It’s easy to make your own dried cranberries with no added sugar! Make them in the oven or a dehydrator, and use them in your favorite keto treats.
This tutorial on how to dry cranberries has been on my blog since a gazillion years. Or, to be more precise, since November of 2012, which really amounts to the same thing.
I’ve been making these sugar free dried cranberries almost every year since. It’s not easy to find this popular snack without huge amounts of added sugar.
So I started making my own dried cranberries with alternative sweeteners. Turns out that it’s remarkably easy! I make several batches every fall and use them in all sorts of delicious recipes, like Keto Christmas Cookies.
You’ve got to try this!
Cranberries are extremely tart on their own. I’d almost go as far to say that they are unpalatable, which is why you rarely see unsweetened dried cranberries.
But you can use almost any sweetener to make them keto friendly. I like to use a combination of Swerve Confectioners and allulose, as I find this gives the best flavor while reducing any grittiness.
I discovered that the berries turn out much better if you also use a little oil. Otherwise, they tend to become crisp as they dry out, rather than soft and chewy.
You can dry cranberries in the oven or in a dehydrator, and it works well both ways. The oven method is quite a bit faster, as a dehydrator needs to run for at least 8 hours. But using an oven also uses more energy, so it’s up to you!
Ingredients you need
- Fresh cranberries: Choose cranberries that aren’t damaged or old as this affects the quality of your dried cranberries. Frozen cranberries tend to release a lot more juice as they dry, so it takes longer to dry them out properly.
- Sweetener: You have a lot of choice for sweetening the berries, but I do recommend using powdered sweeteners where possible. I found that a combination of erythritol and allulose works really well. Some of my readers also use BochaSweet. See more information in the Expert Tips section.
- Avocado oil: Don’t skip the oil or your dried cranberries will be tough and crispy! They get a little crispy as it is, but the oil makes a huge difference. You can also use extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, or any other neutral tasting oil.
Step-by-step directions
1. Cut the cranberries in half and toss in a bowl with sweeteners and oil.
2. Spread on a parchment-lined baking pan and separate each individual berry as best you can.
3. Place the baking sheet in a 200ºF oven and let dry, 3 hours or longer. Let them cool completely on the pan. Then transfer to an airtight container.
4. Store in the refrigerator for several months.
Dehydrator method: Prepare the berries as directed and spread out in a dehydrator. Set the dehydrator to 125ºF and 8 to 12 hours, or until the berries are dry to your liking.
Expert tips and FAQ
Sweetener Options: You can use almost any sweetener to make dried cranberries, but I recommend half Swerve Confectioners and half allulose for a few reasons. Erythritol sweeteners tend to crystallize during baking, and using some allulose helps offset this.
But allulose alone tends to make the berries brown too quickly. I tried this last year and ended up with something more like raisins than cranberries! Use powdered allulose for this recipe.
Cutting the berries: Whole cranberries have a firm exterior that doesn’t break down easily during baking. So cutting the berries in half allows them to dry out more quickly. This does take a little time but while save you time in the long run.
Keep your eyes on them! Every oven and every dehydrator is different so check them frequently.
This sugar free dried cranberry recipe has 5.2g of carbs and 2g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.2g net carbs for a 3 tablespoon serving.
Store the dried cranberries in an airtight container. If they are well dried out, you can keep them on the counter for a few weeks. If they still have some moisture to them, they are best kept in the fridge. You can also freeze them for up one year.
How to use them
Now that you made a big batch of sugar free dried cranberries, you need keto recipes to use them. Not to worry, I have plenty of ideas for you!
How to Dry Cranberries
Ingredients
- 12 ounces (340.2 g) fresh cranberries
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) Swerve Confectioners
- 1/3 cup (66.67 g) allulose, powdered version
- 2 tbsp avocado oil, or any neutral tasting oi.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200ºF and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut the cranberries in half and toss in a bowl with the sweeteners and oil. Spread on the prepared baking pan and separate each individual berry as best you can.
- Place in the oven and let dry 3 hours or longer. Let cool on the pan.
