My dad’s side of the family has always made this stuff called Jello Salad. It’s basically Jello that you mix with Cool Whip, usually some cottage cheese or sour cream, fruit or nut/coconut pieces mixed in, and marshmallows. There were always marshmallows.
I grew up eating that sugary mess and, while I will freely admit I have fond food memories of doing so, that kind of thing is not really what we would call keto-friendly. While that childhood favorite is out, this pretty, layered cranberry fluff is absolutely in and was inspired by the original Jello salad.
This recipe does take a little work, although most of the time is spent waiting on the gelatin parts to firm up. Don’t let that scare you, though. This could very easily be made and set up, one part at a time, over a couple of days if need be. If you don’t care for coconut, feel free to swap it out for some more chopped nuts. It’s totally OK to make this your own, folks, so while my crew likes the subtle combination of cranberry, raspberry, and lemon here, you do you and use extracts or add-ins that are going to please your family.
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PinIngredients
- For the Cranberry Layer:
- 1 recipe room temperature Tarted Up Cranberry Sauce, swapping orange extract for an equal amount of raspberry extract, and adding an extra tbsp. erythritol or Swerve to the sauce
- 1 (1/4 oz/ 7 g) envelope plain gelatin
- 1 cup (8 fl oz/ 237 ml) boiling water
- For the Fluff Layer:
- 1 (1/4 oz/ 7 g) envelope plain gelatin
- 1 cup (8 fl oz/ 237 ml) boiling water
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract
- 3 oz (85 g) cream cheese, softened
- 3 tbsp. (approx. 1 oz/ 28 g) powdered/confectioner’s Swerve (or powdered plain erythritol)
- 1/3 cup (2.7 fl oz/ 80 ml) sour cream
- 1/2 cup (4 fl oz/ 118 ml) heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 3 tbsp. chopped pecans, divided
Instructions
- For the Cranberry Layer:
- Make one recipe Tarted Up Cranberry Sauce as instructed, making the directed/additions substitutions.
- When the sauce is at room temperature, dissolve the gelatin in boiling water, then mix into cranberry sauce, stirring well. Pour the cranberry liquid into the bottom of an 8×8 casserole dish and refrigerate until completely set.
- For the Fluff Layer:
- Cream together the cream cheese, sour cream, lemon extract, and powdered Swerve.
- In a small bowl, dissolve the second packet of gelatin in boiling water, then beat into the cream cheese mixture until smooth.
- Let stand in the refrigerator at least two hours. Mixture should be thickened.
- While the cream cheese mixture is chilling, heat the oven to 300 degrees F and place the coconut on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 2 minutes and check it. If it’s not toasting, stir well and return to oven, checking every one minute afterwards and stirring until over half the coconut is golden and toasted. Set aside to cool.
- Once the cream cheese mixture is thoroughly chilled, whip the heavy cream with the vanilla to stiff peaks.
- Gently fold the cream cheese mixture, toasted and cooled coconut flakes, and 2 tbsp. of the chopped pecans into the whipped heavy cream until combined.
- Spoon the mixture over the set/gelled cranberry mixture in dollops, and smooth out the top with a back of a spoon. Be sure the entire top of the cranberries are covered with the fluff mixture.
- Sprinkle with the remaining tbsp. chopped pecans to garnish.
- Cover and chill until the top is completely set, four hours or overnight.
- Cut into12 squares and enjoy!
Notes
Per 1/12 recipe: 123 cal, 2.4 g protein, 10.7 g fat, 12.5 g carbs, 1.7 g fiber, 7.2 g sugar alcohol, 3.7 g NET carbs
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/12 recipe (75 g per)
Keywords: Holidays, cranberry salad, cranberry fluff
[…] Cranberry Fluff is this week's featured recipe, and it includes several techniques covered in this episode, including whipping and folding. […]