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I think dried orange slices are one of the prettiest Christmas tree ornaments. The orange surprisingly complements the green tree very well and adds a nice pop of color that’s different from most other ornaments. It’s so natural, beautiful, and eye-catching. Plus, the process of making them creates memories you can cherish forever! Do this with friends, your kids, or even by yourself to make your house smell delicious and add a pop of natural color to your tree. You’ll thank me later!
What to use dried orange slices for
- Christmas tree ornaments
- Add it to a garland or a wreath
- Gift wrapping accessories – see this post to see how I tied it onto a gift with a cinnamon stick and twine.
- Tie it to a candle – see this post for my DIY Christmas candle that I used a dried orange slice for.
- Use as a topper/decoration for cupcakes or cake
- Use as a garnish for drinks (think cocktails, mocktails, punch, tea, cider, etc)
- Use as edible decoration for a charcuterie board. Keep in mind, dried orange slices are perfectly fine to eat! You can eat them plain, dipped in chocolate (after dipping in chocolate, feel free to sprinkle crushed candy canes on the chocolate for the classic orange/chocolate/peppermint flavor), sprinkled with sugar, etc.
Is it difficult to dry orange slices?
It’s really not, it just takes some patient waiting. You’ll slice them very thin, about 1/8 inch, then lay them out on a wire rack and put the rack on a baking sheet. You’ll bake them in the oven at a low temperature anywhere from 3-4 hours depending on how thick you made the slices. So, there’s really not much preparation involved, but there’s definitely a few hours of waiting.
Ingredients needed
Oranges – That’s it! You can use regular oranges, blood oranges, or both. Anywhere from 2-3 oranges sliced thin can fit on a couple baking sheets. For your own tree, you’ll only need to do one orange. However, if you want to give them as gifts or use them as Christmas gift wrapping, then I would use 2 or 3 oranges to make sure you have enough to go around.
Tools needed
Oven
Knife
Cutting board
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220ºF.
- Wash and dry the oranges.
- Carefully slice them. Make the slices about 1/8-inch thick, no thicker than 1/4-inch for it to not take too long in the oven (the thicker it is, the longer it takes to dry out).
- Gently pat the orange slices down with a towel to remove moisture – this allows them to cook a little quicker.
- Put a wire rack on a baking sheet.
- Lay out the orange slices on the wire rack. Keeping them on the rack instead of the baking sheet allows them to dry quicker since air can reach underneath them as well. If you don’t have a wire rack, then you can just put parchment paper on a baking sheet and place the slices on the parchment paper – keep in mind they will take longer to dry out, but they still will!
- Place the oranges in the oven and bake them at 220ºF for 1 1/2 hours, flipping them halfway through. Then turn the oven down to 170ºF and cook another 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours or until they are dried out. Flip them a couple times throughout the process so they cook evenly. Also check on them every so often to make sure none are overcooking, removing any that are done along the way. Even if you sliced them evenly, some pieces may dry out faster than others (such as if one orange was more juicy than another).
- Turn the oven off, leaving the oranges in there to cool with the oven. This allows them to dry out even more if there’s a hint of moisture in a couple spots. If they are fully dried out, though, then just remove them and let them cool at room temperature.
Other posts you’ll love
DIY Cinnamon Leaf Christmas Candle (using beeswax to be non-toxic!)
Please let me know if you try these DIY Dried Orange Slices! I would love to know how it went and what you used them for. Leaving a comment and review helps me significantly and allows me to keep creating content for you. I appreciate you very much!
PrintDIY Dried Oranges
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
- Category: DIY
- Method: Oven
Ingredients
Oranges – either orange or blood orange. Or both!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220ºF.
- Wash and dry the oranges.
- Carefully slice them. Make the slices about 1/8-inch thick, no thicker than 1/4-inch for it to not take too long in the oven (the thicker it is, the longer it takes to dry out).
- Gently pat the orange slices down with a towel to remove moisture – this allows them to cook a little quicker.
- Put a wire rack on a baking sheet.
- Lay out the orange slices on the wire rack. Keeping them on the rack instead of the baking sheet allows them to dry quicker since air can reach underneath them as well. If you don’t have a wire rack, then you can just put parchment paper on a baking sheet and place the slices on the parchment paper – keep in mind they will take longer to dry out, but they still will!
- Place the oranges in the oven and bake them at 220ºF for 1 1/2 hours, flipping them halfway through.
- Then turn the oven down to 170ºF and cook another 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours or until they are dried out. Flip them a couple times throughout the process so they cook evenly. Also check on them every so often to make sure none are overcooking, removing any that are done along the way.
- Turn the oven off, leaving the oranges in there to cool with the oven. This allows them to dry out even more if there’s a hint of moisture in a couple spots. If they are fully dried out, though, then just remove them and let them cool at room temperature. You do want to make sure they are dried out (a couple tiny spots with a tad bit of moisture are fine because it’ll dry naturally) so that they don’t grow mold.
