What can a fiscally-limited foodie give as gifts this holiday season?  Homemade candied orange peels in pretty little mason jars with the world’s cutest gift tag ever (possible bias here).  Saveur.com wins again with a simple but deeeeelish recipe.

“Orange” you excited I have a ton of orange puns for the holidays?

“Orange” you glad it’s the holidays?

“Orange” you going to eat that last slice of banoffee pie?

“Orange” you happy you’re in a food coma?

and the winner:

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Candied Orange Peels [with my modifications]

MAKES ~100 STRIPS

6 navel oranges
2 cups sugar
1 cup water

Trim 1/4″-1/2” off ends of navel oranges.  Slice into eights and peel off skin.  Slice peels into 1/3-inch-wide strips or smaller, put in a bowl, cover with water, and refrigerate overnight. Transfer strips to a medium pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Drain strips and set aside.

In same pot bring sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil until sugar dissolves. Add strips.

Simmer until soft and glazed, about 30 minutes.  The flesh inside the skin will turn slightly translucent.

Dry strips on parchment paper until tacky. Roll in sugar and dip ends in melted chocolate, if you like.

This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.