Cranberry Apple Sauce

While growing up, cranberry sauce was a staple at our Thanksgiving meal and truth be told I didn’t like it.  We always had the canned version and there was just something about it that didn’t really sit quite right with me.  I don’t know if it was the taste or texture, regardless it was a dish that I passed over.

When I started making Thanksgiving dinner for Scott and I, he told me that they always had cranberry sauce too and that he liked it.

Say wha?!

This meant that I needed to supply him with some  cranberry sauce.  In the beginning, I just bought the canned version and let him go to town.  Eventually I came around and stared being able to tolerate it.  When OHC was in it’s infancy and before we cut out HFCS, I even used it to make this salad.

Now taking a look at the ingredient list, yikes!  Corn syrup and HFCS are the first two ingredients.  Ick! That means we stay far away from the canned grocery store version and I had to start experimenting on my own to make cranberry sauce.

Do you know it’s really easy to make cranberry sauce?  Like 10 minutes easy and you only need a few ingredients that you can find anywhere?

Ever since I started making my own, not only do I love it but I also feel a lot better about providing Scott with some cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving.

Andrea’s Cranberry Apple Sauce

  • 1 pkg Whole Cranberries (12oz)
  • 1 Large Sweet Apple, chunked (I used a huge honeycrisp)
  • 1/2C Organic Cane Sugar
  • Pinch Cinnamon
  • 1C Cider

Rinse off the cranberries and remove any that have started to turn (they get mushy).  In a medium sized sauce pot, add all ingredients, stir, and bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat to a simmer and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes.  With a masher, go through and mash the berries and apples to your desired texture.  Continue to simmer for about another 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, pour into a glass bowl and allow to cool.  Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.

I like a little bit of texture so I don’t make a completely smooth sauce.  I just use the masher to help break down the apple and cranberries just a touch.  While I’m not big on using a lot of sugar in recipes, cranberries kind of call for that because they are just so very tart.  To me, they can leave a bitter taste on the tongue that is not very pleasant.  I combat that with the sugar and also the apple.

By adding in the apple it brings in another fruit and therefore another taste level to the cranberry sauce.  I prefer this method but of course you can leave out the apple and sub in a tad more sugar if you wish.  You are also free to peel or not peel the apple, that’s completely up to you!

Now, what can you do once you have sauce in your possession?

It makes a great mix-in for some pumpkin oatmeal!  Oats not your thing?

How about some Pumpkin Cider Corn Cakes?  Uh-huh!

You can make a salad dressing with it, you can slap it on a sandwich and I hear through the grapevine that it goes well with some mashed sweet potato as well.  So many options for this simple little sauce!

Want to kick this sauce up even more?  Add in:

  • The juice of one orange
  • Some orange zest
  • Some orange liquor

Oh yeah!

Have fun guys and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

8 thoughts on “Cranberry Apple Sauce

  1. Jessie says:

    As a kid we always had the canned stuff, and I, too, was not a fan. But when my husband and I were away from home one Thanksgiving and cooking on our own I decided to make it. And that’s when I discovered just how easy it was to make!

    Instead of water I always use orange juice and add a little extra orange zest as well.

    The newest Cooking Light magazine also has an awesome variation in which they used Framboise Lambic as the liquid. It is awesome! I love it, and will continue to make it this way :-)

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