101 Days of Christmas: Candied Orange Peel

by Mandi on October 21, 2011

source: grongar

Although we’ve now made these not once, but twice, I still didn’t manage to get a decent picture of them myself, but thankfully Flickr came to the rescue! As you may remember, we dipped our first batch in chocolate. The problem was that they still had a pretty bitter aftertaste, and I didn’t want to post about them until I figured out how to get rid of that.

In our experience, you need really ripe oranges to start (making this a perfect winter/Christmas project!), and you want to be sure to cook them until they are translucent all the way through. Using a really ripe orange will also make it much easier to peel.

Our second batch turned out much better, and the girls scarfed them up. Still a sticky, sugary treat, but at least I knew that it was was straight sugar and not a mix of ingredients and preservatives!

Ingredients:

6 navel oranges
4 cups sugar
1 ¹⁄₂ cup water
dark baking chocolate, optional

Description:
Cut the top and bottom off each orange and then score and peel the orange. Slice the peel into thin strips.

Cover with cold water in a large pan and bring to a boil. Rinse and repeat twice more. Set peels aside.

Mix sugar and water in a pan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 8-9 minutes until the temperature reaches 230 degrees F.

Add the peels to the sugar mixture and simmer for 45 minutes until they are translucent. Avoid stirring to prevent sugar crystals.

Set on a wire rack (with a paper towel or parchment paper beneath it) and dry for 2-3 days. Dip in dark chocolate if desired.

Click here to add this recipe to your Plan to Eat account.

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

	Mandi Ehman is the founder and publisher behind Life Your Way as well as a wife and homeschooling mom to four beautiful girls. She lives with her family on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia and loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

KatieK.

I have THE best memories of my mom and me shopping and afterwards slipping into the basement of the coolest shop where they sold fancy candies and chocolates. She would buy a tiny bag for us to share on the walk home. Dipping our hands into the little white bag and pulling out the strip of heaven to savor. Only my mom and I liked them so it was our special treat together in time. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Maybe I can make them for her as a surprise.