Apricot Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

So, there I was, munching away on dried apricots, when it hit me!  The flavors for my next cookie! Chocolate and apricot are a match made in heaven. So is orange and chocolate. So why not incorporate them into a delicious chewy cookies with little chewy chunks of goodness. 

The base of this recipe came from Pinterest.  I knew I wanted this to be a chewy cookie.  I also knew that I'd be using chocolate chips, so the base of this cookie is a yummy chocolate chip cookie that I found and have made once before.  Then it was just a matter of adding in the other flavors I wanted. 

I was able to control myself long enough to wait until they cooled out of the oven.  This is needed in order to achieve optimal chewiness. Mission accomplished!  Perfectly chewy, large, full of flavor.  The orange flavor is not too strong but pairs well with the apricots and the chocolate chips.  The small chunks of apricots are a wonderful addition.  I'm in love with this cookie.  

Apricot Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

Modified from Host The Toast

Ingredients

• 2 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 tsp orange juice
• 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup dried apricots, finely diced

Cooking Directions

1. In a medium sized bowl, add the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, orange zest and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the sugars and cooled butter and beat for 1 minute.
3. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and the orange juice. Mix.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients in and mix until combined.
5. Add in the chocolate chips and apricot pieces and stir until combined. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
6. Let your oven preheat to 325º
7. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper
8. Scoop out 1/4 cup of dough and place on a cookie sheet. Leave room for them to spread out while cooking
9. Bake for 12-18 minutes, rotating once halfway through. Remove when the edges are golden brown
10. Let sit on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack

Orange Cream Frozen Yogurt

More Greek yogurt deliciousness.  This one is so good for the hot summer days that are quickly approaching.

This yogurt is so fresh tasting, yet creamy.  I loved how I felt guilty for eating it until I realized it's not that bad for me.  It's WAY better than the store bought alternatives.  The orange flavors are blended perfectly with the vanilla yogurt.  It's not too sweet, it's just perfect.

Very much like those orange creamsicle's we had as kids, only healthier.

Orange Cream Frozen Yogurt

Recipe from Food Network magazine

Ingredients

• 3 cups plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup low fat milk
• 2 Tbsp orange juice
• 1 1/2 tsp orange zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cooking Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients until smooth.
2. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturers instructions until soft-serve texture is reached.
3. Freeze

Chinese Orange Chicken

Another chicken recipe that I'm in love with.  I'm really getting into this chicken idea.  I might end up liking it after all. I could eat this chicken recipe every week, and I would if it weren't for the frying part.  Not that I mind eating fried stuff, but that act of actually frying is more than I could do on a weekly basis. 

I absolutely adore how crunchy the chicken gets and then it's covered in this delicious thick orange sauce.  It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Traditionally served over rice, I skipped that step.  I needed all the extra room I could get inside my belly for this deliciousness. 
Chinese Orange Chicken
Recipe from Cooking Classy

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 - 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp finely grated orange zest
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp dried ginger
• 2 Tbsp grated yellow onion, and the juices
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tsp sriracha hot sauce (optional)
• black or white pepper, finely ground to taste
• 1 1/4 cups + 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp cold water
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• vegetable or peanut oil for frying
• diced green onion for garnish

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan add the chicken broth, orange zest, orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, onion, garlic and sriracha.  Whisk together and then pour out 2/3 of a cup. 
2. In a gallon sized zip lock bag add the chicken pieces and pour the 2/3 cup of reserved sauce over the top.  Marinade in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 
3. While the chicken is marinading, turn the heat on under the saucepan full of sauce, bring to a boil.  In a small bowl add together 2 Tbsp of the cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of the water and then add it to the sauce.  Heat on medium low for about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit until needed. 
4. Pour enough vegetable oil in a dutch oven to measure about 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep.  Heat to 350º. 
5. Meanwhile whisk the eggs in one dish and put the remaining 1 1/4 cups of cornstarch in another dish. 
6. When the oil is ready, remove the chicken from the bag and dump out the leftover marinated from the chicken bag. Roll the chicken in the egg and then the cornstarch and then put in the oil.  Let fry until golden brown, remove to a paper towel lined cookie sheet.  Work in batches until they are all cooked.  
7. Roll the fried chicken around in the thickened sauce and serve hot.  Top with green onions if desired. 

Orange Bites

Happy Monday!  Well we're that much closer to the weekend right? I'm trying to look on the bright side.

My weekend was super busy, was yours? Tis the season after all.

This recipe comes from the most amazing cookbook.  I love it because it was recipes submitted by people all over America, then Cooks Country tested the recipe and made improvements if needed and then published the recipe and talked about the improvements if there were any.  This recipe was one where no improvements were needed.  It is one of the most unusual cookies I've ever made.

