Candied Cranberries
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Apr 11, 2025 
These Vanilla Orange Candied Cranberries are the perfect combination of tart and sweet, with a crunchy layer of sugar that creates a delicious texture! These festive treats are great to add to your holiday desserts or serve on their own as a little snack!
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
Candied Cranberries, AKA Sugared Cranberries
I always like to make Vanilla Orange Candied Cranberries in preparation for the holidays. This Cranberry Candy Recipe, also known as Sugared Cranberries, is extremely simple to make and impressive on any Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s table.
Like nature-made Sour Patch Kids, sugar-coated cranberries are sweet and tart. Plus, they are so pretty, you will find all sorts of way to use these sparkling cranberries!
Ingredients for Candied Cranberries
- Granulated sugar
- Water
- Vanilla extract
- Orange extract
- Fresh cranberries, washed
How to Make Candied Cranberries
Find the full Cranberry Candy Recipe with ingredient proportions and detailed instructions in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Recipe Variations
Mix up the flavors of the candy coating by swapping the vanilla and citrus extracts with other extracts such as: coconut, almond, lemon, chocolate, rum, and/or raspberry extract.
How To Use Candied Cranberries
Just think of all the wonderful ways to use these sugared cranberries:
- Place this cranberry candy recipe in a candy dish to be gobbled up by the handful as a holiday treat.
- Use as a fancy garnish for holiday pies, cakes, cocktails and mocktails, cranberry sauce, or savory dishes.
- Fill martini or champagne glasses with them to decorate your holiday table.
- Place them in little tins or gift bags for small edible gifts.
- One more bonus, the leftover vanilla-orange simple syrup absorbs the essence of cranberry, so save it for irresistible holiday cocktails.
Sugared Cranberries are a must-make this holiday season. Just soak the berries in vanilla orange syrup, then shake in sugar. Viola!
Looking for More Holiday Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Candied Oranges
- Cranberry Brie Bites
- Chocolate Petit Fours
- Impossible Pie with Coconut
- Valentines Day Snacks (Trail Mix)
- Black Rice Recipe (Forbidden Rice)
- Nutella Fondue
- Cherry Pie Bars
- Coffee Bread Pudding
- Cranberry Raspberry Sauce
- Candied Pecans
- Chocolate Pudding Cake
- Christmas Creme Brulee
Candied Cranberries Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 cups sugar, divided
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons orange extract or Grand Marnier
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries (1 bag) about 3 cups
Instructions
- Combine 2 1/2 cups of sugar, water, vanilla, and orange extract in a sauce pan. Heat over medium until the sugar has completely dissolved, but not boiling.
- Pour in the cranberries and stir. The hot syrup will loosen the skin, saturate the berries, and adhere to the berries over time. Cover the cranberries with a small plate to keep them mostly submerged. Then cover the pan and place it in the refrigerator over night.
- Place the remaining 1 1/4 cup of sugar in a rimmed dish. Strain the cranberries and place them in the sugar. Shake until they are completely coated. Carefully transfer them to a baking sheet to dry, about an hour.
- Once the sugar coating is hard, place them in an air-tight container and keep in a cool spot for up to a week.
Wow so festive! Great idea.
You just helped me decide what to make for my (helpful) gate agents and flight attendant friends, while flying during the holiday season. I'm thinking in baby jelly jars, wrapped in striking burgandy toile with a little velvet ribbon! Love!!!!!
This photos is gorgeous! I want it to be my Christmas card. Can you photoshop in my kids? Delicious! Have a wonderful weekend!!
These are so beautiful. No cranberries her ebut excited to try this with other fruit
These are gorgeous! I'd hesitate to eat them at someone's house… they look like they're meant to be admired.
I made these for an event and I will be disappointed if no one eats them. They are delish!
Haha! I see someone else is going for Christmas and holiday posts! In our house, we laugh when someone breaks the 'pre-Thanksgiving ban on all things Christmas'. BUT… yesterday, I baked a beautiful little spice cake and decked it out like Christmas… look on The Spice Garden! To great minds, Sommer! Cranberries and sugar decked cakes … deck the halls!
delicious way to eat cranberries
They look beautiful and I bet they taste even better… and the cranberry infused syrup would make a delicious addition to some iced tea!
Sommer
those cranberries look amazing and are so simple to make!! I can't wait to try them!! Thanks so much for passing along this wonderful creation!
Cheers
Dennis
I too make sugared cranberries for a holiday garnish. Yours looks so festive!
Those are so festive and pretty! They also look like their easy to make. I am going to give this one a try!
Beautiful!!!