Homemade Gift Idea: Cranberry Chews

I’m at Bakerella‘s book signing in Austin! We’re about to embark on a fun Girl Hunter Weekend to celebrate outdoorsyness, togetherness and my upcoming Girl Hunter book release. Amazon just named it a “best book of the month,” which is pretty exciting.

But I want to talk about cranberries and another homemade holiday gift idea. I love homemade gifts, they’re so satisfying and thrifty and pioneering.

This one I call “cranberry chews.”

It’s super simple, you start with a bowl of cranberries and some sugar.

Toss the cranberries in a pot with water and turn on the flame.

Let them stew, giving them a stir every so often. They’ll start to burst and that’s A-Ok.

You’ll spread them out on a silpat or parchment….

There will be some jelly goo surrounding it but that’s okay. It will turn into the fruit roll-up type bites. But bite sizes.

Separate the cranberries as best you can with a fork so they have space to dry. You’ll dry these on low heat for a lot of hours.

They’re done when they’re just slightly tacky.

Peel them off a bit at a time and put them in festive gift bags.

I used simple plastic bags, but I bet you could find some better ones at a good craft store.

Sprinkle a little sugar in there too to help keep them from sticking together.

Then throw a bow on there to finish it off!

These are wonderfully delicious… they have a great tartness to them which make them rather addictive… like sour patch kids. And they make a great hostess gift.

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

“Homemade Gift Idea: Cranberry Chews”

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time8 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total Time8 hours hrs 35 minutes mins

Servings: 2 cups

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh cranberries rinsed and picked over
• 1 1/2 cups raw sugar
• 1 1/4 cups water

Instructions

• Combine cranberries, sugar and water in a medium sauce pan over low heat, and stir to dissolve the sugar. Gently simmer until the liquid foams and thickens and the cranberries burst.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two sheet pans with parchment and lightly brush with oil. Alternatively, line the sheet pans with silpats.
• Remove the cranberries with a slotted spoon and spread them evenly over the pans. Separate the individual berries as best you can with a fork. Place in the oven and let dry about 8-10 hours or until only slightly tacky.
• Gently peel the cranberries off the parchment or silpats into bite-size pieces with your fingers. Roll the pieces in sugar to keep them from sticking together. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.