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    Home » Recipes » Condiments

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    Brandied Whole Cranberry Sauce (also includes family friendly version)

    November 13, 2014 Filed Under: Condiments, Fruit, Vegetable Oven

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Cranberry Sauce with plump whole cranberries in a sweet sauce spiked with brandy (or use orange or cranberry juice for a family friendly version).

    If you like your cranberry sauce studded with big juicy cranberries in a luscious sauce try this Brandied Whole Cranberry Sauce.

    close up of cranberry sauce with text overlay "spiked whole cranberry sauce

    My mother in law makes this version for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The trick to keeping the cranberries big and whole is to bake them low and slow. And adding some brandy or rum, well that just makes it extra tasty.

    The recipe is ridiculously easy to make, but takes an hour to bake. Bake? and take up time and room in the oven on Turkey Day? Nah, it is better to make it the day before so the liquid has time to gel.

    I had to modify the recipe a little because the original called for 4 cups of cranberries and a 12 ounce bag is only 3 cups now. Grrrr! I hate it when they do that.

    This is going to make about 3 cups of sauce. You can easily double or triple it if you are feeding a bigger crowd.

    Does the alcohol cook off?

    My mother-in-law believed that ALL of the alcohol cooks off due to the long baking time. Well, that's not exactly true.

    There are quite a few factors involved in the burning off of the alcohol including the temperature, length of cooking time, size of the pan (larger = more evaporation) etc. You can get some details here, but basically I calculate that a ½ cup serving with brandy at 50-60% alcohol comes out to less than a teaspoon of alcohol per serving.

    Which isn't much for most people. But, for those in recovery, pregnant or breast feeding, or those that don't imbibe for health or religious reasons this recipe still contains some alcohol.

    Alcohol Free Whole Cranberry Sauce

    The easiest option to make this family friendly is to use fruit juice. A few juice suggestions that would work well with cranberries:

    • orange
    • cranberry
    • apple
    • pomegranate
    • lemon
    • lime
    • any combination of the above

    Brandied Whole Cranberry Sauce

    close up of cranberry sauce with text overlay "spiked whole cranberry sauce
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe

    Ingredients
     

    • 3 cups fresh cranberries (one 12 ounce bag)
    • 1 ½ cup sugar
    • ⅓ cup brandy or rum or other alcohol (or orange or cranberry juice)

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
    • Rinse cranberries and discard any moldy or mushy ones. Spread out in a 9 x 13" pan. Sprinkle with the sugar. Pour alcohol over the top.
    • Bake for 1 hour. Let chill before serving.

    Notes

    Best if made the day before to allow the sauce to thicken.

    Until next time, happy eating.
    ~Audrey

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Judy

      November 13, 2014 at 7:51 pm

      Thanks for coming and linking up at The Weekend Social. Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST The Midnight Baker ! I hope to see you there!
      Judy@ http://www.bakeatmidnite.com

      Reply
    2. Anne Krietlow

      November 17, 2014 at 8:10 am

      Oooh, yum! Pinning this! Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
    3. Megan Kubasch

      November 18, 2014 at 11:46 am

      I can't believe how easy this is!!!!! I am definitely going to give this a try! Thanks for linking up at Come Along Ponds!

      Reply
    4. Marla

      November 21, 2014 at 3:47 pm

      This recipe sounds wonderful and perfect for the holidays. I love the idea of orange and cranberries together. Twitted. Have a healthy happy Thanksgiving.

      Reply
    5. Lou Lou Girls

      November 22, 2014 at 2:21 pm

      Hello gorgeous! I'm licking my lips right now, it looks so good! Pinned and tweeted. I hope to see on Monday at 7 pm. We love to party with you! Happy Saturday~Lou Lou Girls

      Reply
    6. Sharon@Blue Willow House

      November 22, 2014 at 6:11 pm

      A very timely recipe. I love cranberries and this sauce sounds easy to make and looks delicious. Thank you for sharing at The Southern Special and please join us next Tuesday beginning at 7:00am.

      Reply
    7. Denise

      November 22, 2015 at 4:06 pm

      Way better than the canned! Thanks for sharing. #HomeMattersParty

      Reply
      • Audrey

        November 23, 2015 at 8:09 am

        I sure think so. 🙂

    8. Lorelai @ Life With Lorelai

      November 27, 2015 at 11:29 pm

      We love cranberries around here, so this will be a fantastic recipe for us to try.Thanks for sharing and co-hosting at the #HomeMattersParty - we appreciate you! 🙂

      ~Lorelai
      Life With Lorelai

      Reply
    9. Theresa B

      November 25, 2019 at 2:26 pm

      This sauce is amazing over ice cream as well.

      Reply
      • ARV

        November 26, 2019 at 9:27 am

        OOOOOH! Now this I gotta try!

    10. Theresa B

      November 27, 2019 at 7:00 am

      I am going to try this over cream cheese this year as well. Ice cream topping is wonderful as well as commented earlier.

      Reply
      • Audrey

        December 02, 2019 at 9:17 am

        I have to try the ice cream topping idea.

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