Cranberries are my favorite berry by far. I buy a steamed veggie mixture from Birds Eye with cranberries mixed in with beans, and I love them in my yogurt and granola. When I heard about these new craisins I ran right out to buy a bag, not really paying much attention to the label. Is it necessary for sugar to be added to dried fruit? Everything says "sweetened" or "sugar added". I just want some cranberries!
sugar isn't added to all dried fruit, but sugar is added to dried cranberries because they would be super tart.
Its very hard to find any cranberry stuff that doesnt have sweetener added. Even 100% juice usually is 80-90% pear, white grape or apple juices and only a little bit cranberry. (There are exceptions, but they arent found in mainstream groceries, just places like whole foods)
I just looked up a site that tells you how to make your own dried cranberries using splenda, but it seems like a lot more trouble than it's worth. I guess I'll stick to the other types of berries!
My brother and I used to sneak frozen unsweetened cranberries out of my grandma's freezer, and dare each other to eat them in a cranberry eating contest. I think 5 was the record (and I accused my brother of cheating, because he swallowed 2 of them like big pills). They're pretty tart.
I love craisins, and golden raisins are pretty good too, but for the most part I avoid all dried fruit. Whether you add sweetener or not, the calories add up so much faster than fresh fruit which is more filling because of the water. I do occasionally buy the craisins to add to high bran unsweetened cereals to make the cereal a little more palatable, but I always measure them out, and try not to eat them alone. Because once I start eating them out of the bag, they're like candy, and I find it hard to stop.
I, too, love cranberries. A few years ago I purchased some dried UNsweetened cranberries. They were AWFUL! I gradually used them up baking. They're SO tart, SO unpalatable that I found it impossible to eat them except in a sweetened base.
However! For you I will go to Whole Foods or Treasure Island (where I think I saw/bought them), find out what company produces them. They also dry all sorts of other dried veggies & fruits.
When Craisins first came out, I was thrilled until I read the label. I sent them a little nasty-gram because at the time they advertised that 1/4 cup was a full serving of fruit. I told them that I really did not think that a sugar-based snack really was fruit. Maybe froot, but not fruit.
An alternative might be dried cherries. We get the ones from Target. No sugar added, and they have a nice tartness to them. However, not so tart that your mouth waters. We put these in our trail mix.
I guess I am an odd one - I ADORE unsweetened cranberry juice (I get the Just Cranberry), and think it would be nice if they made unsweetened craisins! IMHO, sour fruits are nice because you have a few & are done, rather than getting the urge to snack on them like candy the way you do sweet fruits.
Our local health food store sells juice sweetened dried cranberries in bulk. I've never bought them though because I'm too cheap. I try to buy organic whenever I can and organic dried cranberries are expensive! We usually just have raisins around and sometimes dried apricots.
dried cranberries (craisins)
