Today we wanted to share a recipe to make your own craisins.
We had some frozen cranberries left over from the holidays
that we didn’t end up using for recipes.
So we researched some different options of how we could use up these
cranberries. If you’re running out of
options or you’re are burnt out on cranberries, this is a great way to preserve
them for later use.
Craisins are really just dried cranberries. If you know anything about dried fruit, you
know that you can easily dry fruit in a dehydrator or oven. The craisins you purchase in the store are
slightly sweetened.
If you’re trying to be super healthy, you may choose to not
sweeten them. Be prepared for them being
pretty bitter and tart. But if you plan
to add or incorporate them to something sweet, they should be just fine.
We decided to do a slightly sweetened version. That way we could eat them by themselves or add or incorporate them into other recipes.
If you’re using a dehydrator, you can either add them straight to your racks or you can boil them for just a couple minutes so they split and take less time to dehydrate. Splitting them will significantly reduce their drying time.
If you add them to boiling water, do not cook them for more than 2 minutes or just long enough that they split. Use a slotted spoon to take them out of the boiling water and transfer them to a colander. If you want to sweetened them, sprinkle sugar on them once you transfer them to the colander. Then transfer them in a single layer onto your drying racks.
Dehydrate these at 135 degrees for 10-24 hours. If they are split berries, they should take around 9 or 10 hours. If they are whole berries, they should take around 22-24 hours.
Making your own craisins is such an easy project. Not only can you preserve cranberries for future use. You can also use up cranberries if they are going bad or taking up refrigerator or freezer space.
Making your own craisins also saves you a ton of money because whole cranberries are typically inexpensive especially around the holidays. We purchased a huge bag of fresh cranberries for 3.99 at Costco during the holiday season.
At that time, we just used what we needed for recipes and put the rest in the freezer. Now we just need to use them up and free up freezer space with growing season fast approaching.
If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can also dehydrate these cranberries in your oven. Using the same principle of cooking these at a very low temperature for a long amount of time. You will achieve the same results.
We hope you’ll try to make your own craisins too. We’d love to hear what you think about this idea. We’d also love to hear if you try making craisins too. Let us know in the comments below. Thank you for visiting Sunup to Sundown! We’ll be back soon with another recipe or update regarding our garden or our journey to become more self-reliant.
