Joy the Baker

Cranberry Sauce and a Thanksgiving Explosion

by 119 Comments

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Beauty!  Look at these cranberry gems!  I’m turning them into cranberry sauce.

Super easy.  Are you doing this too?

You’ll probably be cranking food out of your kitchen all weekend.  Need a few more ideas?  I’ve got everything!  Everything but the turkey, stuffing, and cornbread… Yea, I know.  But I have everything else!

thanksgiving

1-  Pumpkin Pie Pancakes.  Super flavor for for breakfast.

2- Honey Roasted Acorn Squash.  So easy and it makes me feel fancy.

3-  Spiced Apple Cake.  I love this creature.

4-  Prosciutto Dijon Gruyere Puffs.  How about an appetizer?  I love the mustard in these.

5-  Roasted Pumpkin and Leek Soup.  That’s yummy.  Fact.

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Let’s finish this cranberry sauce.

There’s absolutely no reason you should by the canned stuff. It slinks out of the can and has weird ridges.  It’s also waaaay too sweet.

I think you should boil cranberries with orange juice and zest… then add just a tiny touch of vanilla beans.

Cranberry sauce dream… I’m tellin ya.

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Cranberry Sauce

makes about 4 cups

Print this Recipe!

2 12-ounce bags fresh cranberries

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

1 cup water

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1 teaspoon orange zest

scrapings from one quarter of a vanilla bean (optional if you don’t want to shell out the cash for a vanilla bean)

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the water, juice granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt.  Stir until sugars have dissolved.  Add the two bags of cranberries and stir until cranberries begin to pop.  Cook cranberries, stirring occasionally for about 10 to 12 minutes.  Sauce will thicken as cranberries cook down.  Once thick, remove from heat and add orange zest and vanilla bean.  Stir to incorporate.  Cool to room temperature then store in the fridge until ready to eat.  Lasts for up to three days in the fridge.  Delicious.

thanksgiving

6-  Maple Pecan Muffins.  Topped with pure maple syrup and baked to perfection.

7-  Dad’s Perfect Sweet Potato Pie with No-Roll Pie Crust.  Yes.  I’m totally obsessed with this pie.

8-  Cornmeal Cranberry Honey Bread.  Sweet and crunchy.  Like.

9-  Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread.  So moist you’ll never know it’s vegan.  Promise.

10-  Apple Pie Granita.  Like pie…. but totally not!

11-  Buttermilk Pie with Warm Blackberry Sauce.  Ooooh man.

thanksgiving

12-  Apple Crisp.  My key to one day tricking a man into marrying me.

13-  All Purpose Holiday Bundt Cake.  Bring a bib.

14-  Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Frosting.  Cupcakes for the holidays?  I say ok!

15-  Pear Walnut Bundt Cake.  The praline alone is reason enough to make this happen.

16-  Homemade Apple Pie.  It’s worth the time.  It really is.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rachelle

    I just wanted to let you know that I made this cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving this year (first time I’ve ever made ANY cranberry sauce) and added a dash of cinnamon / cloves since I didn’t have vanilla. I have NEVER had that many people request a recipe or compliment me on a dish…EVER. And I bake a lot so thats saying something. Just though you might want to know it was a hit :) And thanks for making me look good!

    Reply

  3. Julie N.

    i just used this recipe, but with only a 12oz. bag of cranberries. I love it! It’s so tasty, and I can’t wait to use it as spread in my thanksgiving sandwiches =D

    Reply

  5. Bonnie

    I too, am a homemade cramberry sauce lover. I’m 55 years old and was a teenager before I found out that cranberry sauce even came in a can! I never knew anything BUT homemade cranberries for thanksgiving, ever. We always made the 2 recipies that came on the back of the bag, The cooked kind with just cranberries sugar and water, and the cranberry orange relish. Thats the stuff you have to make a few days ahead of time, so the flavors meld. Raw cranberries, oranges (with the peel) all run through my grandmothers meat grinder, mixed with sugar and let set in the frig… and yes, leftover cranberries go with EVERYTHING! Have a wonderful Christmas!

