Cranberries are a staple in many people’s holiday dishes – my family loves their cranberry sauce during Thanksgiving time!
The vibrant and tart flavor packs quite the punch, and it’s amazing when paired with something sweet! However, you don’t have to limit yourself to just enjoying these little, crisp, and bright red fruits during the holiday season, as their flavor can level up more than your family gathering…
In fact, cranberry extract is a great way to add the distinct flavor into basically anything you want – without changing the texture of the dish! Cranberry extract is super convenient, and takes just a couple of drops to make an impact!
We’ve listed our favorite ones here for you, ensuring that you get a high-quality extract that gets the job done.
Let’s check them out!
What is cranberry extract?
Cranberry extract is essentially a powerful cranberry flavor contained in a liquid. It’s great for adding a punch to many different things such as bakes, beverages, and other dishes as it just takes a couple drops!
It’s generally made by combining some form of cranberry with alcohol, with some being made by leaving cranberries (usually crushed or cut-up) in an unflavored alcohol for a couple of weeks. This allows the alcohol to draw out the flavors of the cranberries, eventually being strained to leave us with cranberry extract!
Other cranberry extracts are made by combining cranberry concentrate with alcohol, creating a strong flavor – either way, you’re getting the powerful taste of cranberries in a very concentrated form!
How to use cranberry extract in recipes
Cranberry extract can be used in many different ways, so let your imagination run wild! It boasts a tart, slightly sour, and sometimes slightly sweet flavor that adds a bright taste into things like muffins, pies, sauces, cookies, margaritas, water, smoothies, and more!
Because the flavor in cranberry extract is more potent than that of regular cranberries, you want to start adding it slowly, otherwise it can become overpowering quite quickly. Follow what the recipe says in terms of measurement, which will tend to be about ½ to 1 teaspoon of cranberry extract for most standard baking batches.
For beverages, it’ll come down to preference, but start with about ¼ to 1 teaspoon of the extract to get that tartness in there. That can change depending on the type of drink you’re making however – a smoothie with lots of other ingredients will probably need a touch more cranberry extract to get the same results as using less would in soda water…
So, don’t be afraid to experiment with it, as I find that the cranberry flavor can quickly teeter on making a dish too tart, and even slightly bitter in some cases – but that can easily be balanced with sweeteners (like vanilla extract).
4 great recipes to use your cranberry extract
Give more life to these recipes with your peach extract:
- Cranberry orange gummy fruit snacks: Here’s a great example of how well the tart cranberry flavor pairs with sweet flavors. This gummy snack is a great thing to have in your pantry, as it’s sweetened with orange juice and raw honey, so it’s a great choice if you’re trying to limit your refined sugar intake. Add a bit of cranberry extract if you want to bring out more of that cranberry flavor!
- Apple cider vinegar and cranberry detox drink: Cranberries are often used for their health benefits, and this is a great recipe if you’re trying to take advantage of that. It’s not a sweet drink at all, so I wouldn’t add too much cranberry extract here – around ½ a teaspoon is going to give the cranberry side of things an extra flavor boost!
- Starbucks cranberry scones: This is another great example of how the cranberry flavor mixes with sweeteners! You’ll find this recipe uses dried cranberries, which are generally a bit sweeter than cranberry extract is. That said, adding a teaspoon of cranberry extract along the vanilla extract and maple syrup this recipe calls for will add a little extra kick of flavor!
- Coconut cranberry sumac buns: Rich, sweet, tangy, and light – what’s not to love here! These buns have a beautiful flavor combination, making for the perfect thing to offer your guests next time they come over for coffee – although I wouldn’t blame you if you ate them all yourself! I recommend keeping the cranberry extract to ½ a teaspoon for this recipe, just to add a slight boost.
How to choose the best cranberry extract
Given that there are many different cranberry extracts, it might take a bit of time and research to find one that’s good for you. However, we’ve gone ahead and done that for you, and also made this list of criteria that helped us sort the best ones:
- Ingredients: It’s a little tricky getting a proper flavor in cranberry extract, but we prefer natural ingredients over artificial ones because we like the taste more – and also prefer it for our bodies!
- Consumer feedback: Two pairs of eyes are better than one, so we scour the reviews to see what people liked and didn’t like about each cranberry extract, giving us a much deeper insight on top of our own experience.
- Track record: We enjoy supporting a great brand the same way we love supporting a great product – and it’s even better when those two go hand-in-hand!
- Price: From pricier options to more affordable ones, we’ve got a cranberry extract for every budget!
Now, let’s check out the rankings!
#1 Best Overall: Native Vanilla
The best cranberry extract you can get is from Native Vanilla!
As mentioned, getting the flavor right in cranberry extract can be tricky, as you don’t want to go too tart, too bitter, or too sour. Native Vanilla has balanced the flavor in their product extremely well, and you’ll love using it!
On top of being delicious and effective, Native Vanilla is a company that prioritizes using ethically sourced products and working with micro-farmers to ensure the highest-quality of ingredients – leaving the earth in a better place!
At $2.50 per fluid ounce, you can support their great cause and enjoy a wonderful cranberry extract!
Ingredients: Water, alcohol, and cranberry concentrate.
#2 Best Value: OliveNation
OliveNation takes the number 2 spot for the best value cranberry extract!
OliveNation generally does really well with their flavoring products, and they’ve done a great job with their cranberry extract. It’s not quite at the same level that number 1 is, but it’s still a wonderful choice – and the most budget-friendly!
That makes this one a no-brainer if you want to test the waters with cranberry extract, as it’ll just cost you $2.06 per fluid ounce while coming in a 2 ounce bottle, giving this the best value here!
Definitely try this one out!
Ingredients: Water, Alcohol, Cranberry Juice Concentrate.
#3 Honorable Mention: Vanilla Bean Kings
Vanilla Bean Kings deserve a special shout out for their great cranberry extract!
It’s a delicious product that adds a punch of the refreshingly tart cranberry flavor, and we’re sure you’ll be reaching for the bottle over and over again! It’s also kosher, gluten-free, non-GMO, and made in the USA!
We might’ve ranked it higher if the price was a bit lower – at $3.75 per fluid ounce it’s not crazy expensive, but it doesn’t do anything more special than the above two. That said, this is a great choice if you’re willing to spend the extra cash!
Ingredients: Water, Alcohol, and Cranberry Juice Concentrate.
#4 Honorable Mention: Silver Cloud Flavors
Silver Cloud Flavors cranberry extract comes in at number 4!
You might know them as Apex Flavors, and they have many great flavoring extracts to choose from! Their cranberry extract is an overall solid choice, being gluten-free and sugar-free for extra points. It’ll definitely get the job done for your ice cream, drinks, and bakes, but it’s a little on the pricey side as well at $3.63.
I still say check this one out!
Ingredients: Propylene glycol, water and natural flavor.
#5 Best Keto: Amoretti
Add some delicious cranberry flavor into your keto diet with Amoretti!
First of all, this stuff tastes good, and will add the refreshing taste of cranberries into all your keto dishes. It’s also kosher and gluten-free, so that’s another bonus if you’re looking for that!
However, this is by far the most expensive option on this list, coming in at $20.22 per fluid ounce. I recommend you take a look at the other options above first, as they’re much more affordable, but this is the choice to make if you need a keto cranberry extract.
Ingredients: Natural flavor (contains cranberry).
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