Chocolate covered orange peel

Somewhere along the line I turned sixty five and started going to bed at nine o’clock, increasing the font size on my kindle and eating chocolate covered orange peel out of tin boxes.

Okay, I’m just kidding about the tin box part. But still! For some very strange reason, I always equated chocolate covered orange peel with “old people”. It seemed like an old fashioned confection to bring out during tea time or something…I don’t know!

But then…I started having this relationship with the big, juicy naval oranges that are everywhere in Northern California right now…

and then I crossed over to the dark side.

My only regret is that it took me this long to make these little gems!

Seriously, they are insanely simple to make and even more addictive than cooler ranch doritos…if you could only imagine! I’ve been eating them all weekend long and am turning a wee bit orange to prove it.

The process is very similar to making candied meyer lemon slices. All you need is fruit, sugar, water and…chocolate, of course!

Methinks they would make wonderful gifts—all wrapped up in tissue paper and cute ribbon—that is, if they last that long! If you like those chocolate oranges, you will LOVE this. Trust me!

The best part: they’re practically a health food!

Chocolate Covered Orange Peel

Print this recipe!

Ingredients:

1 large naval orange

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Cut the orange in half and then gently cut around to scoop out the segments. You should be left with two empty orange halves that look like little bowls. Smoosh the orange bowls down on the counter and slice into thin pieces–it doesn’t matter how long the pieces are, some will be short and some will be long. Set aside.

Boil together the sugar and water (it will look like wet sand). Once boiling, add the orange peels and reduce the heat to simmer. Let simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the sugar water is very thick and sticky and the orange peels have almost become translucent.

Remove orange peels (this is easiest using a fork) and let dry on wax paper for two hours. After they’ve dried, melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler and dip each peel halfway in.

Let cool completely so the chocolate hardens.

Time:

2 hrs 15 minutes