Making your own candied orange peel and candied lemon peel is super easy and the difference between homemade and store-bought is absolutely mind-blowing! Leave the store-bought stuff on the shelf because nothing, and I mean NOTHING compares to homemade! Use this method to make any kind of candied citrus peel.
How To Make Candied Orange Peel
If you’ve never made your own candied orange peel get ready to be absolutely dazzled!
Today we’re going to make delicious use of a portion of the citrus fruit you may normally discard by making candied citrus peels. Think of these delightful sweet treats like citrus flavor on steroids!
While candied orange and candied lemon are the the most commonly used, candied grapefruit and lime also have a delicious place in the mix and I’m going to demonstrate the process using those as well.
There are a few reasons you should make your own candied peel: 1) The store-bought stuff is generally not organic and citrus fruits are highly sprayed with pesticides and fungicides. 2) It’s made with a lot of chemicals. 3) It’s not fresh. 4) Most of it tastes bad. Like really bad. I regularly have readers request recommendations for good brands of candied citrus and the best recommendation that I can offer is to make your own! Because once you do and taste the difference, you’ll never buy it again.
The good news is, it is SO easy to make your own! And it keeps for a long time, especially if you freeze it. The flavor is 100% better than store-bought and will bring your baked goods to life.
How to Use Candied Orange Peel
And this applies to all varieties of candied citrus peel. Here are a few ideas:
- As garnish for pies, cakes and cupcakes
- Chopped up and added to cookies, cakes, muffins, cupcakes, scones, etc.
- Sprinkled over ice cream or yogurt
- As garnish for citrus-flavored drinks
- Finely chopped and added to streusel topping for muffins and cakes
- Dipped in chocolate for an elegant sweet treat (dip candied orange peels in chocolate to make orangettes, a classic French confection)
- and whatever else your imagination can think of!
Candied Orange Peel Recipe
*NOTE: The process is the same for making any kind of candied citrus peel.
Let’s get started!
Select the best citrus fruits possible and give them a thorough scrubbing and washing. We’re not sticklers about buying all of our produce organic, but we do stick to organic for certain items that are highly sprayed and/or waxed. And in the case of citrus fruits, if I’m using the peels for zesting or candying, I use and recommend organic.
Slice both ends of the orange. Cut the peel on each each into 4 or more vertical segments, depending on the size of the fruit. Peel off each segment of rind.
Note: You can remove a some of the white pith, though not necessary. The white pith has a bitter flavor, so keep that in mind, but also keep in mind that the thinner your peels the harder/more leathery they will be. The purpose for blanching the peels (boiling in water and discarding the water) is to eliminate some of the bitterness. If leaving the pith on you can repeat the blanching procedure 2 or 3 times to reduce the bitterness.
The process is the same for any citrus fruit. Candied grapefruit peel, candied lemon peel, candied lime peel, candied mandarin or clementine peel…they’re all delicious!
Slice the peels into 1/4 inch wide strips.
Keep the peeled citrus for eating, cooking or juicing.
Boil the peels in water in a pot for 15 minutes. Drain the peels in a colander, rinse and then drain again. Discard the water from the pot.
**Note: To further reduce the bitter flavor repeat this step.
Add the sugar and fresh water to the pot and bring it to a boil. Boil it for a couple of minutes until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the citrus peels, reduce the heat and simmer for about 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the peels become translucent and the liquid becomes lightly syrupy.
Use a slotted spoon to remove a few of the peels at a time and let the excess syrup drip off for a few seconds. Place the hot, wet peels in the bowl of sugar and toss to coat. If you’re making a large batch it’s easiest to place the sugar in a ziplock bag and shake the peels in it.
Spread the candied citrus peels out on a wire rack to cool and dry completely, 1-2 days.
Stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, the candied citrus peel will keep for at least a month. They’ll keep even longer in the fridge and for a few months frozen. (I usually keep them in a ziplock bag in the freezer and then conveniently grab whatever I need.)
Note: If you find your candied citrus peel gets hard after a while don’t worry – they will soften up beautifully as they bake in whatever recipe you add them to!
Note: To keep the candied peels even softer you can limit the drying time, skip the final sugar coating step and put the peels in a ziplock bag and either refrigerate or freeze them.
Finally, DON’T DISCARD THE CITRUS SYRUP!
This is a wonderful citrus-flavored simple syrup to add to your drinks for a wonderful kick of citrus flavor!
Enjoy!
Use your homemade candied orange peel in some of our favorite recipes:
- German Stollen
- Traditional English Christmas Pudding
- German Lebkuchen
- Traditional English Mincemeat
- Traditional English Eccles Cakes
- Scottish Dundee Cake
- Aachener Printen
- Italian Panettone
- Welsh Bara Brith
- Irish Barmbrack
Be sure to also try our homemade Candied Ginger!
Candied Orange Peel
Ingredients
- 3 Valencia or Navel oranges and 4 lemons (can also use the equivalent of grapefruits, Meyer lemons and limes, or any citrus of your choice, thoroughly washed and scrubbed (as citrus is highly sprayed, I recommend using organic)
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- Fine granulated sugar for coating
Instructions
- Slice both ends of the citrus fruits. Cut the peel on each each into 4 or more vertical segments, depending on the size of the fruit. Peel off each segment of rind. (You can remove a little of the white pith, though not necessary. The pith is bitter but the blanching process below will help reduce the bitterness. Note that if you remove the white pith, the thinner the peels are the harder and more leathery they will be when they’re candied.) Slice the peels into 1/4 inch wide strips. (Keep the peeled citrus for eating, cooking, juicing, etc)
- Boil the peels in a pot of water for 15 minutes. Drain the peels in a colander, rinse and then drain again. Discard the water from the pot.Repeat this process one or two more times to reduce the bitter flavor.
