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    Decorated Treats » Recipes » Sweets & Candies Recipes

    Orange Peel Candy (How to Make Candied Peels)

    Published: Feb 28, 2021 · Modified: Aug 9, 2023 by Priya Maha

    Jump to Recipe

    This homemade orange peel candy recipe makes candy with orange peels. They are absolutely delicious and make great snack.

    All you need is orange skin, sugar and water and you can make your very own, delicious orange peel snack in no time at all. With a simple cooking process, the often discarded orange peels are turned into deliciously sweet sugar coated snack with a lovely tangy citrus flavor that you will find hard to stop munching on!

    A candy dish filled with orange peel candy.
    Old Fashioned Candied Orange Peels Recipe
    Jump to:
    • ❤️Why you will love this recipe
    • What is orange peel and what is orange peel candy?
    • 📋Ingredients
    • 🧾Substitution and Variations
    • 👩‍🍳How to Make
    • 🍽️Serving & storage
    • 💡Expert Tips
    • 💭FAQs
    • ❤️More Recipes You Will Love
    • 📖Recipe

    ❤️Why you will love this recipe

    • The candy has a natural sweet and tangy flavor, unlike artificial candies. It's a healthier option compared to store-bought candies.
    • This is an easy recipe with basic ingredients. All you need are 3 simple ingredients and these candied peels will be ready in no time!
    • There are no special tools required to make the candy, not even a candy thermometer.
    • It helps reduce food waste by using orange peels.
    • It can be enjoyed as a snack or used in various desserts. You can also pack it into cute jars and turn them into gifts.

    Like this easy candy recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out:

    • Candied Lemon Peel - How to Make
    • Orange Layer Cake with Orange Buttercream and Candied Peels
    • Coconut Candy Recipe - A Quick and Easy Treat
    • Chocolate Covered Orange - A Quick & Easy Treats Idea
    • Candied Lemon Slices - How to Make
    • Butter Mints Candy - Easy Homemade Recipe
    • Cream Cheese Candy - Easy Homemade Mints
    • How to Make Marshmallows

    What is orange peel and what is orange peel candy?

    • Orange peel is basically the skin of an orange fruit. It consists of the orange-colored outer skin as well as the white pith underneath it. Orange peel is also sometimes called orange rind or orange zest, however, the rind and zest refer specifically to the orange layer only and does not include the white bitter pith underneath.
    • Other than the orange zest or rind that is widely used in cooking, the peel is often discarded due to the bitter taste of the pith.
    • Candied orange peels are a great way to use the peels. This is an old fashioned candy where the orange skin is cut into thin strips and cooked in simple syrup until the strips turn translucent. The cooked citrus peels are then coated in sugar, hence the name candy.
    • These candied orange peels are not only great as a snack, they make pretty cake decoration too! Here is my orange cake decorated with lovely candied peels. Pretty right?
    Top of a round cake decorated with sugared citrus.
    Orange cake with candied citrus peel decoration

    📋Ingredients

    An orange, a jar of water, and 2 bowls of white sugar against a marble background.
    Ingredients for Orange Peel Candy
    • Oranges - Orange skin is often exposed to a lot of pesticides. Make sure to wash them thoroughly before using them. Organic oranges would be ideal if you can get them. Also, use fresh oranges. The skin is a lot juicier and plump and when made into candied peels, they are soft to chew.
    • Sugar - Sugar is used to make simple syrup as well as to coat the orange peel after cooking them in the syrup. For the syrup, you can use either coarse sugar or granulated sugar. For the sugar coating however, use granulated sugar as it is finer and sticks better to the orange peels.
    • Water - this is used firstly blanche the orange peels and then to make the simple syrup. Use filtered water.

    *Refer to the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and exact quantities. For best results, use a digital kitchen scale where applicable*

    🧾Substitution and Variations

    • To make vanilla flavored orange peels, add the scrapings of half a vanilla bean into the sugar syrup when cooking the peels. Drain and coat in granulated sugar as usual, as indicated in the recipe card.
    • The best sugar to use for coating the candied orange peel is granulated sugar (caster sugar). You can also use brown sugar, but make sure it is fine brown sugar.
    • To make chocolate dipped orange peels, instead of coating the cooked peels in sugar, you coat them in chocolate. Melt some dark chocolate in a small bowl (either in a double boiler or microwave) and dip each cooked peel strip into the melted chocolate. Lift with a fork and place them on wire rack to let excess chocolate drip off or if there is not much excess chocolate, place the strips on a parchment paper lined baking tray. Let the chocolate set before serving.

    This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you do try, please let me know in the comments section below!