    Reply

  6. Tammy

    Joy, This year I made and ate my first sweet potato pie. I have loved your posts and when you explained how life altering this pie is for you, how it inspired your wonderful relationship to good food and sharing that relationship with people…well, I HAD to try it. AND, I’ve spent my entire life avoiding sweet potatoes and candied yams because try as I might, I just don’t care for them. This year my sister and I were making Thanksgiving dinner for our families at my dad’s house. I forwarded the recipe to my sister so we’d be prepared and in agreement (I have always had to tout the virtues of real pie crust, rather than that yucky store bought ‘stuff’ that is rolled and folded that they have consistently used). I was hoping that your Dad’s Easy No-roll Pie Crust would make her a convert FINALLY. Well, the recipe was going along very well, I steamed the sweet potatoes and the skins were fantastically easy to remove. I got a little imprecise when I couldn’t find a 5 oz. can of evaporated milk or a liquid measuring cup anywhere amongst a life-time collection of kitchen gadgets and gizmos. I also had to improvise when I couldn’t find any coriander in the huge collection of spices. I thought I’d find it for sure, I would just question whether or not it was old enough for camera time on the antique roadshow. As I said, I improvised. I used approximately 3/4 teaspoon of cardamom in place of the 1 1/4 teaspoon of coriander. I did find whole nutmeg and that was surprising and delightful (I haven’t been much of a fan of nutmeg before either, but freshly ground made a world of difference). Well the pie was simply wonderful. The crust was so fabulously flaky and had a nutty crunch that was like the world’s most exquisite shortbread. My sister is a convert!!! The pie filling was so creamy and crazy good. I am now obsessed with your Dad’s Perfect Sweet Potato Pie too. I think I’ll make it sometime soon following your recipe but for sure I love the improvised pie too. Cardamom? Who knew? Thanks again! You’re a treasure!!

    Reply

  10. Jess

    Joy!!!
    I made the cranberry sauce for our Thanksgivin:g Round 2.
    It was a great success!

    ALSO…a new adition to our table this thanksgiving was buttermilk Pie. Also delicious. In fact it was delicious for dessert and breakfast…

    Reply

  14. bodavian

    I made this for part of our Thanksgiving dinner tonight! With a minor change: halving the sugar (I love tart cranberry sauce, mmmm). It was sooo good! Except I feel like a lot of people weren’t so fond as I of the tartness. Ah well. Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!

    Reply

  15. Anne

    Cranberry sauce! I try to do this every year and I’m always happy that I did. It’s super easy and always much more delicious than the canned stuff (even though, I will admit, I love eating it). =P
    In my recipe (actually Williams-Sonoma), I did something similar, adding orange and it totally compliments the cranberries in all the right ways. Sooooo delicious.

    But I’m curious about the brown sugar though since I use white, does it give a really different flavor to the sauce? More molasses-y?

    Reply

  16. Stelena

    Thank you, Joy, for your cranberry sauce recipe! We just hosted our first Thanksgiving with our baby girl and it was a huge hit. It went well with our orange-glazed yams. I had bits of leftover puff pastry from cheesy twists so we used it as filling for little puffs. It made a nice impromptu dessert. To be honest, your blog has inspired me to cook more from scratch and to enjoy the process. This is coming from someone who started learning to cook only this last year. I’ve come a long way from burning hard-boiled eggs… (yes, it can be done, and yes, they do explode). My loving husband is a great chef–at least now he can say he doesn’t cook out of self-defense.

    Reply

  22. Ana Rita

    Joy,

    I just did the “Honey Cranberry Cormeal Bread” and it is wonderfull.
    Check out my blog (http://bembons.blogspot.com) in Bolo de Mel e Cranberries.
    I didn’t make in a loaf pan because i was afraid it was to much batter for that pan, so i used a cake one.
    I hate 2 slices in a row… serious!!

    You kill me with your cakes…

    Kisses,

    Rita

    Reply

  25. Scarletta @ Scarletta Bakes

    Wow. That really was a Thanksgiving Explosion – in all the right ways.

    I think that I will force myself to have to pick one, or two, or else I will be in the kitchen literally for the next 6.72 days trying desperately to replicate all of the goodness that you posted above.

    Thanks so much for the uber-inspiring ideas.

    Happy Thanksgiving!!

    Reply

  27. Kristina

    Hi, Joy! Your dad’s sweet potato pie is in the oven with 7 minutes to go. It smells so good! I am positive my whole family will enjoy it tomorrow. I swapped the crust for the ginger snap crust that went with your pumpkin cream pie…it sounded so amazing! I couldn’t resist! Thank you for sharing all of your lovely recipes!

    Reply

  28. Kylie @ A Hungry Spoon

    I love this post, Joy! The collections of pictures look so good together (when is your cookbook coming out…?!). If you can believe it, I’m making the cranberries for tomorrow’s feast as I type this, although I’m bound by tradition to use my mom’s recipe :)

    Happy Thanksgiving!

    Reply

  29. Cindy

    You are amazing, Joy. Thanks so much for all these great recipes – my Thanksgiving was more than a month ago, but these are good any day!

    Reply

  30. Emmy

    just put two loafs of the vegan pumpkin bread in the oven, and am currently eating the leftover batter off the spoon:) yummm

    Reply

  31. June g.

    Thanksgiving KABOOM! Homemade cranberry sauce is the best! There are those peeps that love that jellied stuff, with the ridges. Not me!

