12 Weeks of Christmas Treats: Candied Orange Peels

To contact us Click HERE

This week I wanted to do something frugal for my 12 weeks ofChristmas treats hosted by Meal Planning Magic. I decided to do candied orange peels. Most peoplethrow away the peels of oranges, but they are delicious candied. The candiedorange peels can be eaten plain or they can be added to recipes like my German Stollen, a Christmas bread.
These candied orange peels really go over well with kidsbecause they are sweet and have an intense orange flavor. My kids fight overwho gets to eat the candied orange peels. To remove the bitterness from theorange peels you want to boil the orange peels several times, but there is atrade off with boiling the orange peels because the orange flavor will alsodiminish as you boil the peels. The trick is to try and find your perfectboiling time that balances the bitterness and the orange flavor. Our familylikes to boil our orange peels three times. I find that after three times theorange peels are no longer bitter but the orange flavor is still nice.



Ingredients for Candied OrangePeel modified from an about video

Peel of 3 oranges
4 quarts of water (more or less maybe used depending upon the size of your pot)
¼ cup of water per 1 cup of peel
½ cup sugar per 1 cup of peel
1 cup sugar for coating the peel (more or less maybe used)

Directions

1. Cut the orange peel into thin strips.

2. Add the orange peel to a pot and add enough cold water on top to fully coverthe orange peel.

3. Bring the water to a simmer for 10 minutes. Drain the water.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 three more times.

5. Add ½ cup sugar and ¼ cup water per 1 cup of orange peel to a pot. Let thesolution come to a boil. Stir frequently to help the sugar dissolve.

6. Place the orange peels in the sugar solution and let boil for 30 minutes.*

7. Drain the orange peels on a wire rack for 2 minutes.

8. Roll the orange peel in sugar.

9. Allow the orange peels to dry on a wire rack. Once dry put the peels in anair tight container or use in a recipe. The peels will keep in an air tightcontainer for 1 week.·                   * The sugar solution can be used more than once.Store the sugar solution in an air tight container in the refrigerator for upto three days.

      Posted on Simple Lives Thursday