    👩‍🍳How to Make

    Cutting the peel

    • To start with, peel your oranges. The easiest way to do this, is to use a sharp knife to cut out the orange skin. Slice off both ends of the orange, and then cut the skin deep enough to get both the orange rind and the white pith in wide strips, but without the orange pulp inside.
    • You can also use a vegetable peeler but make sure the skin that is sliced off is not too thin.
    An citrus fruit with its skin cut.
    • Next is to remove the white pith off the peels. Use a small sharp knife to do this, it is so much easier to remove the pith when your knife is small and sharp.
    • And here is how the peels look like after removing the pith. You will see that the white part of the orange skin is still very much visible on the peels and that is perfectly ok. Firstly, it's a bit hard to remove all the white skin completely, and secondly, if you do, your peels will be left with very thin orange part of the peel. When you candy them, there will not be much to munch on.
    Slices of citrus skin with the white pith removed.

    Slicing the peels

    • The next process is the slicing of the peels. Slice them into thin strips. I like mine to be about 1mm to 2mm thick but you can make them thicker or thinner as you wish. If thicker, you will need to cook them slightly longer than the time indicated in my recipe card below.
    Thinly sliced orange peel on a white plate.

    Boiling the orange peels

    • Once the strips of orange peel are ready, fill water in a medium saucepan or pot and bring it to a rolling boil. Add the sliced peels and cook them over low to medium heat for about 10 minutes. Drain the water in a sieve or remove the peels with a slotted spoon after the boiling process.
    Strained orange peel in a small sieve over a small pot.
    • This process helps remove the bitterness from the orange peel. Since I have removed as much of the pith as possible from the orange peel, I only boil and drain the peels once.

    Cooking the orange peel in sugar syrup

    • Next, measure the sugar into a medium-sized pot. Add equal amount of fresh water and heat it up over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves.
    Orange peel strips simmering in a small pot.
    • Add the drained fruit peels and reduce the heat to low. Cook them in the syrup for about 10 minutes. This cooking time will depend on the thickness of the sliced peels. Ideally, at the end of the cooking time, the peels should turn translucent. Remember to keep the heat low because we wouldn’t want the syrup to thicken too fast or else it will be hard to drain the thick syrup off later.
    • Once the peels are cooked, drain the syrup. Leave the candied peels in the strainer for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the excess orange syrup to drain off before coating them with sugar. Try not to leave them too long in the strainer. If the syrup coating on the peels dries off, it will not able to hold the sugar coating in the next step.
    Cooked orange peel strips in a sieve.

    Coating with sugar

    • For the sugar coating, fill a small bowl with granulated sugar. Dip the candied orange peels into the sugar. The best way to do this is with a fork. You need not dip the peels one by one, you can do them in batches.
    Using a fork to mix orange peel slices in a bowl of sugar.
    • Remove the sugar-coated candied orange peel to a parchment paper lined tray and let them dry in a cool dry place for about 30 minutes. And they are ready to be enjoyed!
    Orange peel candy on a parchment lined rectangle tray.
    Citrusy Treat Made with Orange Peels - A Homemade Candy Recipe

    🍽️Serving & storage

    • Store the peels in an airtight container.
    • These peels can be stored at room temperature for a good 2 to 3 weeks. They last longer when refrigerated.
    A candy dish filled with citrus candy.
    Candied Orange Peel Recipe - Sweet Treats with Orange Flavor

    💡Expert Tips

    • Once the orange peel is cut, cook and candy them on the same day. I have tried refrigerating the uncooked peels once, for a few days and even though I kept them in a covered container, the peels became dry. When I candied these slightly dried orange peels, they were hard and dry, unlike the batches of candied orange peel made with freshly cut orange skin.
    • The syrup for this candied orange peel has a 1 to 1 ratio of sugar and water. Both need to be increased proportionately if you are making a larger batch of candied orange peels.
    • When boiling the orange peel in the syrup, take note to use a low heat. This is to ensure the syrup does not thicken up too fast. If it does, you will have a problem straining it out once the orange peels are cooked.
    • The drained citrus syrup (once the orange peel strips are candied) can be stored for other uses. This orange-infused sugar syrup can be mixed into drinks for a lovely citrus-flavored drink.
    • The best way to dry the peels is to first, strain the syrup out. Leave them in the strainer for about 10 minutes and then dip them in sugar.
    • Avoid leaving the candied peels in the strainer for too long. You need to coat these peels in sugar while they are still wet. If the sugar syrup coating dries out, the granulated sugar will not stick to the peels.

    💭FAQs

    Is it sufficient to blanche the peels in water only once?

