Fruit-Sweetened Cranberry Sauce (& Maple/Honey Version) (Refined Sugar Free, Vegan, GF, Natural)

The long-awaited and coveted Fruit-Sweetened Cranberry Sauce recipe is here!!! One that I've been working on the past 3 years to perfect, so I could finally post it on The Dimpled Date. It's finally arrived. This jammy cranberry sauce is thick, fruity, and smooth, infused with cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, and orange. It has a good mouthfeel, and it's a little tart but very sweet and well-balanced. And this one is sweetened ONLY with fruit... yet it's still amply sweet enough. This cranberry sauce is bound to be the star of your Holiday/Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner table, each spoonful bursting with flavor. And I also have an absolutely delicious cranberry sauce made with maple syrup/honey that I'm including in this recipe post (for those who prefer a more sugary, jelly-like, conventional cranberry sauce). But both are delicious! Make this easy, quick, homemade cranberry sauce, for an actually healthy alternative that's WAY better than canned. Happy Holidays!

Jump to Recipe

Ok so this Fruit-Sweetened Cranberry Sauce is delightful! It's super sweet, citrusy, warmly spiced, and just a liiiiittle tart. And it's thick and has substance. It's honestly a treat worthy of being a dessert, except it's actually healthy and good for you. (Really it's just pureed fresh fruit + spices + extracts + superfoods)

For those of you canned cranberry sauce purists, let me say this: once you try this homemade cranberry sauce, you will never go back. It is honestly so flavorful and fresh, and it doesn't have the gelatin-like texture that turns some people off. And you can actually taste the cranberries with each bite exploding with sweetness and balanced flavors.

This cranberry sauce touches on all the main flavors (except salty + umami... even though it does have a little salt + pepper): sweet, sour, tart/bitter/tangy, earthy, and pungent (which includes spices like cinnamon and ginger). *I know* technically "earthy" and "pungent" aren't recognized as flavors (pungent is technically a sensation, not a taste, and "earthy" isn't recognized as a flavor. But in my books it should be since it specifically is detectable through the presence of a natural, fresh, robust, soil-reminiscent flavor). And if we're being honest, I think that "smoky" should definitely be a flavor too, but it's not. I do highly respect and appreciate the newly recognized "sixth" flavor, ammonium chloride, though. This is the compound that gives a salty-licorice flavor present in such foods as Finnish tar candy and other Scandinavian confections. Although I'm no scientist, I've made activated charcoal-infused candies in the past, and I think a charcoal flavor type ought to be recognized too. But I digress, we're here to talk about cranberry sauce, not tar candy and smoky mesquite. Thanks for sticking around for my tangent lol.

Needless to say, my point is: this is a complex cranberry sauce with a satisfying balance of flavors. And the texture is jammy, smooth, and almost "creamy" too. What's more, is it has a gorgeous red/pink color that's all-natural (just from the cranberries). And this is an actually healthy cranberry sauce, no sugar, gelatin, or artificial colorants/flavors/preservatives in sight!

This side dish can be served warm or cold. And if you're looking for a cranberry sauce that's sweeter, more red + transparent/clear, and more jelly-like (like canned), try the maple-sweetened version of this recipe (see recipe below). In the photos, the darker red, clear cranberry sauce in the little green and white bowl is the maple-sweetened (above photo), whereas the thicker, pinker, more opaque cranberry sauce in the white dish is the fruit-sweetened (below photo). But both are really sweet, healthy, and good.

Ok, so so far for the holidays, I've mainly had side dish recipes like cornbread and cranberry sauce. As we move further into the holiday season, what other holiday recipes do you want to see on The Dimpled Date? Particularly, are there any new healthy dessert recipes you want to see me make? Drop your suggestion in the comments!

And if you tried this cranberry sauce and liked it, give this post a <3 and leave your feedback in the comments, if you'd like! :) I'd really appreciate hearing what you think!

Substitutions in this Fruit-Sweetened Cranberry Sauce

Cranberries

well, cranberries are kind of the point because this is cranberry sauce. However, if cranberries aren't your thing and you want to cut them with a little something else, try replacing some of the fresh cranberries with fresh raspberries, fresh strawberries, fresh wineberries, fresh cherries (pitted), fresh pomegranate arils (pomegranate seeds), or even fresh blackberries or blueberries for a purple-y mixed berry type sauce. Using any of these fruits along with some fresh cranberries will yield a sweeter, less tart sauce with more berry notes and a slightly different color, depending on the other type(s) of fruit used. You can also try using white (young) cranberries to make your sauce, understanding that they're a little harder to come by but less tart, more fruity, and sweeter.