I'll try to describe the flavors but I'm not sure I'll be doing them justice.  They do have an orange flavor, however the dates add a sweetness and texture that is hard to explain.  Combine that with the sweetness of the butterscotch and the nuts it's almost like a fruitcake.  The texture isn't cakey or chewy…..it's moist and has chunks of complimentary flavors but it's heavy and dense. I know that wasn't a great description but you just have to make them and try them yourself.  They are super delicious.  Definitely unique.  I think it's a great holiday type cookie since it is sort of reminiscent of a fruit cake (in my opinion).

I'm so glad I tried this recipe.  I love to try new things, especially during the holiday season when a lot of people tend to stick to the same tried and true recipes.  This will shake things up just a tiny bit. :)

Orange Bites

Recipe from "From Our Grandmother' Kitchens" page 141

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups pitted whole dates, chopped
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp fresh orange zest
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• confectioners' sugar for dusting

Cooking Directions

1. Heat oven to 375º
2. Place oven racks in the upper, middle and lower positions.
3. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
4. Bring dates, butter, brown sugar, orange juice and zest to a simmer in a sauce pan and cook until slightly thickened. Measure out 2 cups of this mixture and let cook about 5 minutes. Then remove to a large bowl to let cool to room temperature. About 30 minutes.
5. Whisk eggs into cooled date mixture, one at a time.  Combine. 
6. In another bowl add the flour, salt and baking soda. 
7. Fold in the flour mixture into the date mixture until just combined. 
8. Add the butterscotch chips and the nuts and combine.
9. Drop by rounded Tbsp onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for about 10 minutes.  The edges will begin to brown and firm up a little and the centers will soft and puffy. 
10. Rotate cookie sheets halfway through the baking process. 
11. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for about 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 
12. Lightly dust with confectioners' sugar before serving. 

Orange Cookies

Halloween is just over and already the stores are rockin with Christmas shoppers.  I feel so behind already.  I tend to be one of those who gets all my shopping done in one day the week before Christmas.  I'm prepared like that. Oh, and also mostly online.  I dislike Christmas shopping in stores immensely.

My neighbors and I have a holiday baking day right before Christmas and that's the day that I look forward to every year.  In preparation for that, I have begun to make recipes I want to make.  This one is out of my newest cookbook "South Carolina Hometown Cookbook" that I absolutely LOVE.  From my research online it appears they will have one for each state, so far they only have six I think.

This recipe makes quite a lot of cookies so be prepared.  However, they are delicious so that wasn't a problem in my house.  I also brought them to a Halloween party we attended and they were loved there as well.  

Great orange flavor, moist, caky texture.  The glaze on top really drives home that orange flavor.  We added some sprinkles because cookies just taste better with sprinkles, and because they look pretty with sprinkles, and also I have a little girl who adores them.

It's nice to have this fresh orange flavor in the midst of all this chocolate and mint (which I also love) flavors.  Makes me feel like I'm eating healthy, when I'm actually not at all. 
Orange Cookies

Recipe from South Carolina Hometown Cookbook page 195

Originally named Great Grandma Marden's Orange Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 cup buttermilk mixed with 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 whole orange, juiced and zested
• 3 leveled tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Icing

• 1 whole orange, juiced and zested
• powdered sugar

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350º
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer add the butter and sugar and beat well.
3. Add the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and orange juice and zest and mix on low speed.
4. Add the sifted flour, baking powder and salt and mix until blended.
5. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto a cookie sheet. (I used a cookie scoop)
6. Bake for about 10 minutes. The tops will remain pale but the bottoms will be golden. 

Makes about 50 - 2 inch cookies. 

Fantastic Fruit Salad

We finally made it back home!  It was a long, long process.  I had such a good time visiting my family in Montana that it overpowers our struggles to get home. I will be posting pictures soon, I still need to figure out how to get some off of my phone....I guess I'll google that.

While we were there, my aunt made us several meals and this fruit salad was at two of them.  It was a definite hit.  Even though I didn't make this myself, I felt it had to be shared.

Talk about the perfect summer fruit salad.  Since there isn't any dairy this can be brought on a picnic where refrigeration isn't possible.  The pie filling made the salad smooth and added a nice sweetness.  I really liked the use of fresh strawberries vs frozen, I would definitely make this again.

Fantastic Fruit Salad

Recipe from my aunt Cathy

Ingredients

• 2 cans mandarin oranges, drained
• 2 cans (15 oz) pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 (16 oz) package frozen strawberries (she used fresh)
• 1 can peach pie filling
• 1 can apricot pie filling (she couldn't find this so she used 2 can's of peach)
• 2 banana's, sliced

Cooking Directions

1. Add all of the ingredients into a medium bowl and gently mix together.

Good Morning Muffins

I have to say, The Pioneer Woman did it again.  I love this muffin. I love everything about it.  I did change the ratio of flour from all all-purpose flour and instead did 50% white whole wheat and 50% unbleached all-purpose flour but I couldn't even tell that they weren't all white flour.  They were incredibly moist, they have a nice orange taste flavor inside and cinnamon sugar crunch on the top, and the inside was dense (which is how I like them) but not so dense that you have to drink a glass of milk just to wash them down.

