Seemingly like everyone else in the US at this time of year, I find myself with random bags of cranberries that I don’t know what to do with, post-Thanksgiving.
They’re something I usually only buy to make the obligatory cranberry sauce for that holiday meal, but since I didn’t grow up in the land of canned red fruit sauce, it has no place on my Christmas table. Hence, the leftover cranberries in December.
Who else chucks them in the freezer and then never does anything with them, only to find those suckers in the middle of the summer and then ignore them again? *raises hand*
This year, I promised myself that I’d try and figure out this cranberry situation and, you know, actually make things with them. Starting off with this cranberry butter business.
These cranberry butter cups are a little riff on my classic Tigernut Butter Cups. They take that nutty, sweet filling and add the tartness of fresh cranberries.
While I was thinking about making these, the idea was to play with the classic pb + j inspired flavors, but these turned out a little differently. The nuttiness of the tigernut butter mellows out and takes a back seat to the not-quite-sour fruit in a way that makes these cranberry butter cups, well… all about the cranberries.
I made these cranberry butter cups with a simple carob shell so that they would be AIP friendly. But if you do just fine with chocolate, I bet these would be stellar made with your favorite chocolate melted down to make the cups instead.
The contrast of the chocolate-y outside with the tart & creamy filling is surprisingly decadent. If you like, you can actually skip the added honey and they would turn out just as well. I’d suggest adding a smidge more fat to the filling if you leave out the honey, just to keep them super creamy & melt-y. Totally a word.
Just to make them extra pretty, I sprinkled my cranberry butter cups with some lightly crushed edible dried rose petals.
Apparently in my old age, I’m coming around to the color pink?
You can make smaller versions of these cups, but they get more fiddly to fill the smaller you make them. If I’m just making them to stash in the freezer for myself, I usually make them in this large, cupcake liner size (2 inch / 5 cm diameter) and then cut them in half before hiding them where no one else will find them, muahahaha.
PrintCranberry Butter Cups: No Bake & Nut Free
These no bake cranberry butter cups are the perfect last minute holiday treat. Bonus: they use up those last few cranberries you always have laying around when the holidays are over!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes, plus chilling time
- Yield: 10 2 inch / 5 cm cups 1x
- Category: no bake, treats
Ingredients
For the cranberry butter filling:
- 1/2 cup / 55 g sifted tigernut flour
- 2 tbsp / 30 ml palm shortening
- 3/4 cup / 90 g fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
- 1 tbsp / 15 ml avocado oil
- 1 tbsp / 15 ml raw honey
- 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
For the chocolatey carob shell:
- 3/4 cup / 90 g carob powder, I use this lightly roasted one
- 3/4 cup / 180 ml warmed / liquid coconut oil, I use this one without coconut scent
- 3 tbsp / 45 ml palm shortening
- 3 tbsp / 45 ml raw honey
Optional, to garnish:
- edible dried rose petals
Instructions
CREAM: Add the tigernut flour and palm shortening to a mini food processor and process until the mixture starts to come together, then stick to the sides of the bowl. Scrape down the sides and add about half of the cranberries, processing until the mixture is combined. Scrape and repeat with the rest of the cranberries, avocado oil, honey and sea salt. Process until you have a smooth, creamy, peanut butter-like filling mixture that is lightly flecked with pieces of cranberries. Transfer the cranberry butter to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator. Wash & wipe the food processor bowl clean.
BLEND: Set out 10 cupcake liners (mine had a bottom diameter of 2 inches / 5 cm) on a tray that will fit into your fridge easily. Add all of the ingredients for the carob shell to the bowl of the mini food processor and blend until smooth.
LINE: Use a 2 tsp / 10 ml scoop or measuring spoon to fill the cupcake liners with enough of the carob mixture to cover the bottoms, saving the leftover carob mixture for later. Chill the filled cupcake liners until just set, about ten minutes or so.
FILL: Divide the cranberry butter filling evenly between the cups, spooning a rounded tablespoon of mixture into the middle of each cupcake liner. Smooth and flatten the cranberry mixture so that it is level on top and doesn’t quite touch the sides of the cupcake liners – this will leave enough of a gap for the top layer of carob shell to seal nicely.
FINISH: Spoon enough carob mixture over the top of the filled cranberry butter cups to cover the filling and seal the sides, about 4 tsp / 20 ml of the carob shell mixture per cup. Smooth any bits of filling trying to poke their way through the top carob layer!
CHILL: Refrigerate until the carob shell mixture is completely set, at least 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can freeze them for a quicker set. Cups can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer for up to a week or up to 3 months respectively, see my notes below.
Notes
- If you’re not into palm shortening, you can swap it out for coconut oil, but the resulting texture of the filling may be a little firmer.
- You can swap out the carob shell for chocolate if you’re not in the AIP elimination phase.
- You can make smaller versions of these cups, but they get more fiddly to fill the smaller you make them. If I’m just making them to stash in the freezer for myself, I usually make them in this large size and then cut them in half before hiding them where no one else will find them, muahahaha.
I love how vibrant that cranberry butter is! These just look fantastic.
What is the stuff on top of your cranberry tarts?
Crumbled dried edible rose petals!