White Chocolate Cranberry Fluff Salad

December 16, 2018
With this White Chocolate Cranberry Fluff Salad, enjoy your Thanksgiving or Christmas cranberry sauce in a creamy, comforting classic fluff salad form.  Actually, come to think of it, this is cranberry sauce you'll want to enjoy all year long!
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White Chocolate Cranberry Fluff Salad Image


As much as our family loves classic fluff salads, it's only fitting that I'm sharing one featuring one of the holidays' classic flavors - cranberry.  That's right, along with Green Fluff {Pistachio Watergate Salad}Cherry Fluff Salad with Cherry Pie FillingChocolate Fluff, and more, we've added Cranberry Fluff Salad to our fluff favorites line-up.

But I've got to say ... it's a darn good thing we love this stuff, because it took me quite a few iterations to get this Cranberry Fluff Salad right!

With this White Chocolate Cranberry Fluff Salad, enjoy your Thanksgiving or Christmas cranberry sauce in a creamy, comforting classic fluff salad form.

Not that it was ever wrong ... just in variation after variation of my "inspiration recipe," I kept having this nagging inkling that I could figure out a way to make it even better.

See, in variation after variation, two things kept troubling me ~ texture and the degree of cranberry flavor.  Both of which just weren't quite to my liking in this fluff's original recipe.

I wanted a Cranberry Fluff Salad that had a creamy, fluffy texture with enough "body" to hold its own shape when spooned out onto a plate.  And, I wanted it to taste of cranberry.

How to Make White Chocolate Cranberry Fluff Salad Image

The original recipe I used as inspiration called for cream cheese as the base of the Cranberry Fluff Salad.

The first time I made it, I used 1/3-less fat cream cheese as that's a regular substitution I do in my kitchen.  While the texture was indeed creamy, it was too loose to hold its shape.  When spooned onto a plate, it crept all over, running into and mingling with other foods on the plate.  Which just so happens to be one of my food pet peeves.

I tried again with the originally-called for regular cream cheese.  Again, too loose a texture for me.

Would instant pudding mix be the answer to creamy, fluffy texture? 

As is traditional in many fluff salads, I added miniature marshmallows to absorb some of the moisture and see if that would give the body and heft I was looking for.

Better.  But still not fluffy and "hefty" enough.

So I turned to the other fairly typical fluff salad ingredient ... instant pudding mix.  Would instant pudding mix be the answer to creamy, fluffy texture?

Turns out, yes, it was.

With pudding mix added in, the Cranberry Fluff Salad was fluffy, creamy, and held its own in terms of shape when spooned onto a plate.

Creamy Cranberry Fluff Salad Image

I then decided to see if both cream cheese and pudding mix were necessary in the Cranberry Fluff Salad to achieve the coveted texture ... or, if pudding alone could work.  Because quite honestly, the cream cheese was also serving to significantly mask the cranberry flavor.

The answer?

A resounding no!

No, there was no need to include both  cream cheese and pudding mix.  Pudding mix on its own did just fine in giving the fluff the fluffy texture it needed.  {And, as you can use sugar-free pudding just fine, if you're looking to take out at least a teeny bit of calories and/or fat, this is an added bonus.}

With the removal of the cream cheese, the cranberry flavor had become stronger. But I wondered if using a pudding flavor other than vanilla would let the cranberry flavor come through even more.

So now it was time to move on to cranberry flavor.  With the removal of the cream cheese, the cranberry flavor of the Cranberry Fluff Salad had become stronger. But I wondered if using a pudding flavor other than vanilla ... which is what I had used in the first texture test runs ... would let the cranberry flavor come through even more.

The answer?

White chocolate pudding!

Yes, using white chocolate flavored instant pudding allows the cranberry taste to shine through more distinctly than vanilla pudding did.  While still not overpowering in cranberry flavor, this fluff's flavor is  distinctly cranberry.

White Chocolate Cranberry Fluff Salad Ingredients Image

So instead of Cranberry Fluff Salad, I ended up creating a very tasty White Chocolate Cranberry Fluff Salad.  And it's a flavor our family adores.

We now have a new favorite fluff that will allow us to enjoy our Thanksgiving and Christmas cranberry sauce in a creamy, comforting classic fluff salad form.  

Actually, come to think of it, ... I think we'll be enjoying this White Chocolate Cranberry Fluff Salad all year long!

Cranberry Fluff Salad Made with Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce Image
Thank you for stopping by The Kitchen is My Playground. We'd love to have you back soon!



cranberry fluff, cranberry fluff salad, cranberry sauce, Thanksgiving sides
Salads
Yield: 10-12 servings

White Chocolate Cranberry Fluff Salad

With this White Chocolate Cranberry Fluff Salad, enjoy your Thanksgiving or Christmas cranberry sauce in a creamy, comforting classic fluff salad form. Actually, come to think of it, this is cranberry sauce you'll want to enjoy all year long!
prep time: 10 Mcook time: total time: 10 M

ingredients:

instructions:

How to cook White Chocolate Cranberry Fluff Salad

  1. Combine cranberry sauce, pineapple, and dry pudding mix in a large mixing bowl; stir until mixed. Add marshmallows and pecans; stir. Add Cool Whip and fold in until well combined.
  2. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
Created using The Recipes Generator


You might also like these other classic fluff salads:

Green Fluff {Pistachio Watergate Salad}   www.thekitchenismyplayground.com

Cherry Fluff Salad with Cherry Pie Filling   www.thekitchenismyplayground.com



7 comments

  1. I absolutely loved reading this post- I love the way you explained your trial and error process with this fluff. I have never made anything like this, but I bet my kids would try it- a feat in itself! I will visit again for sure!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your kind words. I appreciate you stopping by, and look forward to having you back again!

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  2. I have never heard of fluff salad! How unique and fun! Love this post :)

    - Seri
    www.Serisblog.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks so much for sharing your Cranberry Fluff Salad with Full Plate Thursday and have a great week!
    Miz Helen

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my - I'm sure I could eat the whole dishfull! Sounds like all your hard work and experiementing paid off too. I must try this soon. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Weekend Potluck.

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  5. I apologize for not letting you know sooner, but hopefully you saw this great dish was featured at this week's Weekend Potluck party. Really got our attention! Love it - pinned! Thanks so much for your faithfulness to share with us at WP.

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  6. I just love your site and I am so happy to see all these delicious delicacies! I can't wait to try this recipe, and so many more you have given us. Thank you for all your hard work and I look forward to what else you have in store for us!!

    ReplyDelete

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