Tis the season for festive homemade treats and one of my favorites is candied orange peel. Simple to make with a brilliant citrus flavor candied orange peel stars in a number of classic Christmas breads and are a great make ahead gift. This recipe for Homemade Orange Peel is easy to make and is sure to make your holidays joyful and bright.
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Ingredients for Candied Orange Peel
- Oranges (navel or valencia oranges)
- Granulated sugar
- Water
How to Use Candied Orange Peel
Candied orange peels are a classic holiday treat on their own or dipped in dark chocolate. Made by cooking orange peels in a sugar syrup the result is a sweet treat with an intense citrus flavor. Candied orange peel and candied lemon are also an ingredient in a number of European Christmas delights like German lebkuchen and stollen, Italian panettone and British fruitcake. Candied orange peel would also make a great garnish for any holiday cocktail (especially my Chocolate Orange Martini) While you can buy candied citrus at the grocery store making it from scratch takes minimal effort and tastes much better.
How to Make Candied Orange Peel
You can use the following recipe to make any kind of candied citrus, including candied lemon peel, candied lime peel or even grapefruit. While this recipe is fairly simple you will need a little bit of time so it’s best to make this candied citrus at least one day before you want to use it.
Rinse the oranges thoroughly and cut off the tops and bottoms. Score the skin into quarters and remove the skin (both zest and pith, or orange and white parts).Cut the peels into ¼ inch strips, reserve the orange for another use (or just eat it as a snack).
Place orange peels in a saucepan and cover the peels with water. Over medium high heat bring to a boil for five minutes. Drain the peels return to the pan with more water and repeat the blanching process for a total of 3-5 times. Blanching is done to remove the bitterness, taste the peel after each blanching to ensure they are not bitter before cooking in the sugar syrup.
Add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat stirring occasionally to ensure the sugar is fully dissolved. Add the peels to the syrup and cook for 45-60 minutes adjusting the heat to maintain a simmer and ensure the peels are covered in syrup. The peels will be done when once the are soft and slightly translucent. Drain the peels, reserving the orange simple syrup for another use (this citrus simple syrup is perfect for to sweeten tea or for making cocktails). Toss the peels in the remaining sugar and transfer to a wire rack. Dry for 3-4 hours and then transfer to an airtight container.
If you like this Homemade Candied Orange Peel be sure to take a look at some of my other recipes!
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Homemade Candied Orange Peel
Equipment
- 1 Large saucepan
Ingredients
- 3 large navel oranges
- 2½ cups granulated sugar divided
- 2 cups water plus more for initial blanching stages
Instructions
- Rinse the oranges thoroughly and cut off the tops and bottoms. Score the skin into quarters and remove the skin (both zest and pith, or orange and white parts).
- Cut the peels into ¼ inch strips, reserve the orange for another use.
- Place orange peels in a saucepan and cover the peels with water. Over medium high heat bring to a boil for five minutes. Drain the peels return to the pan with more water and repeat the blanching process for a total of 3-5 times. Blanching is done to remove the bitterness, taste the peel after each blanching to ensure they are not bitter before cooking in the sugar syrup.
- Add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat stirring occasionally to ensure the sugar is fully dissolved. Add the peels to the syrup and cook for 45-60 minutes adjusting the heat to maintain a simmer and ensure the peels are covered in syrup. The peels will be done when once the are soft and slightly translucent.
- Drain the peels, reserving the orange simple syrup for another use. Toss the peels in the remaining sugar and transfer to a wire rack. Dry for 3-4 hours and then transfer to an airtight container.
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Jamie says
Awesome! Such a very cute and cool treat plus it’s very unique. Great idea and concept! Looks so yummy and kids will definitely love it!
Amy Liu Dong says
This looks sweet, an amazing treat for everyone to love and enjoy! Definitely will be a big hit for many! Its uniqueness will make it enticing!
Kari Heron | Chef and Steward says
I love this and it has so many great uses for baking!
Ann says
Oh these remind me of my childhood! I have never thought of making these at home. Great idea!
Monica says
Great recipe. I did mixed fruit and it was good for lemons too.
Brianna says
Thanks! I use this recipe for lemons and grapefruit as well 🙂
Glo says
This recipe looks amazing! Question- how do you store these?
Brianna Simmons says
You can store these in a dry airtight container or jar.
Tara says
This turned out so good!
Lois says
I followed the recipe to the t, but even with just simmering my simple syrup, after 20 minutes it became so thick that there was nothing left to save of it. Eventually my candied peel was encased in a crispy sugar coating that would not allow any sugar to adhere to it. Nonetheless, the resulting peels were mostly good, only a couple too crisp to chomp on! I used the rest in chocolate orange sable cookies.
Brianna Simmons says
Hi Lois, I’m glad these passed the flavor test but I’ve never had an issue with the syrup getting too thick. I live at sea level in a humid area, any chance you live at altitude or in a dry climate?
Lois says
Hi Brianna, we are actually the highest in our region, 259m above sea level! I didn’t know this made a difference! Should I add more water? I am making them again today, I used the leftover peels (chopped finely) with toasted pecans on top of a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and I want to make it again. They definitely passed the flavor test!
Brianna Simmons says
Lois, I’m glad to hear they tasted good ( and I love the idea of topping a carrot cake with them!). I did a little research for candy making at higher altitude and the advice is to cook the syrup at a lower temperature (medium low heat instead of medium heat) and cook the orange peels until translucent which may take a little longer (1 hour + instead of 45 minutes). Please let me know how this works for you!
Lois says
Hi again, I did add a little more water. I made them before I saw your reply, so I actually turned the heat up and cooked them longer to make them more syruppy (may have added a bit TOO much water). They were still delicious, dipped them in chocolate halfway up the strip. The peel was a little less rigid than it should have been, but still delicious! People said that it made the carrot cake (made another single layer). My 93 year old dad ate the rest of the leftover peels like candy Lol! Next time I’m trying the slower and lower method.
Jessica says
I’d never made anything like this, but after a friend said she made her own candied orange peel, I wanted to try. The recipe was easy to follow and the result is dangerously delicious. Can’t wait to use the candied peels in other recipes, snack on them, and give them as gifts. Glad I doubled the recipe.
Brianna Simmons says
Jessica, this is the best kind of review! I’m so glad you liked these candied orange peels, I can’t get enough of them
Monica Harper says
Needed candied orange peel for a fruit cake and couldn’t find any. Used this recipe and it turned out so good.
Misty says
How long do these last?
Brianna Simmons says
They should last up to 1 month in an airtight container, but they get eaten pretty quickly at my house so they never get the chance to make it that long 🙂
Alesia says
Wow! My 9 year old granddaughter asked to make this recipe. I supervised while she made her first candy. Everyone just loves it!
Brianna Simmons says
Aww, I love this so much. Tell her congrats for me 🙂
Christine says
Can I put these in my air fryer oven to hasten the drying process?
Brianna Simmons says
I haven’t personally used an air fryer for this but that should work.I did a quick search and it’s recommended you use a low temperature of 130-145 F.