- Add the 1 cup of fresh water and the sugar to the pot and bring it to a boil. Boil it for a couple of minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Add the citrus peels, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the peels become translucent and the syrup becomes lightly syrupy (on a candy thermometer this will be be approximately soft ball stage).
- Use a slotted spoon to remove a few of the peels at a time and let the excess syrup drip off for a few seconds. Place the hot, wet peels in a bowl of sugar or a ziplock bag with sugar in it and toss/shake to coat.
- Spread the candied citrus peels out on a wire rack to cool and dry completely, 1-2 days.
- Stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, the candied citrus peel will keep for at least a month. They'll keep even longer in the fridge and for a few months frozen.Note: If you find your candied citrus peel gets hard after a while don't worry - they will soften up beautifully as they bake in whatever recipe you add them to!Note: To keep the candied peels even softer you can limit the drying time, skip the final sugar coating step and put the peels in a ziplock bag and either refrigerate or freeze them.Yields approximately 8 ounces of candied citrus peel depending on peel thickness.
Notes
*If you'd like to make more candied citrus peel, simply increase the amount of water and sugar by the same 1:2 ratio. *** ***NUTRITION INFO BELOW IS FOR THE ENTIRE BATCH (NOT PER SERVING)
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet January 9, 2017
Patricia says
Have you any cake recipes for the syrup please? How long does the syrup last also please in a sterile glass jar? Just made double batch so obviously bhave lots of syrup and lots of yummy
fruit to put in stollen. Used oranges, lemons, lines and grapefruit. Thankk you.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Patricia, the syrup will last for a few months in the fridge. Here are a few baked goods that call for candied orange/lemon peel:
Stollen: https://www.daringgourmet.com/stollen-german-christmas-bread/
Christmas Pudding: https://www.daringgourmet.com/christmas-pudding/
Dundee Cake: https://www.daringgourmet.com/dundee-cake/
Lebkuchen: https://www.daringgourmet.com/traditional-nuernberger-elisenlebkuchen-german-lebkuchen/
Eccles Cakes: https://www.daringgourmet.com/eccles-cakes/
Barmbrack: https://www.daringgourmet.com/irish-barmbrack/
Bara Brith: https://www.daringgourmet.com/bara-brith-recipe/
Panettone: https://www.daringgourmet.com/traditional-panettone-recipe/
Liz says
This is the BEST recipe I’ve found for candied peel, which is my family’s favorite holiday treat. You’re absolutely right that removing too much pith, and leaving just the zest, makes them too tough. But yours – and one blanching – are just right.
One tiny correction: They’re “navel” oranges, because of the look of the end opposite the stem, like a “belly button”. But not your fault. More than half the groceries now mark them as Naval Oranges, as if they come from the Navy, instead of Navel Oranges.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Awesome, Liz, I’m so glad these were a success! Thanks for the feedback and YES, thanks for the catching the typo! :)
Amanda Seale says
Does boiling the peels remove the wax (at least a bit) if I can’t get organic citrus?
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Amanda, typically the recommendation for removing the wax is to pour hot water over them and to scrub them, so boiling them should be even more effective.
Laura says
These are just wonderful & I made the German Stolen with them along with home.ade almond paste & it is absolutely delicious! Thank you!!
Kimberly Killebrew says
That is so awesome, Laura, I’m happy all your efforts have paid off – thank you so much! :)
cheryl miller says
so orange peel and lemon peel are the samerecipe
Kimberly Killebrew says
Correct, Cheryl, the method is identical.
Kevin says
Hi,
Silly question perhaps. I’ve been wanting to make Aachener Printen ever since a trip to Aachen a few years ago. They were so good! I saw your wonderful recipe and am working on gathering the ingredients. Of course, I want to candy my own citrus peel and saw this recipe. In the printen recipe, you add only candied orange peel, not lemon. In this recipe, you use oranges and lemons. Can I use just oranges or do I need the lemons for a difference in flavor perhaps? Thanks.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Kevin, the method for making the orange and lemon peel is identical, so simply follow this recipe to make whichever one you want. Happy baking and I hope you enjoy the Printen!
Elena says
Do you know how many grams of candied peel this recipe yields? I’m getting ready to make your stollen recipe and wondering how many batches of this one do I need for that. Thank you.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Elena, I haven’t measured the outcome but one batch of orange and one batch of lemon lemon will get you close enough and if you have any leftover you can freeze it or use it in another recipe.
Niamh says
Hi, first of all thank you for the recipe! It has gone pretty well so far but I’m up to the drying stage and I’m wondering, where do you leave them to dry for 2 days without attracting vermin? If I left candied peel out on the counter overnight in NYC, there would be unwelcome guests within hours! I’m going to try an oven on low but would love to hear other suggestions.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Hi Niamh, I’ve never had problems with vermin but you can absolutely put the rack of candied peel in the oven as a protected area. Either leave it in there to dry on its own (without the oven on) or provided your oven has the ability to be set very low you can add some low heat.
Kerri King says
May I save peels throughout the year in the freezer then candy them at the holidays.
Kimberly Killebrew says
You sure can, Kerri!