The topping adds nice crunch and cinnamon flavor.

MyFitnessPal calculates the recipe that I used (with my changes as seen below) at 233 calories each.  Definitely not diet food but if you're able to keep it to just one muffin for breakfast it's so worth it. I froze half of the muffins for later and I'll report back when I un-thaw them to see if they change much when thawed.

This would be great to have on hand for a quick breakfast or snack, put one in your kids lunch boxes or even your own lunch box. A keeper for sure!

Good Morning Muffins

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour (or just whole wheat)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 2 cups orange marmalade
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 whole eggs, beaten
• Topping
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg (I used a scant tsp)
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp butter, melted
• 1/4 tsp salt
• wheat germ (optional)

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flours, sugar and baking powder.
3. Add in the butter and shortening and use a pastry cutter to incorporate it into the flour mixture.
4. In a separate medium sized bowl add the marmalade, orange juice and vanilla.
5. In a small bowl add the eggs and beat, then mix into the marmalade mixture.
6. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and use less than 10 very large stirs to incorporate the ingredients.
7. Use a cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop to add the mix to fill the muffin tin.
8. In a separate small bowl add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, melted butter and salt and mix well. Top each muffin with this mixture. Add wheat germ to the top if desired.
9. Bake for 20-22 minutes for full sized muffins. I used mini muffins also and they baked for about 13-15 minutes.
10. Remove from the pan and cool on wire racks.

Orange Gumdrops

My husband and daughter and I went to a viewing of "Brave" at our local library last night.  My daughter and I had already seen in in IMax 3D but my husband hadn't seen it yet.  During the 3D version of this movie my daughter had her head buried in my shoulder for the last half of the movie.  There is a scary part at the end but she was even scared (or maybe just bored) around the middle of it and wanted to leave the theater.  Well, pretty much that exact same scenario played out last night.  I'm sort of over trying to go to free movie screenings now.  This is the second time we've gone to the library and both times it has been completely packed and if you move over one little inch the kids next to you take over that inch and you're slowly squeezed out.  Last night I tried to play it safe and not give up any of our hard earned space only to realize that I could no longer feel my legs.  I was SO thankful when my daughter turned to me and said "can we leave, this movie scaring me"?  I was like, oh of course my dear sweet darling daughter, I would absolutely love to leave....can you help me walk? I can't walk...seriously.  I think I looked less than graceful trying to work my way out of that room. 

That story really has nothing to do with today's post.  

Have you ever had those little orange jelly candies that are in the shape of an orange slice? I love those things.  These are just like that only not in the shape of an orange, not as shockingly orange in color but twice as yummy in taste.  I didn't even have to add any food coloring and look how beautifully orange they are!  Loved the flavor!  Loved the texture! Loved everything about these candies!

I will make these again and when I do I will post some additional pictures to help you in the process.  The picture above is what your candy will look like when you remove it from the loaf pan and before you start cutting pieces.

I ended up cutting mine into about 1 inch cubes.  Then I cut each cube in half again and dredged each piece in sugar.

As mentioned in the post I linked below, once you get the hang of how to make these you can mix up the flavors and make some mint, raspberry or pretty much any other flavor's you can think of.

A good candy thermometer is important here and I only slightly changed the recipe from the link below by not adding any food coloring.

I hope you give these a try!

Orange Gumdrops
Modified slightly from The Way To His Heart

Ingredients

• 1 tsp plus 1 Tbsp butter, softened, divided
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 package powdered fruit pectin (1 3/4 ounces)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp orange extract
• 1 tsp orange zest
• additional sugar (optional)

Directions

1. 9x5 inch loaf pan lined with tin foil and buttered with 1 tsp butter (I used cooking spray)
2. Grease a large heavy saucepan on the sides and bottom with the remaining butter. 
3. Add the sugar and corn syrup and cook over medium heat until the mixture begins to boil.  Turn the heat up to medium high and cook until the temperature reaches 280 degrees on a candy thermometer. 
4. Meanwhile, in a separate large saucepan combine the water, pectin and baking soda.  This mixture will bubble a little. Cook and stir over high heat until mixture boils. Remove from heat and set aside. 
5. When the corn syrup mixture has reached 280 degrees, remove from the heat. 
6. Return the pectin mixture to the heat and cook on medium high until it begins to simmer.  Slowly pour in the corn syrup mixture in a small stream while stirring consistently. Cook for 1 minute. 
7. Remove from the heat and stir in the extract and peel. 
8. Pour into the prepared pan and let sit for two hours. 
9. Remove from the dish by pulling up the tin foil and cut into desired sized pieces.  Coat in sugar if desired. 

