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Candied orange peels in a basket next to fresh oranges
5 from 4 votes

Candied orange peels

These are easy and work great with oranges, mandarins, and clementines
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Blanching time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
Calories:

Ingredients

  • 3 oranges any variety, organic preferred
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon corn syrup optional to prevent crystallization problems

For sugar coating

  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoon cinnamon, citric acid, or finely chopped rosemary optional flavorings

Instructions

Prepare the oranges

  • Wash and scrub the oranges to remove any wax (which can affect the flavor)
  • Peel the oranges and slice into strips

Boil to remove bitterness

  • Add orange peels to a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then drain.
  • Repeat this process 3-5 times. This is removing the bitterness, and the water needs to be changed out as bitter compounds are released into it.
  • Take a bite of a peel. If it tastes really bitter, repeat blanching until the bitterness is tolerable. (The sugar coating later masks some bitterness, but not all of it)

Lightly simmer in a sugar syrup

  • Add water and sugar to the now-empty pan, in a 1:2 ratio (one part water to two parts sugar). You need enough syrup in the pan to cover the orange peels. You can err on the higher side, and then you'll have orange syrup leftover which is great for soaking into a pound cake, adding to tea or cocktails, etc.
    Optional: if you want to add 1 tablespoon of corn syrup to prevent crystallization problems, add it now.
  • Add the orange peels to the pan and bring it to barely a simmer. You should see lazy bubbles around the edges of the pan. Don't let it boil or it will change the consistency and become a hard candy-coating.
  • Simmer until the peels are soft and turn a little see-through. This could take 20-45 minutes depending on the thickness of the peels.

Dry & coat in more sugar

  • Remove the peels from the sugar syrup and let dry on a cooling rack with parchment or wax paper under it to catch the dripping syrup. Let them dry until they are sticky but not dripping. This might take 15 minutes or several hours. You want them sticky to the touch so sugar sticks to them, but not so wet that sugar will dissolve when they get coated.
    Note: save the simple syrup for use in cocktails, tea, etc. It will last for weeks in the fridge.
  • Toss the orange peels in a bowl of granulated sugar. If you are flavoring the sugar, add it now. Test one peel and see if the sugar dissolves (this will happen if it isn't dry enough). If it sticks without dissolving, you are ready to proceed. Toss all of the peels in the bowl, and set aside on a clean sheet of parchment paper.
  • Store in an airtight container on the counter for at least a month. They should be good for several months - as they get older they might dry out and turn hard, so be sure to seal them well to keep them soft.
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