Sugared cranberries are as fun to make as they are to eat! I top my Festive Fiori di Sicilia Cake, Cranberry Cupcakes, and Cranberry Belgian Waffles with these beauties. They’re also gorgeous threaded on toothpicks as a drink garnish or just set out in a bowl for snacking.

You’ll want to make the simple syrup to soak the cranberries in the night before you want to make these so they’re nice and sticky. Don’t skip the sieve step here. If you pick a cranberry out of the syrup and put it straight in the sugar, you’ll get a gloopy mess. Lift some out with a slotted spoon or sieve to let them drain for a moment and then roll them in sugar.

1. Bring 1 cup of sugar and water to a simmer in a saucepan. Gently simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved.
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
3. When simple syrup is cool, pour over cranberries and stir to coat.
4. Refrigerate cranberries in syrup overnight.
5. Remove cranberries from syrup with a sieve or slotted spoon (reserve the cranberry-flavor simple syrup for cocktails!) and roll in remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. You may need to roll them a few times to totally coat.
6. Set cranberries on a paper towel to dry for an hour or so.