Dried Cranberries

I had cranberries left over. A lot of them. I bought a bag because I wanted them for a spiced apple cider, over the holidays...and the rest of the bag just sat in my fridge for weeks. Finally I was looking at the cranberries...wondering how long they would last before they were rotten and I threw them away. What else was I going to do with them?

I didn't want to throw them away, it seems like such a waste. And the kids are totally into craisins right now (as am I). So I decided to try and make my own!

Wash the cranberries, and then pour boiling water over them. They will start to make a "popping" sound when the skins crack. After that happens, you can drain the berries.

Add some sugar to sweeten them. I didn't measure, I just dumped some on there and stirred it around.

Spread the cranberries on a cookie sheet, covered in parchment paper. Freeze for about 2 hours, and then place them in the oven. About 200 degrees and many many hours later (about 10, total?) - I had to "take a break" because I needed my oven for dinner, etc, and then just resumed the drying process, and they seem to have suffered no ill effects.

When they were dried out they looked like red raisins! And the taste is positively addicting! I bagged them up and put them in the freezer for safe keeping - we already have a store bought bag of craisins open that I want to finish before we eat these.

Other than time in the oven drying them out (which is not hard - it just "is" - it's obviously not an "instant" style of recipe:-), these are quick and easy to do...and really inexpensive too - a great and useful way to use up fresh cranberries after you've used hard any from that big bag over the holidays!