Apple Cranberry Hand Pies (and a Crisp to Boot!)
A great way to take the pie on the go. Grab a cup of oats and you can use some of the filling to make a crisp too! Try different fillings, both sweet and savory are great fun!
Ingredient: Cranberries
Look below for a recipe on unsweetened dried cranberries. It takes a lot of time so be forewarned.
A food dehydrator makes shorter work of this process.
Made by Jess’ friend Karen W., these sugared cranberries are downright amazing.
Here are some quick ideas from “honorable mentions” for your cranberries!
I had a few cranberries left after making my cranberry apple sauce and didn’t want them to go to waste. I picked through them and disposed of the squishy ones and picked out the twigs. Onto a cookie sheet they went to be frozen. Once they are frozen (8-24 hours), pop them into a freezer bag. Going through this process means that they won’t stick together in the bag. Much easier to deal with if you are whipping up a batch of warm oatmeal cranberry cookies!
I popped a few cranberries in a pan with a tiny bit of water and cooked them until they popped. I rolled them in some honey, then served them with wilted spinach drizzled in balsamic glaze. Tart and tangy in all the right places!
There’s a nice recipe for scones over at The Kitchn. As and adaptation, I added a few finely chopped apples and 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract. I did not try the dark rum glaze mentioned in the recipe as these were more of a breakfast thing here, but would be interested in hearing from those that check it out!
A quick pulse of brown sugar with cranberries as directed by Faith Durand over at The Kitchn.
A mix of the dry ingredients as the cranberries and cubed butter prepare to infiltrate.
I took a liberty with this recipe, adding finely diced apple and 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to the mixture before baking.
My first batch was a double batch, and I accidentally propped the door of my electric oven open (the cookie sheets were a bit too long to allow the oven door to close all the way) so the heating element stayed on and burned the bottoms. The second run through was much better!
Cranberries, brown sugar, butter, and walnuts. Working together, they make a great topping for a brie (or just about anything, really!)
The cranberries went into a single layer in a baking pan with some brown sugar and a little bit of butter at 350. (I didn’t really measure, I kind of worked from the idea I used here. I just stirred it off and on until the sugar began to caramelize and the cranberries popped.) Toasted walnuts went in in the last minute and on top of the room temperature brie it went!
These cranberry oatmeal cookies are a dish of Sarah’s, available at Whisk Baked Goods. In the background, you also see her pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Yummy!
Recipes Using Cranberries
Unsweetened Dried Cranberries
Unsweetened apple juice, pomegranate juice or cranberry juice is all you need, besides a whole mess of time and patience if you want to make truly unsweetened cranberries at home. Read on before trying and see if this experience is right for you!
Cranberry Applesauce
Is it a condiment? Is it a side dish? Sweet or savory? You decide. It’s a versatile adaptation of the traditional applesauce, and a welcome addition to the dinner table.
