cranberry

Orange Cranberry White Chocolate Bars

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Each year, I search and search for a recipe to send out with my Christmas cards. I found a similar recipe to this, tweaked it just a bit, and perfection was born. These have a ton of great flavor…they are a little sweet and a whole lot of delicious! You can use light or regular cream cheese for the frosting, add a little more or a little less orange zest, depending on your taste. Completely customizable to your tastes.  Plus, they turn out really pretty. Great for a holiday cookie exchange, gifts to neighbors, or to devour yourself! They are ah-maz-ing!! ~Kathy

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Blondie:

  • 1 stick (8 Tablespoons) butter
  • 1 1/3 c. packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. freshly grated orange zest
  • 2 1/8 c. flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 c. dried cranberries, coarsely chopped (this helps distribute them more evenly throughout
  • the batter)
  • 4 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped or 1/2 ­ 2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Frosting / Topping:

  • 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened (regular or light)
  • 3/4 c. powdered sugar
  • Pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp. freshly grated orange zest
  • 4 oz. white baking chocolate, melted
  • 1/2 c. dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

Instructions: 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and lightly grease a 9×13 ­inch pan with cooking spray.
  2. In a microwave­-safe bowl, melt the butter.
  3. Stir in the brown sugar until well­-combined.
  4. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest.
  5. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon until well combined; then fold in the cranberries and white chocolate.
  6. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
  7. Bake for 18­-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist (not gooey) crumbs. Do NOT over bake!!!
  8. Let the bars cool completely in the pan.
  9. For the frosting, using an electric mixer (handheld or stand mixer), beat the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and salt together until light and fluffy (about 2­-3 minutes).
  10. Mix in the vanilla.
  11. Add about half of the melted chocolate and mix until creamy.
  12. Spread the frosting onto the cooled bars.
  13. Sprinkle with cranberries and orange zest and drizzle the remaining white chocolate over the top. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set.
  14. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Cranberry Butter (Instant Pot or Stove Top)

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Electric pressure cookers are the new-fangled popular kitchen gadget, aren’t they? Do you have one? I do, and I like it a lot — but I haven’t used it as much as I should. Okay, technically, mine is not an Instant Pot, it’s a Power Cooker XL. Instant Pot is the Kleenex of the facial tissue world. People use the brand name and product name interchangeably. What can ya do?

Lately, I’ve been making an attempt to use my electric pressure cooker more. It’s handy, so I might as well take advantage of its speed & versatility. Recently, I’ve seen a lot of fruit “butter” recipes on the internet. Many of them are crockpot recipes. Well, these led me to wonder if I could do the same thing with my pressure cooker. Turns out I can! I decided to put my own seasonal spin on the fruit butter trend by making this Cranberry Butter. It came out perfect on the very first try; I kid you not! It’s tart but sweet with warm spices. I think my eyes rolled back in my head the first time I tasted it on a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese If you like cranberry, you’ll love this. ~Erin

cranberrybutter

Ingredients:

  • 1 (12 oz.) bag fresh cranberries, washed
  • 1 c. water
  • 1 lemon or small orange, washed & cut in half
  • ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 T. cornstarch
  • ½ c. sugar (or sweetener of choice)*

Instant Pot Instructions:

  1. Place the cranberries, sugar, water, lemon (cut side up), cinnamon, and cloves in the electric pressure cooker.
  2. Pressure cook for 30 minutes; quick-release pressure.
  3. Remove the lid and allow to cool slightly.
  4. Remove & discard the lemon.
  5. Blend the cranberries with an immersion blender until smooth.
  6. Add cornstarch and continue to blend until well combined.
  7. Simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes, until thickened.  
  8. Cool and serve on toast or bagels with cream cheese, in oatmeal, etc.  Keep Refrigerated.

Stove-top Instructions:

  1. In a medium stockpot, stir together the cranberries, water, sugar, spices and juice from half a lemon (instead of the whole lemon as in the Instant Pot instructions).
  2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered.
  3. Remove from the heat and blend with an immersion blender.
  4. Add the cornstarch and blend again until smooth.
  5. Return to the heat and simmer over low heat, continuously stirring, 3 – 4 minutes until mixture is thickened.
  6. Cool and serve on toast or bagels with cream cheese, in oatmeal, etc.  Keep Refrigerated.

