Plain old raisins are old hat. Everyone’s mother sent off a miniature box of raisins in his/her lunch box back when moms were still making lunches for their kids. For those moms who still do, there is a more interesting but still healthy alternative to traditional raisins: Ocean Spray’s Craisins. For those of you who don’t already know, while raisins are dried grapes (either red or white grapes depending on the variety of raisins), Ocean Spray’s Craisins are dried cranberries. Why would moms send their kids to school with Craisins in their lunch boxes rather than boring old raisins? For no reason other than that Ocean Spray Craisins are just plain more interesting then the more familiar and pedestrian raisins.
To begin with, Craisins (a.k.a. dried cranberries) are tarter than raisins. Grapes have a high sugar content, which is why they also make such good wine, since making wine requires sugar for the fermentation process. Cranberries, however, have a relatively low sugar content, which is why it is essential to add a bucket-load of sugar to the cranberries when making fresh cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving dinner. The low sugar content creates an inherent tartness to the cranberries that only the unripest of grapes could ever achieve. Cranberries themselves are actually a little too tart, even for those who like tart fruits, to make into dried fruit without additional sugar, so if you check the ingredients list on a package of Ocean Spray Craisins you will notice that there is added sugar, which may be an important factor for some when choosing to purchase Ocean Spray Craisins.
Individual children will vary in terms of how amenable they are to the inclusion of such a tart product in their lunches, so keep in mind that individual preferences will vary. Some children are likely to prefer the sweeter raisins, while some may prefer the tarter Craisins (although the added sugar offsets some of this tartness). A good idea would be to purchase some of each and do a sort of taste-test with your kids to decide which they prefer. Maybe even a blind taste test would be best so they don’t know what they are trying (kids are notorious for disliking food based on appearance rather than taste).
An additional use of Craisins instead of ordinary raisins is for baking. Nearly any recipe that calls for raisins can be directly substituted for an equivalent recipe with an identical quantity of Ocean Spray Craisins in its place. The result is a surprising new flavor sensation that gives even familiar recipes a whole new life to them. I have enjoyed Ocean Spray Craisins in muffins, in cookies, in salads, and in a variety of other dishes that traditionally call for raisins. The results of each of these recipe variations were very positive. Unless you absolutely dislike cranberries in general, you should be happy with the results of using Ocean Spray Craisins dried cranberries in any recipe you try.
The Craisins do not capture the unique flavor of fresh cranberries or cranberry sauce, but the tartness of the Craisins is easily identifiable with the familiar cranberry. Just as a grape and a raisin are two different things, so too are fresh cranberries and Ocean Spray Craisins two different beings altogether. As long as you keep this distinction in mind you should be quite happy with the flavor and uniqueness of dried cranberries in the form of Ocean Spray Craisins. Ocean Spray also makes several varieties of flavored Craisins including cherry and orange flavored Craisins, so be sure to give those a try also if you want an even different flavor experience from your Craisins. All varieties, I am happy to report, are quite delicious.
