It’s recipe day — and I want to share a second cranberry recipe I found while looking for cranberry sauce recipes the other day.  It’s for dried cranberries.  Most of the time dried fruit is counter-productive.  There is too much sugar (natural and added) to make it a good weight-loss food.  This recipe calls for the alternative sweetener of your choice and is high in nutrients and fiber.  Mine turned out a little more like fruit leather than like plain dried fruit — but that was probably because I was too impatient to let it dry all the way.  It was still good!  If you have a dehydrator, I’m sure it would make this recipe easier, but I’ve included the instructions for drying in the oven.

Dried Cranberries

 Ingredients

• 1 bag (12 oz.) of fresh whole cranberries
• Sugar substitute to equal 1 cup sugar, or to taste
• 1/2 cup water

Directions

• Prepare a baking sheet.  Cover it with three layers of paper towels and then a piece of parchment paper.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
• Combine the ingredients in a saucepan and heat on medium high heat, stirring often.  Cook until the cranberries burst open, in about 4 to 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and cool for about 10 minutes.  Mash them with the back of a large spoon and cool for 5 more minutes.
• Spread the cranberries on the parchment paper.  Make sure all the berries are popped.  Turn down the oven to the lowest setting, about 150 degrees, and put the baking sheet in the oven.  Start checking the cranberries for doneness after about six hours.

Enjoy!

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown