A great recipe to have in your repertoire, especially for holiday baking. Making your own candied orange or citrus peels is easy and taste so much better than the store-bought stuff. Nice on their own as a snack, especially dipped in chocolate, candied orange peels also go really well in a lot of baked goods.
Candied orange peels, or any other candied citrus peel, are fairly easy to make. The ingredients and process are simple, just a little time-consuming. The good news is that most of that time is hands-off. Once cooked and dried, they will last a long time at room temperature, and even longer refrigerated or frozen, so making these ahead of time for holiday recipes is no trouble.
You can make candied orange peels as a snack, rolled in sugar, dipped in chocolate, or left plain, but they really shine in recipes for holiday breads. German Christmas stollen, Italian panettone, hot cross buns, etc. all utilize candied orange peels.
Ingredients for Candied Citrus Peels
The ingredients are super simple: fruit, water, sugar. That’s all you need to make candied peels. There are a few small modifications you can make however, but that’s up to you. Some people add a splash of vanilla or orange extract to the sugar water to enhance the flavor. You can also add about 2 tablespoons of citric acid to a cup of sugar for the final tossing. That will turn the candied peels into sour candied peels for a great candy as well.
Citrus – This recipe is for candied orange peels, but you can also use other citrus like lemons, limes, or even grapefruit. For oranges, I would recommend Naval or Valencia as they tend to have thicker skins than other varieties. Because you’re directly eating the skins, I would also recommend organic fruits if possible.
Water – Simple tap water is fine. You’ll use a decent amount as well since you want to boil/blanch the strips of peel several times.
Sugar – White granulated sugar is fine for both the syrup and the coating.
How to Make Candied Orange Peels
Since citrus fruits tend to be highly sprayed, I recommend first thoroughly washing the fruit, even if you get organic.
Begin by cutting off a small portion of the top and bottom of the fruit, then slicing down the sides to make 4-6 incisions (depending on the size) along the length. Peel off chunks of the rind until you’ve removed everything from the flesh of the fruit. The white part (the pith) is quite bitter, but the following blanching process should remove most of that. If you have a lot of pith, feel free to trim some off, but don’t try and remove it all or your candied peels will end up hard and leathery. Take the segments you pulled off and slice into roughly ¼” strips.
Place the strips of peel into a medium saucepan and fill with enough water to cover them. Bring the water to a boil and let cook about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain and rinse the peels in a colander or strainer. Fill with fresh water and repeat this process 2-3 more times to remove some of the bitterness from the pith. After the last draining and rinsing, set the peels aside and prepare the simple syrup.
Add 1 cup of fresh water and 2 cups sugar to the now empty sauce pan and whisk to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has completely dissolved. Using a candy or frying thermometer, you’ll want to get the sugar water up to about the threading or softball stage: between 230-240°F / 110-115°C.
Add the peels and lower the temperature to medium-low. You’ll want to keep the temperature roughly at the threading stage or slightly lower, but don’t let the mixture boil. Cook for 45 minutes or so, until the pith is translucent. Every stove is different, so while you don’t have to keep a constant eye on this while it cooks, keep checking on it occasionally to adjust the heat up or down.
Once the peels look finished, either strain them out of the syrup, or use a slotted spoon or spider to remove them and set on a cooling rack. Let them cool for 2-3 minutes until they’re cool enough to handle, then toss with the remaining cup of sugar and return to the cooling rack. Let them dry completely, at least 3-4 hours or overnight. Once dry to the touch, store them in an airtight container or use them for another recipe.
📋 Recipe
Candied Orange (Citrus) Peels
Ingredients
- 3 Valencia or Naval oranges
- 1 cup water
- 3 cups granulated sugar, divided
Directions
- Thoroughly wash the fruit, then cut off a small portion of the top and bottom of the fruit, then slice down the sides to make 4-6 incisions (depending on the size) along the length. Peel off chunks of the rind until you’ve removed everything from the flesh of the fruit. The white part (the pith) is quite bitter, but the following blanching process should remove most of that. If you have a lot of pith, feel free to trim some off, but don’t try and remove it all or your candied peels will end up hard and leathery. Take the segments you pulled off and slice into roughly ¼” strips.
- Place the strips of peel into a medium saucepan and fill with enough water to cover them. Bring the water to a boil and let cook about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain and rinse the peels in a colander or strainer. Fill with fresh water and repeat this process 2-3 more times to remove some of the bitterness from the pith. After the last draining and rinsing, set the peels aside and prepare the simple syrup.
- Add 1 cup of fresh water and 2 cups sugar to the now empty sauce pan and whisk to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has completely dissolved. Using a candy or frying thermometer, you’ll want to get the sugar water up to about the threading or softball stage: between 230-240°F / 110-115°C.
- Add the peels and lower the temperature to medium-low. You’ll want to keep the temperature roughly at the threading stage or slightly lower, but don’t let the mixture boil. Cook for 45 minutes or so, until the pith is translucent. Every stove is different, so while you don’t have to keep a constant eye on this while it cooks, keep checking on it occasionally to adjust the heat up or down.
- Once the peels look finished, either strain them out of the syrup, or use a slotted spoon or spider to remove them and set on a cooling rack. Let them cool for 2-3 minutes until they’re cool enough to handle, then toss with the remaining cup of sugar and return to the cooling rack. Let them dry completely, at least 3-4 hours or overnight. Once dry to the touch, store them in an airtight container or use them for another recipe.
Equipment Used
Notes
Your Notes
Nutrition
Comments
No Comments