- Transfer to an airtight container. Store in refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
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hello Carolyn
I am in Canada and can’t find allulose ( it’s not approved to be sold here ) would be okay if I just use eritritol and monk fruit blend sweetener ?
You can use all erythritol-based sweeteners but it will re-crystallize.
I added some beautiful cranberries in the salad yesterday, and my husband said, please, don’t put cranberries in my salad again. I was crestfallen because I thought it was too acid and too bitter. But cranberries are something special to North America, I would like to be able to enjoy them while I am living here!
I searched on how to dry cranberries in the oven, and found your recipe. I was lucky!
I don’t have to be on a KETO diet, I just used white sugar, olive oil, and followed your instruction. It was perfect. Not too sweet, but completely free of the bitterness of the raw cranberries. My husband, this time, liked them in kale salad (with roasted almond slivers and goat cheese), too. Thank you very much for sharing your recipe.
Totally fine! Glad it works with sugar too.
Just wondering if we can use a monk fruit/allulose honey or maple syrup as the sweetener? Has anyone tried this yet?
Liquid alluose may introduce too much liquid…
Hi Carolyn, I freeze them dried/sweetened rather than freezing the cranberries whole and fresh. I find that they’re a bit harder to halve after they’ve been frozen and since they freeze so well using this recipe I figure I’m ahead of the game to make more than my usual double batch! I like to use them in curried chicken salad – mmm. Thanks for another great recipe.
I am doing the happy dance since my frozen cranberries dried perfectly and are delicious ! I did initially try to pop them with the bottom of a glass as one reader commented after defrosting and then ended up slicing it in half which worked better. Drying time was a bit longer but so worth it. Will make a double batch next time for sure! Many thanks Carolyn for all you do 💜
great news…I really had a taste for some cranberry recipes this summer and was sad that I couldn’t make them…I am making a few batches with fresh cranberries to dry but will throw a few bags of cranberries in the freezer for “emergency cranberry ” times to come !
There’s tons of liquid on the pan. I baked them for maybe four hours and let dry overnight in the oven. any suggestions? bake more?
actually, not TONS but enough that they’re not dry. the pan where I didn’t separate as good is worse.
What sweetener did you use?
After almost 5 hours my (fresh) cranberries were not red and were still not dry. I tasted a few and they were pretty bitter. I followed the recipe exactly. The berries were more of a dark brown color, not red. Any suggestions?
I just purchased an Instant pot air fryer that has a dehydration option. would I use the instructions you gave for the oven method? thank you I would appreciate your help with this!
I really don’t know, you’d need to read the instructions on your machine.
Should you measure the cranberries before or after you cut them? Thank you in advance.
The cranberries are listed by weight. So they will be the same weight before and after cutting. But usually when you see a recipe that says something like “2 cups cranberries, chopped”, that means chop them after measuring out 2 cups. If it’s written like “2 cups chopped cranberries” you chop them BEFORE measuring. Hope that helps!
Caroline,have you ever canned using swerve sweetener or Allulose? I used to make mincemeat and can it for pies and tarts.
I have canned her Sugar Fee Cranberry sauce using an instapot and had no troubles. It had both Swerve and BocaSweet brown in it. I have canned blueberries (blue goo) using Surkin gold, Swerve and a bunch of spices with no issues either.
Do you have to use all that sweetener or can you half that down? I actually don’t like the super sweetness of store-bought cranberries but would like a little bit of it. Imagine it kind of like the sour gummies just with sweet-tart combination of cranberries.
You’re free to cut it down BUT… these are FAR less sweet than regular dried cranberries as it is.
I made this last year. I put them in the frig & forget they were there until a few months ago while cleaning it out.
I can swear to you, these are incredibly sweet-tart yummyness! I’ve used them in muffins, cookies & granola.
I’m about to make another batch.
The cranberries are awesome! Now I have a new craveable, so chewy with a few crispy ones. Will add to my snack mix.
I used frozen w/coconut oil, so of course it made the sweeteners lumpy so microwaved enough to smooth it out. Took 5-6 hrs. Thank you!
can I use frozen cranberries? there are no fresh now and how do I adjust the recipe
They do give off more liquid, just be aware of that. It does work but they can take longer to dry out properly.