We have a lot of time for cranberries, mostly because almost no other fruit works this hard in December. Sauce for the turkey, salsa for the cheese board, a babka, a coffee cake, something red in a glass at the end of the night. One bag covers a lot of ground. They fall into three real categories once the holidays get busy: sauce for the savory table, baking for dessert, and drinks for everything in between. Fresh berries need only water and sugar to break down into sauce, but adding jalapeño or shallot turns that same base into a salsa built for a cheese board rather than just a turkey plate. The fruit’s natural tartness is what keeps a babka or coffee cake from tasting one-note sweet, so resist cutting the cranberries back in a fruit-heavy batter. And frozen berries work everywhere fresh ones do, so use whichever is already in the freezer. Start here.
Jump to: Cranberry Sauces & Savory Sides · Cranberry Baking · Cranberry Drinks
Cranberry Sauces & Savory Sides
1 · Cheese Board Condiment – Sweet and Spicy Cranberry Salsa
Fresh cranberries, jalapeño, and citrus get pulsed together into a chunky salsa built to sit next to a wedge of brie rather than a spoonful of turkey gravy. It’s a sharper, more savory use of the berry than a sweetened sauce, and it holds in the fridge for a week without dulling.
Get the recipe: Cheese Board Condiment – Sweet and Spicy Cranberry Salsa
2 · Roasted Sweet Potato, Feta and Cranberry Skewers
Roasting the sweet potato cubes hard first is what gives these skewers a caramelized edge instead of a mushy one once the cranberries and feta go on. They’re a better fit for a buffet than a fork-and-knife side, since guests can grab one without a plate.
Get the recipe: Roasted Sweet Potato, Feta and Cranberry Skewers
3 · Cranberry and Avocado Salad with Candied Spiced Almonds and Sweet White Balsamic Vinaigrette
The candied almonds need to cool completely on a sheet pan before they go anywhere near the salad, or the sugar coating melts into a sticky mess. It’s the salad that actually earns a spot next to the roast, with enough sweetness and crunch to not read as an obligatory greens course.
4 · Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberries, Walnuts, and Gorgonzola
Toasting the walnuts separately before scattering them over the roasted squash keeps them crunchy instead of going soft under the gorgonzola. It’s a side dish rich enough to stand in for dessert, which is really a compliment given how much sugar the rest of the table usually has.
Get the recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberries, Walnuts, and Gorgonzola
5 · Roasted Pumpkin and Cranberries with Goat Cheese
The cranberries roast right alongside the pumpkin here, so they blister and burst rather than staying whole and raw-tasting. Goat cheese crumbled on at the very end keeps its tang instead of melting into the pan, which is the detail that sets this apart from a plain roasted squash side.
Get the recipe: Roasted Pumpkin and Cranberries with Goat Cheese
6 · Steak Pizza with Cranberry Relish and Gorgonzola
A cranberry relish stands in for tomato sauce, which is the swap that makes this pizza actually taste like a holiday dish instead of a novelty topping. It’s an odd combination on paper, but the tart relish against the gorgonzola works the same way cranberry sauce always has against turkey.
Get the recipe: Steak Pizza with Cranberry Relish and Gorgonzola
7 · Holiday Cranberry Charcuterie Board
Whole roasted cranberries scattered across the board fill the gaps between cheese and meat with something tart, so nothing on the board reads as too rich. It’s a small move that changes the whole board, and cheaper than buying another jam or spread to do the same job.
Get the recipe: Holiday Cranberry Charcuterie Board
Cranberry Baking
8 · Cranberry Pecan Bread
Toasted pecans go in whole, not chopped fine, so every slice of this quick bread has real texture instead of just a hint of nut. It toasts well the next morning too, which makes it a smarter make-ahead bread than most of the sweeter Christmas loaves.
Get the recipe: Cranberry Pecan Bread
9 · Fresh Cranberry Orange and Walnut Muffins
Orange zest rubbed into the sugar before mixing releases more oil than zest added at the end, which is what gives these muffins their citrus punch. They freeze well after baking, so a double batch means breakfast handled for the whole week the holiday guests are staying.
