Old Fashioned Candied Orange Peel Recipe 🍊🍬

Easy Candied Orange Peel Garnish – Sugared Orange Peel 🧡

This simple Candied Orange Peel Recipe transforms citrus peels into a wonderful, chewy treat that is perfect for holiday snacking, baking, or using as a decorative garnish.

Instead of discarding the orange peel, this recipe puts it to delicious use, creating a sweet and brightly flavored candy.

The process involves boiling the peels to remove bitterness, then simmering them in a rich sugar syrup to create a tender, translucent texture.

Once dried and coated in sugar, these strips are a beautiful, tasty, and effortless addition to your kitchen arsenal.

You can enjoy this sugared peel year-round, but it truly shines during the holiday season!

Bonus Product: The Orange Syrup 🍯🍹

One of the best side benefits of making this recipe is the delicious orange-flavored syrup that remains after the peels have been simmered and drained.

Don’t throw it out!

How to Use the Leftover Syrup

• Beverage Sweetener: Save the leftover syrup to use as a sweet, citrusy flavoring for **hot or cold beverages**. Drizzle it into iced tea, lemonade, or a special holiday cocktail.
• Drizzle: Use it as a topping for pancakes, waffles, or ice cream.
• Baking: Brush the warm syrup over the top of baked goods like cakes or muffins right after they come out of the oven to add moisture and flavor.

Getting the Perfect Candied Texture ✨

The key to making excellent candied peel is in the preparation of the peel itself, which removes bitterness and ensures tenderness.

Pre-Simmering Tips

• Washing: Always use a clean, unwaxed orange for this recipe, as you are eating the peel. Wash and dry the oranges thoroughly.
• Pith Control: The recipe calls for scoring and removing the peel with some of the white pith attached. If your oranges have an extra thick pith, you can carefully trim some of it off with a paring knife before the boiling step to reduce bitterness.
• Boiling: Boiling and rinsing the peels for 15 minutes is essential for removing any residual bitterness and softening the peels before they absorb the sugar syrup. 💧

Creative Uses for Candied Peel 🧁

• Garnish: The strips make a pretty and tasty edible garnish for desserts, cakes, and cocktails.
• Baking Ingredient: Chop up the candied peel finely and fold it into frosting for cakes or cupcakes, or mix it into cannoli filling or holiday quick breads for a burst of flavor.
• Snack: Simply enjoy the sugared strips as a chewy, citrusy snack!

Old Fashioned Candied Orange Peel Recipe 🍊

Prep time- 20 minutes, plus 12 or more hours to dry
Cook time- 1 hour
Serves: 4-6

🥣 Ingredients

• 4 Oranges
• 2 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar
• 6 cups Water (divided)

🥄 Supplies

• Paring Knife
• Saucepan
• Colander
• Baking Sheet with Wire Rack (or parchment paper)
• Gallon-sized Ziploc Bag

📝 Instructions

1. Prep Peels: Wash and dry the oranges. Slice off the tops and bottoms. Score the peel from top to bottom into 4 sections, remove the peel, and cut it into 1/4-inch wide strips.
2. Remove Bitterness: Add 5 cups of water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Place the orange peel strips in the water and return to a boil for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse the peels using a colander.
3. Make Syrup: Return the saucepan to the stove. Combine 1 cup of water and 2 cups of sugar. Heat to medium and stir until the sugar is dissolved, creating the syrup.
4. Simmer: Add the boiled orange peels to the syrup. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes.
5. Dry: Drain the peels (reserve the leftover syrup!). Arrange the peels in a single layer on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Allow them to dry for 12 or more hours until sticky-dry.
6. Sugar Coat: Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar into the Ziploc bag. Add about a fourth of the peels, seal the bag, and shake until the peels are evenly coated with sugar. Repeat until all peels are sugared.
7. Store: Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Ready to Make This Classic Treat? ⬇️

This Candied Orange Peel recipe is a wonderful way to use up kitchen scraps and create a delicious treat.

Be sure to save that flavored syrup!

Will you use your candied peel for snacking or baking?

What will you use the leftover syrup for? 

More from Mama Likes To Cook 

Orange Recipes

• Cranberry Orange Smoothie
• Orange Creamsicles Popsicles
• California Orange Pomegranate Salad
• Dehydrated Orange Slices
• Glazed Cranberry Orange Scones
• Old Fashioned Candied Orange Peel
• Seville Orange Marmalade

Are you ready to have some delicious fun in the kitchen?