Cranberry Snow Clouds
Cranberry Snow Clouds are small, glittery festive treats that resemble red berries coated with fresh snow, thus the name. The procedure is quite simple: you basically dip fresh cranberries into white chocolate and then coat them with shredded coconut. They are both sweet and tart at the same time. The cranberry pops in your mouth with a sour taste, then the chocolate and coconut make it sweet, giving comfort. Kids will be delighted to participate as it is a messy and fun activity, and adults will be pleased with them as they look luxurious on a Christmas platter but only take 15 minutes to make.
Cranberry Snow Clouds
4-Ingredients
🍚 Ingredients
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2 cups fresh cranberries
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1 bag (10–12 oz) white chocolate chips
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½ cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
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Tiny pinch of salt (optional)
📋 Directions
- 1.
Cranberries: Rinse cranberries and pat super dry with paper towels. - 2.
Melt: Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave (30-second bursts, stir each time). - 3.
Add Crans: Drop cranberries one by one into the melted chocolate, fish them out with a fork, and let extra drip off. - 4.
Roll: Roll the coated berries in coconut right away.. - 5.
Cool and serve: Put them on wax paper and let them sit until the chocolate hardens (or pop in fridge for 10 minutes).
💡 Recipe Notes
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Dry: Dry the cranberries really well or the chocolate slides right off.. - •
Quality: Use good white chocolate (with cocoa butter), not the cheap chips – they melt smoother.. - •
Speed: Work fast – once chocolate starts to cool it gets thick and hard to coat.. - •
Ice Water: Keep a bowl of ice water nearby to dip your fingers if chocolate gets sticky.. - •
Refrigerate: They stay perfect for 4–5 days in a tin or fridge.
How Long It Takes
Once you are in motion these treats are extremely quick to make. One person can do the whole batch in 15–20 minutes if the chocolate is melting smoothly and the berries are already dry. If you have a helper or an assistant, the time taken can be just 10 minutes because one person dips and the other rolls in coconut. The biggest time eaters are the waiting for the chocolate to melt and drying the cranberries very well at the same time, if you skip that you add 10 minutes to the time of fixing sliding chocolate. You can actually make 3–4 batches (80–100 pieces) in one hour on a good day!
The Most Common Variations
People can’t get enough of these and keep changing them. The best ones are dark chocolate snow clouds (use dark chips instead of white), peppermint snow clouds (add a drop of peppermint extract to the melted chocolate), orange-zest clouds (mix grated orange peel into the coconut), cinnamon sugar clouds (roll in cinnamon sugar instead of coconut), and sprinkle clouds (use holiday sprinkles or crushed candy canes for extra color). Each person chooses their favorite, but they all start with the same simple cranberry dip.
And here is what they look like:
Dark Chocolate
Peppermint
Orange
Cinnamon
Sprinkle
How People Eat and Use Cranberry Snow Clouds
During Christmas, people scatter these small delights commonly in the form of little balls all over the place. They are used to fill attractive bowls on the living room table so that anyone can fetch one without the need to ask, pile up on cookie trays alongside fudge and gingerbread to create a nice present, or put three or four in tiny transparent bags tied with ribbon to give as gifts to teachers, neighbors, and bus drivers. Kids treat them as candies and eat them directly out of the freezer, while adults have them with coffee after dinner. They come to the school parties, Christmas Eve open houses, and are even left on the plate for Santa because the red and white colors of the balls are just perfect. In fact, these things vanish in two days once the tin is opened.
Why Everybody Goes Crazy for Balls at Christmas
Round food items are considered more special at Christmas visually as they resemble small ornaments or snowballs which are also consumable. People are crazy about bite size portions because that way they can have ‘just one more’ without feeling guilty, and balls happen to be the simplest form for that. Not only do they perfectly fit in your hand, but also they stack nicely in jars, and children thinking that they are playing with food, put it into their mouth. Moms are crazy about them because in a matter of minutes, you can make a million and they still look classy. There is just something about a glossy chocolate ball which shouts ‘eat me’ louder than a plain square ever could.
Enjoy your Holiday Snow Clouds
– Cranby
