Bourbon-Ceylon Cranberry Sauce
Lynley Jones
(Updated Nov. 2022 to clarify ingredient options)
Step away from the can! A super-easy recipe with the flavors of bourbon and Ceylon cinnamon, mingled with cranberries.
Ingredients
Bourbon Cranberry Sauce made in the Adventure Kitchen.
1 pound fresh or frozen cranberries
2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon (or 1/4 teaspoon ground cassia cinnamon)
1/4 cup bourbon (see notes)
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the middle position. Choose a 2-quart baking dish with a lid. Combine the cranberries, sugar and cinnamon in the baking dish and mix thoroughly to combine. Put the lid on, and put the dish on a rimmed baking sheet (just in case).
2. Bake for 30 minutes, stir, and return to the oven to bake for 20 minutes more.
3. When finished, remove from the oven and quickly pour the bourbon over the cranberry sauce. It will bubble and simmer as it hits the hot sauce. Stir it in, then allow the cranberry sauce to cool to room temperature. May be kept in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks or more.
Adapted from Bourbon Cranberry Sauce on epicurious.com.
Notes:
When I originally published this recipe I called it "Best Cranberry Sauce” with the bourbon as an optional, but strongly recommended, ingredient. Because you can totally make this without the bourbon, and it will still be a simple, easy and tasty cranberry sauce. So if you really cannot include alcohol, then be my guest and skip it.
But otherwise - please don't skip the bourbon! Leave it in, as God intended. If you haven't yet encountered the delightful marriage of bourbon and Thanksgiving, you are in for a treat. It turns out these flavors are made for each other.
If you have Ceylon cinnamon, this is an excellent place to use it. It’s subtler, more floral than the cassia cinnamon we all grew up with here in the US. More of a team player with other strong flavors, less of a showboat demanding all the attention. If you don’t have it you can substitute cassia cinnamon, but use a little less as noted.
This cranberry sauce is my go-to every year. It's so good, I always make extra and then figure out more things to do with it. One of my favorite things to do with it after Thanksgiving is to slather it on good bread with turkey leftovers for a Cranberry-Bleu Turkey Sandwich. It's also good warmed and dolloped onto vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.
Spices and ingredients used in this recipe:
We get our Ceylon cinnamon straight from Sri Lanka, where it originates. Known as the real "original" cinnamon, it has a mild, subtle flavor and is the cinnamon traditionally used in Indian and Mexican cuisines, and many others.
1/2 cup sized jar.
Cassia is the type of cinnamon we all grew up with here in the US. It’s got that classic “cinnamon” flavor. We chose this cinnamon because it’s very fragrant and flavorful, and it comes from a source in Vietnam that pays its workers a fair trade wage.
1/2-cup sized jar.