Sugar Free Cranberries
 

Does anyone know of a brand for sf dried cranberries? I have looked in every store and they all have sugar or fruit juice added. The Ocean Spray low sugar cranberries have a lot of fiber, but they still use sugar and they aren't low enough in carbs to me.

That's difficult due to raw harvested cranberries being one of the most tart and bitter berries. I don't recall seeing anything on the market without added sugar unless you can get the raw berries. Someone may have a source.

I am OK with artificial sweeteners. I just want the carb count to be reasonable.

Good luck! I've looked for them on and off for years and never found any.

EDIT: This made me curious so I checked on amazon and found this:
https://www.amazon.com/Honestly-Cra...s%2C188&sr=8-10

Pretty darn expensive though for a small bag!

Yes, they are expensive! I can't believe no one has made a stevia or sugar alcohol sweetened version yet.

We invested in a food drier--- about $50. DH bought it so not sure if that includes shipping.

We use it enough to make it worth buying. Dries herbs, makes jerked meats, and dries fruit. Made dried peaches last year.

Helped to keep us more keto and less sugar and less additives. My son loves jerked meat but the sugar and additives gives me the willies.

Perhaps making your own dried cranberries is worth the purchase of a drier. ( I keep frozen cranberries in freezer all year long-- kids use them in cranberry slushies, no added sugar, as a summer drink.)

Just a suggestion....

You can never find fresh cranberries in the stores except around Thanksgiving/Christmas time, but I do usually buy a few bags then and pop them in the freezer as well, except my freezer really doesn't hold as much as I would like.

Cranberries turn into rock-hard pellets when simply dehydrated from raw. If you want a chewy raisin-like result, they must first be cooked in sugar syrup .. or a sugar-alcohol based syrup .. plus other additives to retain a softer chewable texture when dehydrated. Stevia or splenda won't work, at least not when used alone. (Be aware that some so-called "sugar free" dried cranberries out there are actually sweetened with concentrated fruit juice syrup .. very high in carbs!)

A few clever low-carb bloggers have done a lot of experimenting and come up with recipes for home-made lowcarb dried cranberries with decent results that are way less expensive than commercial ones.


https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/dried-cranberries/ .. This recipe calls for first cutting raw cranberries in half, then mixing with powdered erythritol (Swerve) and a little oil before dehydrating in the oven. Instructions for using a dehydrator in the comments.



https://lowcarbyum.com/sugar-free-dried-cranberries/ .. In this recipe, whole cranberries are first cooked in a small amount of water plus powdered sweetener or stevia .. then dehydrated. No oil is used. The author suggests only partially dehydrating if you want chewy raisin texture, otherwise fully dehydrate until hard and crisp (need to be rehydrated before use). More tips in the comments.


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Sigh... I have 3 chest freezers for a reason...

Fresh cranberries are only available in the fall, just after harvest. A small window of time to purchase. They do keep rather well in freezer, for years.

I've found them frozen, and a bit on low power in the microwave you get the zing without the sugar.