Home For The Holidays Making Dried Citrus

I have been throwing many things at the wall this year to see what sticks. Without Danielle Gibson Events designing and planning corporate events because of Covid, what do I want to do with my life during this time? I have asked this time and time again. This holiday I have decided to take my spare time and CREATE, something I love to do. I also like projects that are easy, so if this is you too, join me along the month of December!

FIRST UP…DRIED CITRUS

I have always loved the way dried citrus looks for the holidays, but for some reason never tried making it. I love the idea of not using typical decor and traditional colors for the holidays. I like creating a look that feels homemade and organic. There is also so many uses for dried citrus – hanging on your tree as an ornament, creating a citrus garland, adding it to a package as gift wrap, and using it in a decor vignette around the house… to name a few.

You can see my Instagram Reels on quick visual directions on how to dry the citrus.

Here Is What You Need:

Citrus – Select different types of citrus so you have an array of sizes and colors. Oranges, blood oranges and grapefruits were the type I chose. Each citrus will give you about 4-5 slices depending on the size. You will be cutting the citrus into 1 cm slices so keep this in mind when selecting your size and quantity. Also, you want to think about how many slices you can fit on your baking sheet in the oven, since it takes about 4 hours to bake, you might only want to do this once! (but you can save them for several years!)

Baking Sheet – Any size baking sheet will work, depending on how many you want to bake.

Step 1

Pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees. Cut the citrus into 1 cm slices and line them up on your baking sheet. I like to use a paper towel and press down on each slice, gently pushing out the excess juice so gives them a head start! (In this photo I tried out parchment paper under the citrus, but I don’t think it is needed)

Step 2

Place the slices on the baking sheet in the oven and set a timer for 1 hour. After 1 hour check on the drying process. I don’t think they will be done, but this will give you an idea of how much longer you should keep them on this side before flipping them over. I would assume about another 45 minutes on the first side. Once you feel they look pretty dry on this side, flip them over and bake for another 1-2 hours. Be careful not to keep them in too long and burn them.

Step 3

Remove your citrus from the oven and let them sit a few hours/day to continue to dry out. If you don’t have the time, you can always use them right away.

Step 4

Decorate! Here I styled them next to items in my home with a little Holiday greenery. More design ideas coming during December, stay tuned!

Special thanks to all the Pinterest and Instagram posts I viewed that inspired this project.

Great makers of dried citrus around the web….