It takes just three ingredients to make this easy and simple sugared cranberries recipe. Tart and sweet, they’re perfect for a sweet holiday snack or for dressing up your favorite dessert.

How festive do these sugared cranberries look? If you have leftover fresh cranberries these holidays, I highly recommend transforming them into sugared cranberries.

This recipe couldn’t be easier! All you need is three ingredients: cranberries, sugar, and water. The key is letting the cranberries sit in the sugar syrup overnight to soak up all that sweet sugary goodness. Then you coat them in more sugar to make the perfect tart, sweet, and addictively crunchy holiday snack. I can’t eat a lot of them but love to have them as a tiny sugary treat during the holidays and as an accent to dress up some dishes on the holiday table.

Sugared cranberries also make the perfect garnish for your favorite cake this holiday season, whether that’s a chocolate velvet cake with cream cheese icing, vanilla wafer cake, red velvet Bundt cake, or a chocoholic cake. Or perhaps your kids will love to leave some candied cranberries next to the Christmas tree for Santa?

Recipe Ingredients

1 cup fresh cranberries
2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 cup water

Place raw cranberries in a large bowl; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup of granulated sugar and the water to a boil and whisk those ingredients until the sugar dissolves.

Remove pan from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Pour sugar syrup over the cranberries and stir.

Let the cranberries sit at room temperature or in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours but I like to keep it in the fridge ovenight.

You’ll notice the sugar syrup is pretty darn thick after this amount of time. That is perfect. Drain cranberries from the simple syrup.

Pour the remaining sugar on top. Toss the cranberries, coating them all the way around.

Pour the sugared cranberries on a parchment paper and let them dry for at least 2 hours at room temperature or in the fridge.

You’ll have extra, but these are great garnishes or pop in your mouth for a sweet snack.

Storage

Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If they need a little freshening up during this time, just roll them quickly in some more sugar before serving.
They will soften after a few days, so you could then take the leftovers and cook them down to make a sauce or cranberry jam if you like.
I don’t recommend freezing.

Recipe Notes

These easy sugared cranberries are so versatile. Here are just some ways to serve up your sparkling cranberries:
- On the side of the cranberry sauce on your Thanksgiving table.
- As a cocktail garnish. Skewer them onto a toothpick and rest them on top of a champagne glass.
- The “cherry” on top of your favorite holiday desserts, whether that’s a cake, pumpkin pie, or apple pie.
- As a garnish for your sweet potato mash.
- Scatter them around your turkey or on a charcuterie board (along with rosemary sprigs) for a festive touch! They taste great served on top of baked brie.
- Or just by their little old selves, as is, as a snack.
I’ve only tested this cranberry recipe with fresh cranberries and wouldn’t recommend frozen cranberries.
You could also add some vanilla bean or orange zest to the sugar you roll them in for something different.
Don’t throw out your sugar syrup! It tastes great in cocktails or brushed over the top of cakes.
To make your sparkling sugared cranberries extra shiny, use cane sugar instead.

Here are more great cranberry recipes to enjoy these holidays:

How To Make Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Orange Meatballs Appetizer

Cranberry Crunch

Pumpkin Cranberry Nut Bread

Cranberry Pecan Lace Cookies

Chewy Cranberry Zingers