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
Jim says
I have been really enjoying all of your recipes after I discovered your site when I was searching for an authentic Lebkuchen recipe. Making the Lebkuchen tonight!
I have been making candied peels for years (and other candied fruits—this year I tried pears and a whole pineapple), and I wanted to share a little discovery I made this holiday season.
I always have trouble with peels that have even a tiny amount of pith left on them being really bitter—even after three blanchings. So this year, when trying to maneuver my little knife into all the concave surfaces of an orange peel to cut out the pith, I tried a spoon to scrape it out instead. It worked GREAT!! I didn’t have to blanch the orange peel at all, and the flavor was so much more intense (no oils lost in the blanching process.)
I made some grapefruit, too, but the pith didn’t come loose in the raw state, so I blanched it once and the pith came right out with a spoon. Considering that I candy big batches (a few dozen fruits at a time) it takes a while to cut up and clean up the peels. This new spoon method goes much faster and I found it even results in fresher tasting and more intense fruit peels.
By the way – love this site. Thanks.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much, Jim, both for the compliment and for sharing those helpful tips!
Veronica Shelford says
I just tried a variation on this with the leftover lemon rind and pulp after I had taken the zest and juice for my mincemeat. I wondered why the extra boiling in plain water, so tried it without. The results are as follows:
– the extra boiling is to get rid of the bitter taste. If you like bitter (and I do), no need. A bit like chewing on crunchy shards of marmalade.
– leaving the inside pulp from the lemon as well as the white under the skin makes for a moister product which takes longer to dry, but tastes fine. I next tried thin slices of the whole fruit, and again, the additional moisture changes the balance, but adds sweetness to the bitter of the white pulp.
– don’t know how well this will keep, but as we keep eating it, I don’t know if I’ll ever find out. Don’t know how it would work in recipes calling for candied peel – might be too moist. Any experience with this?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much for these insights and feedback, Veronica. I personally prefer the peels more sweet than bitter so I opt for removing the white pith. As a result, yes, the candied peels are drier/harder but soften up nicely when added to other recipes. And conversely yes, they will be softer and more moist with the pith left on. This latter texture is more reminiscent of store-bought citrus peel and shouldn’t be a problem at all when you add them to baked goods. For storage, I usually keep them refrigerated in an airtight container or ziplock bag and if I end up going through them very slowly (which rarely happens), I put them in the freezer.
Becca Ray says
Thanks so much for this! I would just like to note that if you are in the Midwest United States in the middle of November, finding organic citrus can be a difficult (and expensive) endeavor. That being said, I found the best and cheapest organic oranges at ALDI, and I think there’s something poetic about starting my stollen journey there.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Awesome, Becca! I miss Aldi in Germany. They need to build some in the Pacific Northwest! Those homemade Stollen are going to be A-mazing with that homemade candied citrus peel!!
Helen Young says
Thank you!! I love Christollen and will def make my own citrus peel
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
You’re welcome, Helen, I hope you enjoy both recipes!
Helen Jones says
This looks just what I’m looking for!!!!! I want some candied peel for my Christmas Cake. I’m goin’ in!!!!!!
Karin Powell says
Kimberly,
Thank you for the recipe! My son is serving in the Navy, and is out to sea right now. He sent me a email this morning requesting candied lemon peels and brownies! Of course I am happy to oblige his request! Making a triple batch, as he always shares the goodies I send him with other sailors!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s fantastic, Karin, you’re such a great mom! Best wishes to your son and I hope he and his comrades enjoy the goodies!
Kelly says
Question – Being that Citrus for us Northeners only comes around after Christmas (Jan. – Feb.) Would I not be able to vacumn seal these citrus candies and extend their freshness beyond a month so that I could use them when Christmas comes around again?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s a great question, Kelly. I haven’t tried vacuum-sealing them but what I do for long-term storage is freeze them.
Jade says
I had a little trouble when I made a batch of this for Lebkuchen; I discovered that for every handful of the citrus peel, there would be one or two strips that were extremely tough; very difficult to chew. Do you know what might have caused that? I was still able to use most of the batch just fine, I just had to check each piece before I used it. I made it all in one batch, so I wonder if I might have just gotten an orange with a really tough peel, or something like that?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Jade, I’ve had the same thing happen to me and I’m not really sure why some turn out that way. It may very well have to do with the peel of one particular orange or lemon. I’ve still be able to use them in baked goods though because they soften in the batter and while the goods are baking.
Joyce says
Daring Gourmet is my go-to for German cookies. The Lebkuchen and Pfeffernusse are amazing. I’m back again for the candied citrus peel recipe. I would have had enough for a second batch of lebkuchen, but come to find out, my partner has been eating the leftover citrus peel all month. The leftover citrus syrup has been great in cocktails. Thanks for sharing your awesome recipes!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m thrilled to hear that, Joyce, thank you so much!
Maggie says
I would love to make them but it got very high calories, 1641 per serving!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Maggie, the nutrition info (incl. calories) for this recipe isn’t per individual serving, it’s for the entire batch of candied citrus peel.
April Murch says
Can I put these in a dehydrator instead of waiting two days? I’m in a very small apartment and can’t spare the table that long.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi April, that’s a good idea and yes, that should work perfectly. Just put it on the lowest heat setting.
Jen says
I’m going to attempt drying these in a very low temperature oven, using the convection fan, because I want to get my stollen baked tomorrow and I’m just now making them! (I’m pregnant and my timing is suffering as a result.)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Jen, good call, that’s should work perfectly. Happy baking and Merry Christmas to you, your baby and family! :)
Jen Weber says
Thank you, and it did! The peel is amazing.
Rhiannon says
I’ve just made these and they’re perfect! I’ll be using them in my homemade mincemeat recipe ready for Christmas. Thank you!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wonderful, Rhiannon, I’m using these for my mincemeat as well – Merry Christmas in advance! :)
barb says
I’ve been making all of the above for years only thing i do differently is i add the juice from the fruit to the simple syrup what a difference that nakes in the taste. i do lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruits people.love them.
Donna Marie Murphy says
Omg kids big and small love these. I also went step further and after the simmering I cut in 1 1/2″ prices and instead of coating in just sugar I mixed 1/2 sugar 1/2 jolly rancher jello mix and got sour patch pieces. Want more sour less sweet omit sugar. Yummy. Thank you for original recipe. I’m one to always go with original then make up my own. Some work great some some flop.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s groovy, Donna, I’ve always been a fan of sour candies (I’ve used citric acid in the past for homemade), thanks for sharing!
Suzanne says
I tried this to add as a topper to some lemon bites. But I lost the first batch as I turned my attention elsewhere for a truly short time and the sugar syrup burned and turned everything to brown rocks. This happened long before 45 minutes. Up early next morning I tried again, this time stirring much more than called for. Again, the syrup turned to sugar after 30 minutes but fortunately I caught it. I was able to rub the cooked sugar off and use them. I’m not an experienced candy maker. Anybody got an idea what I did wrong? They are beautiful and I will try again.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Suzanne, I’m glad the second batch turned out. It sounds like it’s probably a temperature issue, that you may have had it too high. You’ll want to reduce the heat and keep the peels at a low simmer.