Get the recipe: Fresh Cranberry Orange and Walnut Muffins
10 · Upside Down Cranberry Apple Cake
Cranberries scattered into the caramel at the bottom of the pan are what turn a plain apple cake into something that looks intentional once it’s flipped out. It’s a cake that looks harder than it is, which is exactly the kind of dessert worth bringing to someone else’s table.
Get the recipe: Upside Down Cranberry Apple Cake
11 · Flaky Cranberry and Orange Puff Pastry Hand Pies
Keep the puff pastry cold right up until it hits the oven, since a warm dough won’t puff into the flaky layers these hand pies depend on. They freeze beautifully unbaked, so stash a tray in the freezer and bake a few fresh whenever guests show up unannounced.
Get the recipe: Flaky Cranberry and Orange Puff Pastry Hand Pies
12 · Baked Cranberry Brie en Croute
The whole wheel of brie goes in with its rind still on, and the cranberry sauce spooned over the top before wrapping is what keeps the pastry from tasting one-note rich. Assemble it a day ahead and refrigerate unbaked, then bake it fresh right as the party starts.
Get the recipe: Baked Cranberry Brie en Croute
13 · White Chocolate-Cranberry Coffee Cake
White chocolate melts into pockets through the batter here, so every slice gets a sweet counterpoint to the tart cranberries baked in. It holds well at room temperature for a couple of days, which makes it the easy answer for a house full of overnight guests wanting coffee cake.
Get the recipe: White Chocolate-Cranberry Coffee Cake
14 · Tea Infused Cream Cheese Cranberry Babka
Rolling the cream cheese and cranberry filling into a tight spiral before twisting is what gives babka its signature layers once it’s sliced. It takes real time over a weekend, but it is the loaf to make for the Christmas morning breakfast everyone actually remembers.
Get the recipe: Tea Infused Cream Cheese Cranberry Babka
15 · Chocolate Hazelnut Bundt Cake with Cranberries
Fresh cranberries fold into the batter whole, and they burst slightly during baking, leaving little tart pockets throughout the chocolate cake. That tartness is what keeps this from tasting like a straight chocolate bundt, and it’s rich enough to serve in thin slices, not the usual wedge.
Get the recipe: Chocolate Hazelnut Bundt Cake with Cranberries
16 · Baked Brie Croissants with Cranberry Sauce
Store-bought croissants get split and stuffed with brie and cranberry sauce, then baked just long enough for the cheese to go soft without collapsing the pastry. It’s the fastest thing on this list to pull together, ten minutes of work for something that looks like it took an hour.
Get the recipe: Baked Brie Croissants with Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry Drinks
17 · Spiced Cranberry Tea
Whole cranberries simmered with cinnamon and clove release their color slowly, so this tea needs a full twenty minutes on low heat before it’s ready to strain. It’s a warmer, less boozy option to set out next to the mulled wine for anyone driving home or skipping alcohol.
Get the recipe: Spiced Cranberry Tea
18 · Cranberry and Tonic
Two ingredients only, cranberry juice and tonic water, poured over ice, which is exactly why it works as a low-effort drink for a crowded party. It’s the easiest thing to hand a guest who wants something in a glass but doesn’t want to explain their order at the bar cart.
Get the recipe: Cranberry and Tonic
19 · Cranberry Rum Punch with Mint
Muddle the mint before the rum goes in, not after, so the oils release into the base of the punch instead of just floating on top. Batch it in a big bowl an hour ahead and it’s one less drink to make to order all night.
Get the recipe: Cranberry Rum Punch with Mint
20 · Seasonal Drinks: Cranberry Apple Cider
Warmed slowly on the stove rather than boiled, this cider keeps the apple flavor from turning bitter the way a hard simmer can. Let it hold on low heat all afternoon and the whole house smells like it before a single guest walks in the door.
Get the recipe: Seasonal Drinks: Cranberry Apple Cider
21 · Cranberry Apple Smoothie
Frozen cranberries do double duty here, adding tartness and enough ice to skip the extra ice cubes most smoothies need. It’s the one drink on this list built for the morning after, when the table wants something that isn’t rum punch or coffee cake.
Get the recipe: Cranberry Apple Smoothie
The post Cranberry Recipes Sweet and Savory appeared first on Honest Cooking and Travel.
