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This cranberry simple syrup recipe is bursting with tart flavor and bright red color! Use it for mixing up brilliant cocktails and mocktails.
Got cranberries? If you don’t want to make sauce or bake bread, try cranberry simple syrup! This bright red syrup is the perfect use for fresh or frozen cranberries, making a sweet-tart sweetener that adds a zing to cocktails and mocktails.
Use it to bring a zippy flavor to a whiskey sour or martini, or simply add bubbles to make a highball mocktail. It’s also great as a grenadine substitute in a Shirley Temple or Tequila Sunrise!
Ingredients You Need
A simple syrup is a liquid sweetener made with equal parts sugar and water. It’s often used to sweeten drinks like cocktails and mocktails by simmering sugar and water until the sugar dissolves.
For a cranberry simple syrup, it is easiest to cook down the cranberries first, then strain them to make the “water” part of the simple syrup formula. The ingredients are:
- Fresh or frozen cranberries: Fresh berries are best, but frozen cranberries cook down easily and are available year-round.
- Cinnamon stick: The cinnamon adds a unique layer of flavor to this syrup.
- Granulated sugar: You can make simple syrup with other types of sugar, but granulated sugar is best here. Brown sugar and demerara sugar have a darker brown color, which muddies the brilliant color of the berries.
- Water
Tips for Making Cranberry Simple Syrup
Cranberry simple syrup is easy to whip up, but it’s slightly different than some of my other simple syrup methods since it uses whole fruit. Here’s what to know:
- Simmer the cranberries with water until they break down, then strain through a fine mesh sieve. This creates a sort of “cranberry water” that works as a substitute for the water in a simple syrup. (This infuses the berry flavor without making the syrup too thick, which can happen if you simply cook down the berries with the sugar.)
- Whisk in the sugar and refrigerate. The residual heat dissolves the sugar and makes a thick, bright red syrup.
Storage Info
This homemade cranberry simple syrup lasts up to 1 month refrigerated. The flavor is freshest when it’s first made, but this syrup holds up well over time.
Use It as a Cranberry Syrup
No need to keep this to only drinks! Use it to drizzle over a stack of pancakes, waffles, or French toast, or add it to yogurt for a tasty yogurt parfait.
Ways to Use It in Drinks
This cranberry simple syrup has a subtle, sweet-tart flavor and a hint of nuance from the cinnamon. Use it to make craft cocktails, mocktails, or other drinks. You can also use it as a grenadine substitute in classic cocktails or an alternative to raspberry syrup in drinks. Here are some ideas:
- Whiskey Sour: Use it in place of the standard simple syrup to make a spin on the whiskey sour.
- Clover Club: Substitute it for raspberry syrup in a classic Clover Club cocktail, a pink drink with gin and an egg white foam.
- Cranberry Lime Rickey: Make a cranberry version of a Cherry Lime Rickey.
- Shirley Temple: Use to make a cranberry Shirley Temple or Dirty Shirley, the vodka-based cocktail version of the classic mocktail.
- Tequila Sunrise: Add it to OJ for a beautiful cranberry Tequila Sunrise.
- Malibu Sunset: Mix up Malibu rum and OJ for a beautiful Malibu Sunset.
- Ward 8: Make the Ward 8, a spin on the whiskey sour with rye whiskey, grenadine, and orange juice.
Dietary Notes
This recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
Cranberry Simple Syrup
This cranberry simple syrup recipe is bursting with tart cranberry flavor and bright red color! Use it for mixing up brilliant cocktails and mocktails.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: ¾ cup 1x
- Category: Essentials
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Cocktails
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh cranberries (or frozen)
- ¾ cup water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ½ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Combine the cranberries and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer. Place a lid on slightly ajar to prevent popping cranberries, simmer for 8 minutes, occasionally mashing the cranberries with the back of a spoon. When cranberries are fully pureed into the water, strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve until you have ⅓ cup cranberry water. Pour into a bowl and cool for 2 minutes, until cooled slightly.
- Add the sugar and whisk until dissolved. Cool to room temperature before using.
- Store refrigerated in a sealed container for 1 month.
Let us know if you have any questions!