Chocolate Coated Orange Peels

  • Prep Time: 4 hrs
  • Total Time: 10 hrs 15 mins
  • Yield: 80candies

    • About This Recipe

    “This makes a great gift, if you don’t finish it all yourself first!”

    Ingredients

  • 3oranges
  • 2cupssugar, plus extra for rolling
  • 2tablespoonsfresh lemon juice
  • 5ouncessemisweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 2teaspoonsvegetable oil

    • Directions

  • Line a baking sheet with wax paper; set aside.
  • Scrub oranges well, and cut in half.
  • Scoop out the flesh and reserve for another use.
  • Place the shells in a medium-sized bowl and cover with cold water, keeping them under water with a small plate or lid.
  • Let soak for about 4 hours or overnight, replacing the water once.
  • Cut each shell in half; place in a large heavy saucepan.
  • Add water to cover and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
  • Boil for 15 minutes.
  • Drain and repeat the process.
  • When oranges are cool enough to handle, cut into strips about 1/4 by 2 inches.
  • Return the strips to the saucepan; add sugar and 1 cup water.
  • Bring to a simmer over low heat.
  • Cook gently, stirring occasionally, until liquid is almost gone, about 1 1/2-2 hours.(Watch closely toward the end of cooking).
  • Add the lemon juice; stir to coat the strips.
  • Drain the strips in a sieve.
  • When they are cool enough to handle, spread on the prepared baking sheet.
  • Put all but 1/4 cup of the chocolate and the oil in the top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water.
  • Stir just until melted, remove double boiler from heat, and add the remaining chocolate, stirring until melted.
  • Roll each orange strip in sugar, then dip half of each peel into the chocolate and return to the baking sheet.
  • Place in the freezer for a minute or two to let the chocolate set.
  • Remove from the freezer and let them sit for several hours until they are firm.
  • Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

    • Reviews

  • “Wow is right!I love chocolate and orange and I always get coated peels at the candy store when I go, but I’ve never made them.It was worth the effort and the time.It took awhile longer on the cooking part than I think it should have, it took over 2 hours and I turned the heat up to medium halfway through because It hadn’t even started to simmer yet.I also just realized I forgot the lemon juice, not sure what that was for, hope it’s not important because it still tastes good!They will be gone in no time.”

  • “These are gorgeous — and so yummy too.The ONLY thing I would do different next time is to use superfine sugar rather than regular granulated sugar to coat the peels before dunking.Yes, they are definitely a great gift idea, and really pretty easy — my kids enjoyed watching (and tasting) the transformation from orange peel to candy.”

  • “Wow! the best thing since terry’s chocolate oranges… just one problem…oranges where you are seem rather larger than oranges where I am… no way could I eek out 80 candies!!! Ok, so I’m making at least triple of this next time… this is *SO* worth the time involved… trust me, theese are going to be sent out as gifts to a lot of my friends. I used 99% chocolate for 1/4 of them, then added some 55% chocolate to that for another 1/4 and then added some cocoa butter for the other half, My friends have varied tastes…not all of them like dark dark dark like me! the 99% is so strong…bitter bitter bitter, but the sweet sweet oranges make it just scruptious! Thanks for this great recipe!”

  • “Thank you for this one I tried it today and its wonderful!!Took quite a while but well worth the time taken”

  • “mirjam this was a huge hit in my holiday baskets!! thank you so much. my husband loved them as well and said they reminded him of home. thanks so much!!!!!!!”

  • “These were beautiful and tasted terrific.I loved the contrast of textures of the chewy peel, the grainy sugar coating, and the smooth rich chocolate coating.These take a very long time to make, but the hardest part if peeling the orange and removing the pulp.These made excellent holiday gifts.”

  • “Great recipe, very tasty candies.It is a lot of work, so this will be a special occasion recipe for me…but well worth the effort.Thanks for sharing.”

  • “Yum!!Absolutely LOVED it!!Didn’t like the rolling in sugar as the peels were quite sweet already so did half rolled in sugar and half without.Loving chocolate, I dipped the whole thing in chocolate.Very good and well worth it!”

  • “These are a lot of work…but they are worth it!Even though you will be putting in a lot of time, you are unlikely to mess them up if you follow these instructions.One thing: I was only able to squeeze less than 50 candies with this much chocolsate…so you might want to heat up more than just 5 oz.”

  • “I never mix the oil with the chocolate. I always use chocolate chips b/c they’re cheaper & they microwave & melt well.To microwave chips successfully I do it on 50% power and every thirty seconds I take the chocolate out and mix.Doing it this way takes about 3 min.”

  • “These are just as delicious as I remember from my childhood.I have learned a new respect for my late DM who made these for us every Christmas.Prepare to invest some time making these.”

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