Last Updated on December 29, 2022 by laurenpacek
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Dried Orange Slices make a beautiful addition to cocktails and mocktails. No fancy food dehydrator needed, either. Just use your oven!
Table of contents
What are Dried Orange Slices?
As the name would suggest, they're orange slices that have been dried out or dehydrated! They can be dried in an oven or in a proper food dehydrator. Because I don't have a dehydrator, but do have an oven, I've opted to go the oven-drying route.
You can use them in a variety of ways. A few suggestions include using them as holiday home decor (think: garlands, wreaths, tree decorations), for decorating baked goods, as an ingredient in mulling spices, or use them as a garnish for drinks!
Ingredients
You only need a single ingredient in order to make these dehydrated orange slices.
- Orange: The only ingredient you need to make this is a single orange! You can use whatever kind of orange you like. I used a navel orange, because that's what I happened to have on hand. Blood oranges would be a really nice option, too.
That's it!
How to dry orange slices
These dried orange slices are very easy to make. Let's walk through it.
First, you'll line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside for a second. Next, take your orange and slice it into thin wheels and lay them onto the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.
You'll see in the photo below that I didn't do the world's greatest job of slicing the orange into terribly even rounds. <shrug>
Pop the baking sheet into the oven and let it do its thing. It can take 2-4 hours to dry the orange slices out sufficiently, so allot up to 4 hours. Make sure that you check on them every 30 minutes or so, so that you can flip them over.
You can see that the wonkiness with which I sliced the orange is really accentuated by the drying process. That's okay.
Recommended tools
Other drink garnishes
- Smoked Ice from A Nerd Cooks
- Candied Orange Slices from Art of Natural Living
- Sugared Cranberries from A Nerd Cooks
- Best Bloody Mary Garnishes from Feast and West
- Homemade Luxardo Cherries from A Nerd Cooks
FAQs/Tips and tricks
Sure, you can dry any citrus fruit that you like.
Yes, just follow the instructions for whatever model food dehydrator that you own.
You can use them to decorate baked goods--like cakes, as a part of holiday decorations, or use them as cocktail/mocktail garnishes.
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How-To
Dried Orange Slices
Dried Orange Slices make a beautiful addition to cocktails and mocktails. No fancy food dehydrator needed, either. Just use your oven!
Materials
- 1 orange (see notes)
Tools
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set it aside.
- Slice the orange into thin wheels. Lay the orange wheels onto the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.
- Place the baking sheet into the preheated oven. Bake for 2-4 hours, flipping the orange slices over every half hour.
- Once the orange slices have dried to your liking, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
You can use whatever variety of orange you prefer. I used a navel orange, but a blood orange would also be a really nice option.
Pin this recipe for later!
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