    Reply

  32. Amy W

    Ummmm…. we aren’t even having turkey for Thanksgiving. Or stuffing. Or cranberry sauce. We are having pancakes and sausage and eggs and waffles…. at noon. That’s my family’s Thanksgiving celebration.

    Reply

  33. Ivy

    I totally agree with you on the cranberry sauce! It’s so easy and once you start making it at home you will NEVER go back. I like to add a little nutmeg and cinnamon too.
    Have a lovely Thanksgiving!

    Reply

  35. beth

    did you forget to include a link to your very own post about parker house rolls? am i the only one that thinks thanksgiving/life is incomplete without them?

    love your blog, joy! happy thanksgiving!!

    Reply

  40. Elizabeth

    Thanks Joy! I’ve been looking for a good, simple cranberry sauce recipe. I’m also making a cranberry relish. If you ever listen to NPR around Thanksgiving, it’s impossible to miss the recipe for Mama Stamberg’s cranberry relish (which is also on the web). I tried it last year and LOVED it. It’s BRIGHT pink and definitely relishy rather than cranberry-ey. So… gotta do both to satisfy the traditionalists! But I suggest you try out the relish some time. It kills on a leftover turkey sandwich!

    Reply

  41. jen @ the baked life

    #12 – totally right. I made that for my husband for the first time when we first started dating. Totally sealed the deal. Locked and loaded apple crisp is the way to go.

    ps. hopefully no kitten shenanigans during turkey time.

    Reply

  42. Kati

    My family loves the cranberry sauce shaped-like-a-can! Mostly because it’s funny looking. But I’m making a Cranberry Pomegranite Sauce, too.

    Reply

  44. Colleen @ sweetswallows

    Homemade cranberry sauce is totally the way to go. My recipe uses maple syrup and cranberry juice- no orange juice. Though zest is involved. I’m thinking I might give this one a try too. Especially since I put cranberry sauce on EVERYTHING this time of year, I can really never have enough.

    Reply

  46. Erin O.

    I love that you made it from scratch-sometimes it’s just so much easier to crank out a can opener and use the simple stuff. But it’s sooo not as tasty.

    I just did a post on your pumpkin butterscotch cookies over on my blog, you should check them out!

    Reply

  47. Elle

    Dear Joy, Thanks so much for the honey acorn squash recipe! I don’t like really sweet things (or chocolate) so I usually spend the dessert portion of Thanksgiving eating mashed potatoes but now I can munch away on acorn squash.

    Reply

  48. Nohemi

    OH MY!!! Ive decided on 3 of these for Thanksgiving. Apple Crisp, Cornmeal Cranberry Honey Bread, and of course my first attempt at Cranberry Sauce… I can’t wait for the results. it may be because Im still a tad hungry, but i wish I could snap into the future and be enjoying all these already!
    Thanks for taking the time to post this delicious everything but turkey meal (leave us to figure that one out on our own huh)

    :)

    Reply

  50. Dawn

    I made your Dad’s Sweet Potato Pie a couple of weeks ago for a family dinner and it was a HIT! Guess how I’ll be spending my Thanksgiving morning! Thanks Joy!

    Reply

  51. Anne

    I go to university in Ontario Canada (though I’m from NY) and this year I somehow end up missing BOTH Thanksgivings!!! For obvious reasons, I’m not pleased. Just decided that I’m going to sneak away from school work for a bit this weekend and whip up a few of the easier treats though!! Slathering cranberry sauce all over anything/everything else is brilliant, no?

    Reply

  54. kitchngodess

    i’ve got organic cranberries at $8.99/lb…i’ve got canned sour cherries….i’m thinkin’ amaretto; crystallized ginger; sugar and chopped toasted almonds

    Reply

  56. Johanna

    Joy,
    Nice post. Your cranberries are beautiful. Also I want to tell you that your pie crust expertise from the Bake Out Berry Pie episode totally saved by pie crust today. I was using a recipe for a crust made in the food processor that didn’t mention that you needed the “professional” size processor to make it work. Needless to say, things got a little crowded in there. Luckily, I had a flash to your video of putting it all together on the counter, so that’s what I did. It all worked out. So thanks! I will post some beautiful pics to my blog once the pie is complete.
    Happy Thanksgiving.
    -Johanna

    Reply

  57. Monica

    Is it really awful that I really like the jellied kind and don’t like the kind with the cranberry lumps? I have a feeling that while this would be yummy that I would still want my jellied kind :( lol

    Reply

  58. Patty McC

    I won a blue ribbon at the fair with cranberry sauce I made and canned that is almost exactly like your recipe. Use it on pancakes, on a turkey sandwich, layer in coffee cake batter before baking, pour on top a pork roast and slow cook in a crock pot. So many uses and so very yummy.

