‘Tis the season – cranberry margarita season! It’s what comes between Raspberry Margarita Season and Grapefruit Margarita Season 🙂

We’re big margarita people so finding new seasonal fruits to blend with tequila has become our Friday night hobby. Sometimes we get a little too serious about getting a recipe just right with “official testing,” complete with notepads, pencils, and a scoring system. Other times we can eye a recipe and just know it’s a winner. Like this one.

I had a cranberry margarita at a Christmas party last year and loved it. So I had a few more 🙂 Cranberries, cranberry juice, orange, lime, and tequila are blended together and served over ice. I’m not big on the peppermint-y cocktails that are usually served at holiday dinners so to me, this is the perfect holiday cocktail.

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Cranberry Margaritas

A festive cranberry margarita recipe perfect for holiday dinners and parties.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup 100% cranberry juice* (see note below)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar, divided* (see note below)
• 1 1/2 cups (6 oz) fresh or thawed cranberries
• 3/4 cup fresh lime juice (5-6 limes)
• 3/4 cup tequila
• 1/2 cup orange liqueur

Instructions

1. Pour the cranberry juice into the blender, reserving 1 Tbsp.
2. Sprinkle 3 Tbsp sugar onto a small plate.
3. Use the cranberry juice to coat the rims of 4 to 6 glasses (6 to 8 oz each) and then dip the glasses into the sugar. Fill with ice and set aside.
4. Reserve 12 cranberries and place the rest in the blender along with the water, sugar, lime juice, tequila, and orange liqueur.
5. Blend 30 seconds, or until smooth.
6. Pour through a strainer to catch the cranberry pulp.
7. Pour the strained margarita into glasses and garnish with reserved berries.

Notes

Yields: 4 servings

Slightly adapted from Sunset Magazine

Estimated time: 10 minutes

* I use 100% cranberry juice – it doesn’t have added sugar so it’s not the stuff a normal person would drink straight – and add a little water to lighten it up. It keeps the margarita tart and not too sweet. If you can’t find 100% cranberry juice (check the label), go with your favorite cranberry juice “cocktail” and consider adding only half the sugar at first and then blending in the rest to-taste. Your margarita will be a lighter color. But festive nonetheless 🙂