Start looking for oranges on sale. Dried orange slices are really easy to make, last for years & look just as good with a modern or a classic Christmas. PLUS there's a new trend in citrus drying on the Internet. And I test it.
You can take your seats and relax because this is probably the easiest and most effective Christmas decoration in existence other than setting out a box of After Eight dinner mints
Dried orange slices. Slice, bake, hang. Those are your instructions. That's it.
You might think with something so simple the results would be mediocre. They are not. The results are spectacular.
Table of Contents
So what can you do with them?
You can:
- hang them on a tree
- set them in a bowl
- tuck them into garland
- make an ENTIRE garland out of them
- stick them on a wood skewer and use them in planters or windowboxes
- make a wreath out of them (I have no idea how but I'm going to try to do just that, this year)
Use them however you want, orange slices are incredibly accommodating. They'll give you no trouble at all.
How to make dried orange slices.
Ingredients
Oranges, cut to ¼" thick
- Preheat oven to lowest temperature.
- Cut the orange slices to around ¼" thick.
- Set them on wire cookie racks, not a metal baking sheet (because they can stick and don't dry as evenly)
- Bake them at the lowest temperature your oven goes to (For me that was 150F.) for 4-6 hours* or until no stickiness remains.
* I have found the length of time to dry oranges or any citrus varies WILDLY. It could take 6 hours or it could take 24 hours.
2024 Update
There's a new trend for making dried orange slices. Suddenly everyone is recommending dusting them with powdered sugar before drying to make them the most vibrant they can be.
This year I tested that trend.
Before
After
- I dehydrated one tray of sliced oranges. Half I sprinkled with powdered sugar. Half I just cut & laid down on the tray.
- The scuttlebutt in dried citrus circles is that sprinkling the orange slices with powdered sugar is *the* way to get your oranges as vibrant and glassy as possible. It's the secret trick.
- There was no difference at all. In fact the plain ones looked better.
- I've placed all the slices into individual labelled containers and I'll check their colour again in next year.
TIP FOR ORANGE SLICES
I bought most of my oranges from the reduced produce section. They were bruised and weird, and yet they all turned out perfectly.
Let them dry until when you touch them they don't feel sticky at all. That can take from 4-6 hours depending on how thick the slices are and how juicy the orange is.
When they've finished drying just remove them from the oven, call yourself Laura Ingalls and look for a place to set them.
The oranges I had on the lower rack of my oven turned out darker than the ones higher up in the oven. If I'd checked on them more often I could have removed the lower ones so they didn't darken quite as much, but I actually like the variation in colours. You could also rotate your pans throughout the drying process.
As they age, they get darker anyway so don't worry about it.
How long will they last?
Years! I've had my original orange slices since 2017 and they're still in perfect shape, they've just become a bit darker. I just store them loose in a shoebox. 🤷♀️
The magic happens when the tree lights come on. If you place or orange slices in the vicinity of a lightbulb they GLOW like stained glass. This isn't some sort of Photoshop magic, this is how the dried orange slices look at night with the tree on.
Don't they look delicious? I know your next question.
Can you eat them?
Yes you can. I've never thought they were terribly delicious but it is fun to bite into a crispy orange.
Keeping dried orange slices in a mason jar somewhere in your pantry makes you look legit. You could be a legit cocktail master, a legit homesteader, a legit crafter ... The bottom line is if you have a jar of orange slices, you've got respect.
These orange slices combined with my DIY tree candles has resulted in the most beautiful Christmas tree I've ever had. (I'm updating the tree candles this year so watch for that)
Your tree will never catch a cold which is an added bonus.
Dried Orange Slices
A Christmas ornament for all of your senses. O.K. Maybe just your eyes and nose, but still.
Materials
- Naval oranges
Tools
- Oven or Dehydrator
Instructions
- Cut orange slices to around ¼" thick.
- Set them on wire cookie racks, not a metal cookie sheet (because they can stick and don't dry as evenly)
- Bake them at the lowest temperature your oven goes to for 4-6 hours or until no stickiness remains.
- For a DEHYDRATOR set the dehydrator to 135 degrees F and let them dry until they aren't sticky. It could take up to a day but check on them every few hours.
You could hang the oranges with ribbon or twine but I wanted the orange slices and only the orange slices to show up so I just shoved a regular hook for hanging Christmas balls through them. The hooks just disappear once they're on the tree.
Let's end with a poem. I have no idea why.
"Dried oranges, crisp and bright,
Powdered sugar, pure white light.
But who needs a dusting, sweet and fine,
When citrus alone works divine?
I’m wondering if this can be done with persimmons?
I’ll try a few.
I just got a bag of oranges and cinnamon sticks, and was ready to make these gorgeous ornaments but then we had a question.
Has anyone had any issues with the oranges attracting insects or mice? We want to make these this year but don't want to attract unwelcome Christmas guests...!
Beautiful! Could they be done in a good dehydrator?
They can and I have done them in my dehydrator, but I honestly prefer doing them in the oven. Probably just because it's a bit warmer in the oven than I normally set my dehydrator so they get done much more quickly. ~ karen!
Ok I have a batch baking in the oven right now and the gentle fragrance is heavenly! I too used the bargain bin fruit at half the price. My slices are huge.... wonder if this would work with clementines? I’d kinda like smaller diameter ones. I know, picky picky 🙄
Cheers from up the “hill”!
They'll shrink so your big ones won't be so big! And the clementines might end up nickel sized, lol ~ karen!
I'm a bit late to this party, but wanted to relate a cautionary tale. Many years ago I used a dehydrator to dry dozens of Orange slices for a few days. (While they were drying, I had to chase the flies away every time I walked past it. This is a major plot point.) I mixed them into a wonderful potpourri and displayed the mix in a wooden bowl on my coffee table. One night I was laying on the floor cuddling with our sleeping puppy and maggots started raining down on us! The bowl was infested with the little varmints and they were coming out to
play. Warning to make sure those beautiful orange slices are cut very thin and dried very well before using them anywhere.
I did this and also dehydrated the two ends from each orange to use as fire starters this winter in my fireplace. They do a great job of starting my DIY lint-filled toilet paper rolls wrapped in brightly colored birthday gift tissue that are tied on the ends with used string or jute twine.
Thanks for this great post! Ot was very inspiring.
I'll have to see if I dried my ends the other day, I can't even remember, lol. ~ karen!
How dried should the orange slices be when ready? I ask because I’m drying these in the warming oven at our off-grid cottage. The stove is a wood burning Findlay Oval, and we use the warming oven to dry herbs, warm plates, etc. Should the pretty pulp be perfectly dry when done? Or still somewhat squishy? The rinds seem very stiff at this point. I can’t go by oven temp because this is not a baking oven.
Hi Lindy. Sorry for the late reply. The oranges need to be completely dry. No squishy squishy left. ~ karen!
They also taste delicious in a cup of blueberry tea. Or any tea really.