Orange juice/apple cider

Either orange juice or apple cider (or both) work beautifully in this cranberry sauce, but you can use other juices, filtered water, and other liquids to cut or fully replace the orange juice/cider. Some ideas: fresh pomegranate juice, cranberry juice (no sugar added), grape juice, apple juice, passion fruit juice, pear juice, lime juice or lemon juice (only use a little), hibiscus tea, raspberry tea, rosehip tea, cranberry kombucha, coconut water, and/or filtered water

Date paste

I have an alternate recipe made with maple syrup/honey below, but if you want to substitute the date paste for the fruit-sweetened recipe instead, you can try using unsweetened apple butter (or applesauce) instead. Or possibly, pureed ripe banana could help cut some of the tartness of the cranberries. Alternatively, add additional date sugar, or try to just rely on the orange juice/apple cider to sweeten this cranberry sauce alone. You can also try pure monk fruit extract or stevia for a lower-sugar option

Date sugar

Again, there's a maple-sweetened/honey version of this recipe, but you can substitute additional date paste for the date sugar. Or, try banana powder, apple powder, maple sugar, or coconut sugar instead of the date sugar. You can also try pure monk fruit extract or stevia for a lower-sugar option

Spices/herbs (cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, etc.)

You don't have to use the spices, but they're highly recommended to balance/round out the flavor and add a fall flair. Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger (fresh or ground), black pepper, and sea salt all work wonderfully, but cardamom, allspice, anise, ground star anise, rosemary, ground mace, saffron, oregano, and basil would all be great too

Vanilla

the vanilla is optional, but you can use vanilla extract, scraped vanilla bean, vanilla powder, or vanilla bean paste. Alternately, try orange extract, coconut extract, or raspberry extract for different flavor infusions.

Orange zest/lemon zest

again, this is also optional. But you can try lime zest, grapefruit zest, Buddha's hands zest, bergamot orange zest, or citron zest instead. Alternatively, try a splash of juice from any of these citrus fruits.

Orange blossom water/rose water

these extracts/essences are of course optional. But you could try elderflower syrup, hibiscus essence, bee balm essence, lemon balm essence, violet syrup/extract, lilac syrup, or a little lavender extract for some interesting gourmet floral flavors. I only recommend adding these extracts/essences if you like floral flavors, or at least you're open to flowery flavors

Pomegranate arils/add-ins

these of course are optional as well, but you can add small fruity add-ins, like pomegranate seeds, lingonberries, or even small whole cranberries to your cranberry sauce for some added crunch/texture/tartness/fruity bursts if you'd like. You can also add other things into your cranberry sauce for texture/variation purposes, such as chopped dates or chia seeds (but please, if you're using chia seeds, add them at the end (off the heat) before serving. This cranberry sauce is already thick enough and adding too many chia seeds will make it even thicker + make it gelatinize further/absorb more liquid). Add any other desired add-ins, if you want a chunky/crunchy/funky texture!

Maple syrup (For the maple-sweetened cranberry sauce)

Use honey, agave nectar, coconut nectar, date syrup, or yacón syrup instead of the maple syrup.

Future Recipes Sneak Peek... Back Again!!

This feature that previews 3+ new recipes coming to The Dimpled Date soon is back again! 7 new recipes that are perfected or are in the works and that are coming to the DD soon are:

1. Vegan/GF Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese egg custard tarts)

2. Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

3. Cranberry Pomegranate "Ging-let" Cocktail/Mocktail

4. Fruit-Sweetened Banana Bread (Vegan + GF)

5. New and Improved "Sugar Cookies"

6. Healthy Gingerbread

7. "The Colbie" Dalgona Latte ...

   
   

   ... AND MORE! Stay tuned for these delicious recipes!

   
   

   Thanks for checking out this healthy cranberry sauce recipe, hope you all love it! Happy Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving & Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas! More holiday recipes coming soon!

   
   

   See you all in the next post and at the next market/pop-up!

   
   

   Enjoy! <3

   -K.