Perfect Dried Orange Slices

Happy December! Have you started decorating your home for the holiday season yet? You know how much we love food over here, why not decorate with it too? Cue the perfect dried orange slice recipe.

Dried oranges add a beautiful, warm, natural touch to holiday decorations. If you hang them by a window, they almost mimic stained glass as the sun shines through, illuminating the slices with a warm glow. They work really well as a garland, either on their own, strung up with greenery, or as individual Christmas tree ornaments. The possibilities are endless!

The key to a perfect dried orange slice is to bake low and slow, checking them often. A low oven temperature and a few hours of your time will ensure that you don't end up with brown, burnt orange slices! Trust me, I've learned from years of experience! In fact, I have tried so many different recipes over the years, and not one of them has yielded excellent results. So, after a lot of trial and error, I am so pleased to share with you this fool-proof recipe for perfect dried orange slices every time!

🖤 Perfect Dried Orange Slices 🖤

Ingredients/Tools Needed:

• 3-4 naval oranges
• cutting board
• sharp, serrated knife
• paper towel
• cookie sheets
• parchment paper
• twine
• large needle

Directions: 

1. Preheat your oven to 200°F.
2. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut oranges into 1/8 inch slices. If you leave them too thick, they will not dry out completely.
3. Lay some paper towel on your counter and evenly place the orange slices on top. Use another sheet of paper towel to blot any excess moisture off the tops of the orange slices.
4. Once you have removed as much excess moisture as possible, place slices evenly upon a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, ensuring that there is no overlap between the slices.
5. Bake the orange slices for 1 hour at 200°F. 
6. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and flip over your orange slices. Flipping the slices helps prevent them from curving up. Place them back into the oven and bake again for 20 minutes.
7. Continue to flip and check the oranges every 20 minutes or so, until all the orange slices are completely dried out. This may take several hours, but you will regret it if you don't check on them often! *As the time passes, you may notice that some slices have dried up completely before others. Remove the slices that are done, and continue to monitor the others every 10 minutes or so, flipping each time. Repeat this step until all the orange slices have dried out completely.* This tip is essential to keep your slices from burning!
8. Once they have cooled, grab a large sewing needle to poke holes at the top of the oranges and help feed through some twine to string your garland or ornaments.

We hope you enjoy creating some gorgeous decorations with your dried oranges! Let us know what you make, and feel free to send us some pictures of your creations or tag us in your posts on social media @coffeecookieskale !