Low Sugar Gingerbread Cranberry Sauce

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.

5.0 from 2 reviews

Low Sugar Gingerbread Cranberry Sauce

 

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Author: QUEEN OF MY KITCHEN

Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 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

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a high-powered blender or food processor and blend/process until smooth.

Notes

CANNED/JELLIED OPTION
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.

3.5.3251

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