Brandied Cranberries

Fresh cranberries baked with sugar, brandy, and orange zest.

By
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
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Updated December 29, 2024
Elise Bauer
Brandied Cranberries
Elise Bauer

One of the best things about the Thanksgiving season is the availability of fresh or fresh frozen cranberries. We buy bags of them this time of year and freeze them so we can cook with cranberries all year long.

Typically grocers stop carrying even frozen cranberries after January, so if you like all things cranberry, it pays to buy extra when they are in season.

Usually for cranberry sauce, we cook cranberries the old fashioned way, boiling them in a little water with sugar. This brandied cranberry recipe is firmer than typical sauce, with jewels of spiked candied cranberries.

Serve it like a chutney — with pork, turkey or chicken, or as a topping for baked brie or a festive component of a cheese board.

The recipe comes from a recipe by Julie Wente of Wente Winery in Sunset Magazine.

More Recipes To Use Your Bottle of Brandy

From the Editors Of Simply Recipes

Brandied Cranberries

Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 75 mins
Total Time 80 mins
Servings 8 to 12 servings
Yield 2 cups
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 1 (12-ounce) bag of fresh or frozen cranberries

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar

  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup brandy

  • 2 tablespoons finely shredded orange zest (use microplane zester)

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  2. Sort the cranberries:

    Sort through cranberries and discard any that are soft or decayed.

  3. Mix the ingredients:

    Mix the cranberries, sugar, brandy, and orange zest in a 2-quart baking dish.

  4. Bake:

    Bake at 325°F uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated, 1 to 1 1/4 hours, stirring occasionally.

    Chill up to one week.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
128 Calories
0g Fat
29g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 12
Amount per serving
Calories 128
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 1mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 29g 10%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Total Sugars 26g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 5mg 27%
Calcium 4mg 0%
Iron 0mg 0%
Potassium 25mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.