28 Sweet-Tart Cranberry Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated December 03, 2018
Credit: Con Poulos
From roasted cranberry-grape sauce to biscotti to scones, a collection of cranberry recipes that are perfect for the holidays.
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Cranberry and Orange Pavlovas

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This Pavlova has a secret: The whipped cream on top of the crisp meringue shell tastes a lot like a Creamsicle.

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Pear-and-Cranberry Slab Pie

Credit: Con Poulos
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Instead of making a traditional two-crust pie in a pie plate, Food & Wine’s Justin Chapple makes this free-form, fruit-filled, ginger-laced pie on a baking sheet.

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Jellied Cranberry Sauce with Fuji Apple

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A classic take on cranberry jelly is updated with tart sliced apples.

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Cranberry Mostarda

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This jammy, mustard-seed-spiked condiment from chef and butcher Chris Eley is terrific served alongside everything from grilled sausage to roast turkey.

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Brown Butter-Cranberry Tart

Credit: © Con Poulos
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This is a terrific cross between a tart and a cake; it has a crisp, delicate crust as well as a cakey filling made with nutty browned butter and vanilla bean. Pastry chef Katherine Thompson serves it all year-round with different toppings, but for the holidays, she loves to pile on fresh cranberries.

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Cranberry Vinaigrette

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Sweet-tart dried cranberries add color and texture to a basic salad dressing.

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Cranberry-Glazed Pumpkin Pie

Credit: © Dana Gallagher
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This super-simple crust is made with store-bought gingersnaps and ground walnuts and filled with silky pumpkin filling and a cranberry compote topping with more crunchy walnuts.

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Cranberry, Clementine and Pumpkin Seed Conserve

Credit: © Frances Janisch
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Cranberries only need to be cooked for a few minutes before they burst and form a sauce.

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Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Honeyed Cranberries

Credit: Quentin Bacon
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Every year for his birthday, Tim Hollingsworth's mother makes him cheesecake with canned cherries on top. In his clever version, he substitutes goat cheese for the cream cheese and glazed cranberries for the cherries.

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Dried Cranberry and Chocolate Cookies

Credit: Recipes and images excerpted with permission from
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Adding cranberries and rolled oats to buttery chocolate chip cookie dough makes the cookies crunchier and more substantial.

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Cranberry Caipirinha

Credit: © John Kernick
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In this version, chef Marcus Samuelsson muddles cranberries along with the usual lime and replaces the Brazilian spirit cachaça (made from sugarcane juice) with Scandinavian aquavit (an infused spirit).

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Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries

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Because brussels sprouts are slightly bitter, Michel Nischan likes to pair them with something sweet: dried cranberries that have been plumped in off-dry Riesling. "I don't like to overdress vegetables," he explains. "It takes just one counterpoint to bring the sprouts to a place where people say, 'This is really good.'"

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Cranberry, Ginger and Orange Chutney

Credit: © Con Poulos
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This chunky cranberry chutney is super-fresh-tasting because the cranberries are simmered briefly and the orange sections are added near the end of cooking.

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Savory Cranberry-Walnut Biscuits

Credit: © James Baigrie
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With crunchy nuts, sweet-tart cranberries and sautéed shallots, these make fantastic bread for turkey sandwiches.

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Rosé Sangria with Cranberries and Apples

Credit: © Petrina Tinslay
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This strong but not overly sweet sangria is nicely spiced with cinnamon, anise and cloves and it has just enough crushed red pepper to give it a tiny kick.

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Chunky Cranberry Sauce

Credit: David Malosh
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Gary Vaynerchuk prefers "real cranberry sauce" with chunks of whole fruit over the smooth canned-and-jellied kind.

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Cranberry Apple Raisin Crisp

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Orange-Cranberry Scones with Turbinado Sugar

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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Mani Niall's pleasantly dense cranberry-studded scones, for instance, get a toffeelike flavor from light brown turbinado sugar, which has large, crunchy crystals. Sugar in the Raw is a good brand.

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Port-Cranberry Sauce

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Traditional cranberry sauce gets a sweet, dark glug of port wine.

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Corn Cakes and Spiced Cranberries

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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Chef Peter Ireland serves this delicately spiced, sweet-tart fruit compote with seared foie gras. Here he pairs it with incredibly tender corn cakes.

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Candied Cranberry Sauce

Credit: © Lucy Schaeffer
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Cooked with less water and in a wide skillet, tart cranberries get candied in the sugar syrup and remain almost whole.

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Cranberry-Grapefruit Conserve

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"It's so easy to make your own cranberry sauce, why wouldn't you?" Barbara Lynch says of this bitter-tart conserve, which she also jars and gives as a gift. She suggests adjusting the recipe to taste by varying the amount of cranberries, grapefruit and sugar.

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Cranberry-Walnut Power Bars

Credit: © James Baigrie
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These gingery, nutrient-packed bars use only natural sweeteners like brown rice syrup and natural cane sugar. "Brown rice syrup has a nice, round flavor that doesn't give you the jolt of sweetness that processed sugars do," Heidi Swanson says. The recipe itself is very versatile: "Once you get the hang of the technique, you can swap in all kinds of other nuts, spices and dried fruit."

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Cranberry Panna Cotta

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This elegant, low-fat panna cotta requires only five ingredients: cranberries, sugar, gelatin, water and buttermilk (instead of the usual cream).

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Cranberry-Almond Biscotti

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Chewy cranberries meet crunchy almonds in this classic biscotti pairing.

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Cranberry-Anise Bitters

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The bark, roots and other more esoteric ingredients used to make bitters can be found at specialty grocery stores.

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Cranberry-Licorice Compote

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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This sweet-and-tangy compote pairs perfectly with fresh goat cheese.

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Roasted Cranberry-Grape Sauce

Credit: Con Poulos
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In this clever and tasty riff on traditional cranberry sauce, Food & Wine’s Laura Rege tosses cranberries with juicy red grapes before roasting in the oven.

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