Chocolate Covered Candied Orange Peel

So happy to do my first food blog!  I've been wanting to try and make these chocolate treats  for the longest time, I figured there is no better time to start than right now.  The chocolate covered candied orange peels turned out so well, so I want to share the recipe with you all.   I’m sure they make the perfect munchy for you and your guest this holiday season.  You’d want to make extra and tuck away some just for your own!

Ingredients

6 thick-skinned oranges (I used navel)

4 1/2 cups of sugar, plus extra for rolling (I used extra fine sugar for rolling)

1 1/2 cups of water

1 cup of dark chocolate (or whatever kind you prefer)

Directions

Cut the tops and bottoms from the oranges.

Score each orange peel into 4 equal pieces, cutting only the peel, not the fruit.

Remove each piece of skin with pith off of orange.

Cut the peel into strips about 1/4 inch wide.

Put orange peel into a large pot with cold water to cover.  

Bring to boil over high heat, pour off water.

Repeat for one or two times depending on your taste preference.  

This is to remove the bitterness of the pith.  I boiled mine three times total.

Whisk together sugar and water, bring to simmer over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

Add peels and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, or until peels are translucent.  

Stir gently so peels do not break.

Drain the peels and place them on cooling rack to dry over night.

Save the syrup for ice tea!

Day 2, while the peels are well drained yet still sticky to the touch, roll in super fine sugar and return back to rack for further drying.  I rolled about half of my peels in sugar, and left the other half just as is, just to have variety.  The drying takes anywhere from 1 to 3 days depending on humidity.  

Day X, after countless hours of staring and drooling over your peels, the time has finally come!  Melt chocolate, I prefer dark, and dip each peel in chocolate and place on parchment paper to dry.  If you like the peels without chocolate, that is perfectly fine too.  

If you like, before chocolate sets, decorate the peels with holiday sugar sprinkles, or drizzle white chocolate to add extra wow factor.  Voilà!  Enjoy, and remember to package peels in cute plastic bags or boxes to use as holiday party favors for friends and family!

XOXO

Jia