I received free samples of SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Blend mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by SPLENDA® Sweeteners and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.
I know it’s a little early to starting thinking about the holidays, but several years ago I developed a habit that has served me well. I start a list right after Labor Day with gift ideas for everyone in my family, and jot down some possible menu options for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I usually don’t do any shopping until after Halloween, but making a list and some notes way ahead of time helps keep me organized so that when that panicky – oh no, the holidays are right around the corner – feeling strikes, I’m a little less stressed out. This year I got a head start thanks to the SPLENDA® Sweeteners Recipe Redux Sponsored Contest. I was initially stumped at what to make for this contest, but as luck would have it, one day I opened my spare freezer and there, staring me right in the face, were two bags of fresh/frozen cranberries with a “best by” date of December 2017. This was my cue to do a healthy remake of traditional cranberry sauce. This Low Sugar Gingerbread Cranberry Sauce is not only yummy, with substantially less sugar than store-bought cranberry sauce, but is hands-down the easiest cranberry sauce you’ll ever make. I plan to give it away as a gift to all those miscellaneous, but important people in my life that I like to thank or acknowledge during the holidays.
If you’re looking for an easy and tasty way to cut down on sugar and calories in the coming months, consider using SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Blend in your holiday cooking and baking. You can use SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Blend anywhere you would use regular sugar but because ½ teaspoon gives you the same amount of sweetness as a full teaspoon of sugar, you only need to use half as much in your recipes. Traditional cranberry sauce recipes typically call for 1 cup or more of sugar, but Low Sugar Gingerbread Cranberry Sauce needs only ½ cup of SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Blend to produce a deliciously sweet sauce with no bitter aftertaste. Here are a few other sweet facts about SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Blend: it’s made from only 2 non-GMO ingredients (stevia & cane sugar), contains no artificial ingredients or added flavors, and gets its unique sweetness from Reb D, one of the tastiest part of the stevia leaf.
One of the best things about this recipe for Low Sugar Gingerbread Cranberry Sauce is that it requires no cooking! Just throw all the ingredients into a high-powered blender or food processor and whir it up until the sauce is smooth and velvety. (I used a Vitamix blender but a powerful food processor such as this one would work just as well.) The combination of spices gives this sauce a festive gingerbread taste without overpowering the classic cranberry flavor. Don’t limit Low Sugar Gingerbread Cranberry Sauce to turkey. Use it as a dessert sauce on ice cream or cake, or as an ingredient in an appetizer. Baked brie smothered in Low Sugar Gingerbread Cranberry Sauce and served with crackers or crostini would make an awesome holiday party appetizer.
If you have a strong preference for jellied cranberry sauce, I’ve provided instructions on how you can make a jellied version of Low Sugar Gingerbread Cranberry Sauce. You can see from the picture above that it looks pretty much like the store-bought canned stuff. Whatever kind of cranberry sauce suits your fancy, just be sure to make your own. Homemade cranberry sauce is so much healthier than most of what you can buy at the grocery store and now that you have an easy and healthy recipe there’s no excuse! The most popular brand of store-bought cranberry sauce has 110 calories and about 24 grams of sugar per 1/4 cup serving. It’s also sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, a highly refined, unhealthy sweetener. Low Sugar Gingerbread Cranberry Sauce by contrast, has only 76 calories and just 14 grams of sugar per 1/4 cup serving. And it’s sweetened naturally thanks to SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Blend.
- 12-ounce package of fresh cranberries
- ½ cup SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Blend
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- Combine all ingredients in a high-powered blender or food processor and blend/process until smooth.
1. Follow the recipe as above and transfer the sauce to a mixing bowl.
2. In another small bowl, sprinkle one envelope (1 tablespoon) of unflavored
gelatine over 1 tablespoon of cold water and wait 5 minutes.
3. Pour ¼ cup boiling water on top and stir until the gelatine is dissolved.
4. Thoroughly combine the gelatine mixture with the sauce and pour it into a 12
ounce, straight sided mason jar. Cover with a lid and refrigerate several hours
or overnight.
5. To remove, loosen the jellied cranberry by running a knife around the
inside of the jar, then dip it in hot (not boiling) water for 5 seconds. Ease it out
of the jar, with the aid of a knife, onto a serving platter.

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OK this is beyond impressive – I can’t even handle the Halloween stuff in the story let alone think about holiday gifts – but glad someone is thinking for me = hehe!
Ha ha! I knew I’d get some reactions mentioning holiday so early.
This sounds like such a delicious sauce and love that it’s lower sugar!
You won’t miss the extra sugar at all!
What a great lower sugar alternative to traditional cranberry sauce! I love that there is a jellied option for fans of the much higher sugar canned cranberry sauce! Bring on the holidays!!!
Thanks Meredith. Cranberry sauce is a must-have during the holidays!
I love making my own cranberry sauce!! Love the adorable labels and packaging you did with this 🙂
Thanks! Everyone thinks about cranberry sauce for Thanksgivng but it’s great for Christmas too.
Hi, it’s me Deborah/Vegan Vigilante from FBP. I wanted to let you know, I’m going to be making this recipe and printing out labels for Christmas presents this year. My sister is diabetic and I always usually make something that she can’t eat. I think she will love this so thanks for sharing it for my roundup.
You’re very welcome Deborah! Hope everyone likes it, especially your sister! And thanks for including me the the roundup. Happy Holidays!
I just found your recipe for Low Sugar Gingerbread Cranberry Sauce. I will be making this for Thanksgiving this year, we all love cranberry sauce but half of my family is diabetic so it makes difficult making good recipes keeping them in mind. I have adjusted several recipes over time, but it’s a trial & error process doing so & my husband isn’t too happy having to eat the trials that aren’t too good. Btw he is one of the diabetics. He doesn’t mind eating the ones that turn out well though.Can’t wait to give this a try!!! Thanks, Sandy