    Reply

  59. Rebekah

    Wow I can’t wait to try that butter milk pie. I’ve made the sweet potato pie. It is awesomeness.

    We’ve had canned cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember. I wonder what my family would do to me if I made some myself…

    Reply

  60. Ali

    I want to make all of these recipes. They sound so great. I will make the cranberry sauce. I made some last night, but it didn’t have any water in it. It is really thick. It’s good, but I think yours will be more up my alley. Thanks for all the ideas!

    Reply

  66. nancy k.

    Just when I decided I needed a no roll pie crust recipe, Joy the Baker comes through for me!
    Thanks Joy and Happy Thanksgiving!

    Reply

  69. Amy T

    EXCUSE ME, could I have one of everything, please? Your goodies are soooo tempting. I am off to bake my pies for tomorrow, I like to get a head start. Have a great Thanksgiving!

    Reply

  70. Robbie

    Mmm, lots of delicious recipes…my printer is going to be busy this morning!
    Thanks, Joy! Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving!

    Reply

  74. Rebekah Randolph

    Canned cranberry sauce has never even been a part of my universe. It was always homemade or nothing. My recipe is pretty similar to yours, except I use all orange juice, only add 2/3 cup sugar, and dump in a bunch of walnuts or pecans. Oh, and some ginger. Ginger’s good.

    Reply

  77. Silvia

    This is really an explosion, I’d like to taste everything but then I guess I would not survive… Pity one cannot find cranberries in Italy, apart from the dried ones.

    Reply

  78. tj

    …You dear girl are the cat’s meow! Thank you for posting all these wonderful photos and the links to the recipes too! I am already trying to decide which one to make. Or two. Or what the hell, three! *giggle*snort* ;o)

    …Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

    …Many blessings too… :o)

    Reply

  79. Lauren

    I want a taste of everything pictured in this post! I’m with you on the cranberry sauce – that gelatinous glop in the can is barely edible… but the homemade version is beautiful and delicious!

    Happy Thanksgiving, Joy :)

    Reply

  86. Jenny

    I admit it too. I love the canned cranberry stuff that’s permanently etched with the can ridges on the side. Mostly just for the nostalgia. I made my own cranberry sauce a few days ago with pear cinnamon cider (thank you Trader Joe’s), maple syrup, and brown sugar (and cranberries, duh). And towards the end I added some dried cranberries too. It’s amazing, especially on pancakes. Like your Single Lady Pancake recipe which is my go-to recipe now because I am in fact a single lady and enjoy a lovely pancake for dinner on occasion. At least I hope that’s your recipe because that’s how it’s written on my scrap of paper on the fridge.

    Reply

  88. Kocinera

    What a lovely Thanksgiving-y feast! Even though I’m rather partial to the canned cranberry sauce (the ridges are guidelines for where to cut it!!!!), I promise to try making my own at least once in my life. Then I’ll probably be converted and never look back. :D

    Reply

  89. amelia

    Hi Joy- totally loving the website design, and today’s post was great. Those glorious cranberries! I actually will be the first, and only probably, to admit I secretly look forward to the canned cranberry each Thanksgiving at my parents house- no frills, able to be sliced, and not overly sweet…even works on a leftover turkey sandwich perfectly! Besides the fact that I enjoy this product, I know my Mom lives in the kitchen all week creating the deliciousness we all look forward to every year at this time, so I could never lecture her about one item that is canned reaching the dinner table! However, that does not mean my mouth isn’t watering over the picture posted above of the cranberries in the pot! Homemade anything is always no-fail! You are inspiring!

    Reply

  90. Lisette

    I made cranberry sauce tonight too!! Mine has white wine, sugar, crystalized ginger (just a touch), golden raisins and lemon zest!! I love it and yes it is sooo much better than the canned stuff!

    Reply

  92. The MuffinTin Post

    Hi Joy! I’m celebrating Thanksgiving out of the country again so it’s impossible to find fresh cranberries. But – I’m making baked grapefruit for breakfast right now, and I’m buying ingredients for your pumpkin pie bars. Happy Thanksgiving, and have a lovely day!

    Reply

  93. Nadia

    This makes me so happy! Canadian Thanksgiving was over it seems FOREVER ago and I’m in withdrawl already! I may freak out my hubby and throw some of these together this weekend – don’t know why I hadn’t thought about this sooner… two Thanksgivings!!

    Reply

    • marissa

      when i was a kid my mum always went to the states for black friday shopping so my dad always made a second thanksgiving while she was away. two thanksgivings = double win.

      Reply

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