    Yes, it is sufficient. This is because there is very little white pith attached to the orange skin. If you wish to make the orange peel candy with a lot more of the pith attached to the peels, it is likely that your orange peel candy will require 2 or 3 rounds of blanching to remove the bitterness from the pith.

    Can you use grapefruit peel or blood oranges peel instead of orange peel to make the candied peels?

    Yes, you can.

    Both blood oranges and grapefruits can be used as a substituted to oranges.

    ❤️More Recipes You Will Love

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      Orange Popsicles - Refreshing Homemade Treats
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      Easy Orange Cake with Buttercream Frosting (the BEST ever!)
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    Do you like this recipe? Please leave a 5-star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐rating in the recipe card below and consider a review further down this page. I would love to hear from you. Thank you!

    📖Recipe

    Candied orange peels in a silver cup.

    Orange Peel Candy (How to Make Candied Peels)

    A delectable snack, this orange peel candy is not only easy to prepare, it's super yummy too. Learn how to make your own candied peels here!
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Snack
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Drying Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes
    Yield: 1 cup
    Author: Priya Maha
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Metric - US Customary

    For best results, use the metrics measurements. US customary measurements have not been tested and are only meant for guide.

    Ingredients

    • 1 orange cut the skin
    • 500 ml water

    Sugar Syrup

    • 100 ml water
    • 100 g sugar

    Sugar Coating

    • 50 g granulated sugar
    Metric - US Customary

    Instructions

    • Slice off the skin of the orange.
    • Using a sharp knife, slice off as much of the white pith that is attached to the orange peel slices as possible.
    • Cut the peels to about 1mm to 2mm wide and about 2cm to 3cm long.
    • Fill a medium-sized saucepan with 500ml water.
    • Turn on the heat and let the water boil. Add the cut orange peels and cook them in medium heat for about 10 minutes.
    • Strain the orange peels and discard the water.
    • Return the saucepan to the stove to make the simple syrup.
    • Add water and sugar and turn on the heat to a medium flame.
    • Once the sugar is dissolved, reduce the flame to a low heat. Add the strained peels and cook for about 10 minutes, until the orange peels turn translucent.
    • Strain the syrup.
    • Let the candied peels dry slightly in the strainer for about 10 minutes. Transfer them to a bowl of granulated sugar. Use a fork to mix the peels in the sugar until they are well coated.
    • Place the sugar-coated candied orange peels on a parchment-lined tray and let them dry for about 30 minutes.
    • Store the candied orange peels in an airtight container.

    Notes

    • Once the orange peel is cut, cook and candy them on the same day to avoid them from becoming dry. Dry orange peels will make make hard candy that is difficult to chew. 
    • The syrup for this candied orange peel has a 1 to 1 ratio of sugar and water. Both need to be increased proportionately if you are making a larger batch of candied orange peels.
    • When boiling the orange peel in the syrup, take note to use a low heat. This is to ensure the syrup does not thicken up too fast. If it does, you will have a problem straining it out once the orange peels are cooked.
    • The drained citrus syrup (once the orange peel strips are candied) can be stored for other uses. This orange-infused sugar syrup can be mixed into drinks for a lovely citrus-flavored drink.
    • The best way to dry the peels is to first, strain the syrup out. Leave them in the strainer for about 10 minutes and then dip them in sugar.
    • Avoid leaving the candied peels in the strainer for too long. You need to coat these peels in sugar while they are still wet. If the sugar syrup coating dries out, the granulated sugar will not stick to the peels.
     

    Variation:

    • To make vanilla flavored orange peels, add the scrapings of half a vanilla bean into the sugar syrup when cooking the peels. Drain and coat in granulated sugar as usual, as indicated in the recipe card.
    • The best sugar to use for coating the candied orange peel is granulated sugar (caster sugar). You can also use brown sugar, but make sure it is fine brown sugar.
    • To make chocolate dipped orange peels, instead of coating the cooked peels in sugar, you coat them in chocolate. Melt some dark chocolate in a small bowl (either in a double boiler or microwave) and dip each cooked peel strip into the melted chocolate. Lift with a fork and place them on wire rack to let excess chocolate drip off or if there is not much excess chocolate, place the strips on a parchment paper lined baking tray. Let the chocolate set before serving.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 642.1kcal | Carbohydrates: 165.4g | Protein: 1.2g | Fat: 0.2g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 31.5mg | Potassium: 240.1mg | Fiber: 3.1g | Sugar: 161.9g | Vitamin A: 294.8IU | Vitamin C: 69.7mg | Calcium: 71.9mg | Iron: 0.2mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @decorated_treats or tag #decoratedtreats!

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    A candy dish filled with orange peel candy

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