Easy Candied Orange Peel
5.0
(115)
The technique of candying fruit originated as a food preservation method; it stuck around because it’s delightful. This easy recipe produces candied orange peels that are aromatic and downright jewel-like in appearance. They’re also surprisingly versatile: You can fold these candied peels into florentines, sprinkle a few over chocolate pudding or ice cream, or perch one on a cocktail for a fancy garnish.
The process of blanching the peels might seem like overkill, but it’s necessary to diminish the bitterness of the pith—the white, spongy portion under the peel—and to give the final product an appealingly soft and chewy texture. (Generally, candied peels from navel oranges are only blanched once, while grapefruit or lemon peel is often blanched two times.) Tossing the softened peels in granulated sugar adds a lovely crunch, and helps preserve the peels. This candied orange peel recipe makes a fragrant simple syrup as a by-product—don’t discard it! The sugar syrup is fantastic in iced coffee or tea, or it makes a top-notch old-fashioned.
An important thing to note: The candied peels need a day or two to dry, so making candied orange peel is not a last-minute endeavor. However, most of the time this recipe takes is hands-off. Once they’re dried, the candied citrus peels will keep up to two months in the freezer, so they’re the perfect DIY gift. Take your cues from fancy French bakeries, where they’re often sold dipped in dark chocolate and packaged in a little box.
Ingredients
Makes about 2 cups
Preparation
Step 1
Using a sharp paring knife, slice off tops and bottoms from 2 large oranges; discard. Score peels vertically into quarters, then remove peels with white pith attached; save flesh for another use. Slice peels lengthwise into ¼"-wide strips.
Step 2
Cook peels in a large pot of boiling water 15 minutes; drain, rinse, then drain again.
Step 3
Bring 3 cups sugar and 3 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add peels, reduce heat, and simmer until very soft, 40–45 minutes; drain.
Step 4
Toss peels with remaining 1 cup sugar on a rimmed baking sheet to coat. Transfer peels to a large sheet of foil and let sit until dry, 1–2 days.
Do Ahead: Orange peels can be candied 1 month ahead. Store airtight at room temperature, or freeze up to 2 months.
Leave a Review
Reviews (115)
Back to TopI love candied rind. This recipe is fantastic. Thank you.
Karin
Toronto, Ontario
11/25/2023
I tossed peels in 1/4 c of powdered sugar to store in a jar.
Gail V
small town in Minnesota
4/5/2023
Did a 2:2 cups sugar:water syrup and doubled the amount of orange peel (4 navel oranges), and I still had too much syrup in the end. I also added two teaspoons of orange extract to the syrup. I also made the mistake of putting the orange peels in a closed container to shake them with sugar -- do not do this! The enclosed sugar became wet and created big chunks of sugar stuck to the wet orange peel, which I later had to manually remove! Stick to a light dusting on a baking sheet like the instructions tell you to do. I followed the advice of another commenter and put my orange peels in the oven on a cookie sheet with wax paper on the lowest setting (on my oven that was 170F) for 2 hours, and the peels came out perfectly dried! The finished product is utter perfection. I personally left the orange rind on the peels. The combination of orange peel, rind, orange extract, and the sugar made for a complex bitter/sweet/orange flavour that, to me, is amazing! I plan to use the peels to decorate the top of a cake with and to give away as tasty treats!
Robert
Vancouver, Canada
3/30/2023
i just made this and ran out of white sugar so used some brown and made the most marvelous caramely syrup that my girls tasted and begged me to save for thanksgiving breakfast (pumpkin pancakes) …i made these to go in some cookies i’m working on a recipe for and they couldn’t have turned out better. i don’t think i’ll be wasting any more orange peels!!
vno
Ny
11/24/2022
I have been looking for a recipe to use the entire citrus fruit, including the peel. This is great.
Anonymous
Auckland, New Zealand
10/25/2022
I've done something very similar to this but instead of drying the peels, I store them in the syrup in the fridge; they keep a very long time and stay moist which is nice if you are wanting to use in baked goods. You can pull them out to dry as needed too. And, I reuse they syrup for further batches; it keeps for a good long time in a tightly closed jar in the fridge and is also very nice for using on top of other things like ice cream.
Caroline
9/21/2022
Couldn't have been better! What a great recipe! I will say I had really good large navel oranges to start with. I'm making this recipe again right now. This time I will save the simple syrup for my cosmos! ha ha!
Anonymous
Seattle
1/14/2022
I like this recipe, not as involved as the Martha Stewart recipe I'd used before. But I did add the 1 TBsp grenadine, it gives a lovely orange color to the peel. Readers' suggestion of using a bit of orange extract is good too. Too much syrup though, you could easily reduce to 2c sugar : 2c water. And I too keep the simply syrup for coffee, tea, drinks. Part of this is going into Chocolate Salami, and will dip the rest in melted dark chocolate. Very elegant with an espresso for the holidays.
Anonymous
Quincy Il
12/20/2021
You can make this recipe with limes and lemons, you just need to blanch the rind 2 or 3 times. Then cook them in the sugar syrup until they are translucent. About 90 min. Low & slow. If the syrup gets too thick, you can always add a little water and continue cooking. Grapefruit works great also.
Douglas
Reno, NV
12/18/2021
Other recepes call for 1:2 (sugar:water) and to only simmer for 20 minutes... I like this one with it's 1:1 and 45 min. ratio. Works out so much better. Also if you take a pareing knife and cut/scrape most of the white pith off before putting into water, it is much more less bitter. I've been making this candy for 20 years and some people can't get over the fact it is pealing but I love it!
Lisa Siler
Douglasville, GA
12/15/2021
@mmarylow Try adding orange extract to the simple syrup mixture. I just tasted a piece mid way through simmering in the water, sugar, and orange extract mixture and it’s delicious. Can’t wait until they are all the way done and half dipped in dark chocolate
Cherri
Pittsburgh, pa
12/14/2021
I added orange extract/oil to the simple syrup mixture. We’ll see if that adds back any loss of flavor from boiling. I understand it’s necessary to remove the bitterness but I’m afraid I’m loosing good orange flavor right along with it. I’ll repost once I’ve tasted the final product.
Cherri
Pittsburgh
12/14/2021
I added two Chai tea bags to the simple syrup while cooking the peels. The spices added an awesome flavor. I have been using the leftover simple syrup on and in so many other dishes.
byrnesmith5212
NJ
3/19/2021
I used this with clementines rather than oranges as we had a surpluss of clementines. I first made jam and didn't want to waste the peels. I agree that there is a significant amount of syrup and could probably be just as effective with 1/4 to 1/2 the recipe. Either way, it made for delicious clementine peels. I kept some of the syrup to add to teas and other drinks. Unsure what to do with the remaining 2 cups... going to try and find a baking recipe. The amount of leftover syrup is the only reason giving a 3 and not a 4.
Hippiblossom
NJ
3/5/2021
I peeled two oranges using electric peeler and soaked the skinny long strips in vodka a few weeks. Then I made simple syrup of just a couple cups of water and sugar, then plopped the peel in there, simmered for 45 minutes. Let cool, then poured the sugar water into the vodka... And continued with candied orange peel recipe. I ended up with orangechello and candied orange peel as garnish. :)
Swirleigh
Vancouver, WA
12/23/2020
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