cranberry Simple Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup of water with 1 cup of granulated sugar.
- Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Add 1 cup of fresh cranberries to the saucepan and return to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the cranberries cook for about 10 minutes, or until they have burst and the mixture has slightly thickened.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool for a few minutes.
- Strain the syrup through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl or jar, pressing the cranberries to extract all the juices.
- Discard the cranberry solids and let the syrup cool completely.
- Transfer the cooled syrup to a clean bottle or jar and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
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