WW Freestyle Info.: This makes about 1 1/2 cups of cranberry butter. With regular sugar, 1 Tablespoon is 1 point. With a zero point sweetener, this could easily be zero points per serving.*

*I have not tested this recipe with a sugar substitute so I suggest adding it gradually, after blending in cornstarch, and taste-testing for desired sweetness.

Need an immersion blender? Check out our Four Sisters Favorite Things post for a recommendation. Plus enter to win one of our favorite kitchen gadgets!  This can also be blended in a regular blender but you have to cool the mixture almost completely to room temp before blended.  Never blend hot liquids in a regular blender!

Christmas Cranberry Cobbler

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My sisters and I have a love for all things cranberry. I even love the cranberry ‘sauce’ that you must carefully remove from its can so that it retains that perfect can shape. With the holiday season about to be in full swing, I’m already planning which family get-together (or rare weekend at home) can be an excuse to make one of my favorites. This Christmas Cranberry Cobbler is the perfect combination of tart cranberries and a sweet cobbler topping. It’s great by itself or topped with a couple of scoops of your favorite vanilla ice cream. I’ve even been known to eat it for breakfast….cranberries are fruit, after all. ~Tracy

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Ingredients:
  • 2 12 oz. bags of fresh cranberries
  • ½ c. + 2 T. granulated sugar
  • ½ c. packed brown sugar
  • zest from 2 med. oranges
  • juice from 2 med. Oranges
  • 2 tsp. Corn starch

Ingredients for topping:

  • 1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ c. brown sugar
  • ⅓ c. granulated sugar
  • ½ tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 ½ tsp. Baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 stick butter
  • ⅓ c. boiling water

Ingredients for sprinkle on top:

  • ¼ tsp. Cinnamon
  • 1 T. granulated sugar

Instructions: 

  1. Rinse cranberries and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
  2. Add orange zest and juice to cranberries. Stir in sugar, brown sugar, and cornstarch and combine the entire mixture. Set cranberries aside.
  3. In a separate medium mixing bowl for topping, combine flour, cinnamon, both sugars, salt, and baking soda.
  4. Chop the butter into small pieces and use a pastry cutter to combine it with the flour mixture until all is crumbly.
  5. Add boiling water and mix with the flour mixture until forms a thick doughish batter.
  6. Spoon the cranberries in a 9×13 casserole dish that you have sprayed with cooking spray. Be sure to transfer all of the juices.
  7. Dollop spoonsful of the batter over the top of the cranberries covering the top.
  8. Combine the ¼ tsp. of cinnamon and the tablespoon of sugar and sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter.
  9. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for approximately 40 minutes.
  10. Allow to stand and thicken for approx. 15 minutes before serving.

Cranberry Salsa

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Our cranberry salsa is just the tart treat you’ve been craving as the holidays approach. But beware, if you set it out as an appetizer, it’s usually all gone before the meal.  Consider a double batch if you have a crowd. And it pairs perfectly next to some turkey and stuffing (I eat it by itself with a spoon that way).

I snagged this recipe from a former colleague who already knew the recipe was such a hit that she brought copies of the recipe with her (she’d taken it to other events and had so many requests she learned her lesson & knew to come prepared)! And it was that fantastic and more.  So if you stumble across this sometime, Julie T., a huge thanks from my family (and I mean my entire massive God-bless-us-every-one extended family as seen in our brownie post) to yours.

I’ve tweaked it a titch to make it just right for us, so I hope you’ll share it with those you love as well – and save the paper by telling them to visit Four Sisters Dish of course. Do it for the rainforest and for the Moore sisters! ~Robin

CranberrySalsa

Ingredients:

  • 1 16 oz. bag of cranberries
  • ¼ c. cilantro
  • 2 – 3 T. of fresh lime juice (one lime or a little more)
  • 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
  • ¾ c. sugar
  • Tortilla or pita chips for dipping
  • Cream cheese (optional)

Directions:  

Place cranberries and cilantro in a food processor; pulse until cranberries are to the desired chopped size.  You want small chunks but not to liquefy them. You need some texture.

I then hand-mince my jalapeños because I don’t trust the processor not to pulverize them a bit too much.

Fold in jalapeños and sugar until well combined.  Serve over cream cheese if desired (I love it by itself on a chip, but cream cheese just adds some richness).

WW Freestyle Info.: Makes ten ¼ cup servings at 4 points each.  Note:  If you use sugar substitutes (I don’t, so I can’t advise on amount needed; use to taste), this recipe could be ZERO points.