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Christmas is in a WEEK! Still doing some last minute shopping? How about something festive and homemade instead? If so, I got you covered. Say hello to these holiday boozy cranberry sauce gift jars!
SO easy, and simple, these little gift jars are pretty much just a batch of fresh cranberry sauce with your favorite spirit, chilled over 12 hours. They're a delicious way to jazz up a glass of Christmas champagne, use up leftover cranberries, and as treats for your family.
I made a batch of these over Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit. I like to use different spirits to make different infusions so that you can make whatever kind of flavor profile you want!
My personal favorites are whiskey and gin cranberry sauce jars. Add just a bit of the gin infusion to some champagne and you've got yourself a cranberry French 75 cocktail.
Check out the recipe and how-to for these festive holiday boozy cranberry sauce gift jars below!
Boozy Cranberry Sauce Gift Jars
- Total Time: 12 hours
- Yield: Four 16 ounce Ball Jars 1x
Description
Pick your favorite boozy distilled spirit and share a little holiday joy with your own homemade infused cranberry sauce. A spoonful is a great addition to a glass of Christmas champagne!
Ingredients
For the Cranberry Sauce
- 1 (12 ounce) bag fresh cranberries
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- Zest of 1 orange
- ½ teaspoon orange extract*
For the Gift Jars
- Ball Jars (I like to use 16 ounce ball jars)
- Your favorite distilled spirit(s) - My go to's are whiskey and gin!
- Homemade cranberry sauce
- Gift tags and ribbon for "wrapping"
Instructions
Make the Cranberry Sauce
- In a small sauce pan, bring cranberries, sugar and water to a boil. Add orange zest, orange extract and cinnamon sticks.*
- Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, until cranberries have burst, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat. Discard the cinnamon sticks, and cool the sauce completely.
Make Gift Jars
- Add 1 part cranberry sauce to 1.5 parts of your favorite distilled spirit in a ball jar. For example, add ½ cup of cranberry sauce to ¾ cup gin in a 16 ounce ball jar. Stir and then secure ball jar lid tightly.
- "Wrap" with a ribbon and a gift tag stating what kind of spirit infusion is in the jar. Refrigerate for about 12 hours to fully infuse. Keep refrigerated until to ready to use in your holiday cocktail or give as a gift!
Notes
If you don't have orange extract, use a splash of the juice from the zested orange to add more flavor.
If you want to use a different size ball jar, the ratio is 1 part cranberry sauce to 1.5 parts distilled spirit.
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
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