Candied Orange Peel

It has happened twice now that I've gone to make a recipe and needed candied orange peel and couldn't find it. I called all the stores I thought would carry it and apparently it's only a seasonal thing so I was out of luck. I decided it was time to make my own.  There are a ton of recipes out there on the Internet and I can't quite tell you why I chose this one but I did.  It worked, and I have a ton of candied orange peel now.  If I ever do need to make more I'll give one of the other recipes a whirl because this one does take several days.  It's not the instant gratification recipe that I usually go for.  If you've got a favorite please feel free to share. I need to candy some Lemons too....

I started with 6 organic oranges.  You really need oranges with no wax coating and a nice thick peel.

Cut the peels off in one inch pieces (after cutting the top and bottom portion off).

You can leave the pith on at this point, it will be removed later.

Cover in water

Boil for two minutes and then drain.  Do this three more times.

Make a simple syrup.

Juice all those oranges while you wait. I have a good orange ice cream recipe on here if you're interested. The juice has no bearing on this recipe at all. 

After the third boiling, peel the pith off leaving about 1/8 inch.

Boil the peels again two more times for a total of five times.

Drain and drop the peels into the simple syrup. Cook for 15 minutes and then turn off the heat and let sit overnight.

In the morning, use your fingers to push off the thick syrup and lay the peels on a cooling wrack for at least 24 hours.

I saved the syrup that came off the orange strips.  I have no idea what to do with it other than use it in tea.

After the peels are dry and not tacky, coat them in sugar and then let them sit for another 24 hours.

Store in your freezer indefinitely in a plastic storage container.


Candied Orange Peel
Recipe found at "Calabria From Scratch" found here

6 Organic Oranges - or oranges that have not been coated with wax.
4 cups sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Water

Use a pairing knife to cut the orange skin off in about 1 inch pieces. You can leave the pith on at this point and remove it later after cooking.

Cover the peels in cold water and bring to a boil for two minutes. Do this process three times.  After the peels have cooled you can begin to remove the pith.  Leave about 1/8 inch of the pith.

After the pith has been removed you will need to follow the step above again two more times for a total of 5 times.

In a separate pot you will make a simple syrup.  Add the sugar, lemon juice and 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Stir often until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the drained peels and cook at a simmer for about an hour until the peels look translucent.

Remove from the heat and let cool overnight in the syrup. The next morning the syrup will be very thick, like honey.  Use your fingers to pick out each peel and run two fingers down each peel to remove the excess syrup.  Place the peels on a drying rack. Let them dry for at least 24 hours until they are no longer tacky.  Coat them with sugar and let them dry for another 24 hours before storing them in your freezer indefinitely.

Orange Ice Cream

So there I was making all of these candied orange peels (to be posted about later) and using all these orange skins and not really thinking about what I was going to do with the actual oranges.  Basically I did it backwards.  I should have decided to make orange ice cream and then thought about the candied orange peels so I wouldn't be wasting anything. Even better, I shouldn't have told anyone the truth about me being a backwards thinker and just let you all think that I'm not wasteful. Yep, that's what I should have done. 

If only there was a delete button or something.

Oh there is?  It's too late now.  I'm too far in.

I really enjoyed this ice cream.  I'm really more of a custard based ice cream lover but this one was pretty creamy for not having eggs.  The flavor was very good, fresh orange juice is the key here. 

Orange Ice Cream
From "Joy of Baking" found here

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup half and half
2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. orange zest
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until very cold, overnight is best.

Place the mixture into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions.

Meyer Lemon and Blood Orange Marmalade

Someone please tell me to stop buying blood oranges and Meyer lemons.  I'm seriously addicted and every time I see them I buy them up like they're  never coming back!  I'm beginning to run out of ideas for these lovelies. 

You're going to need 3 Meyer Lemons and 1 Blood Orange.

Cut the ends off, then cut in half length wise and then slice thin.

Put the citrus into a pot of water. Boil. Add sugar. Boil. It's not very complicated, especially if you've never made jams before.

We loved this on whole wheat toast but I'd also love to try it on an English muffin or a bagel.

I love the color! Beautiful oranges and yellows.  I also love it when you bite into the peel and it's nice and soft and you get a burst of flavor.  So good!

Meyer Lemon and Blood Orange Marmalade

Recipe found at the "New York Times" here

3 medium Meyer lemons, ends trimmed

1 medium blood orange, ends trimmed
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups Demerara (raw) sugar.

Place about three plates or saucers in the freezer - you'll use them later to test the marmalade.

Wash the citrus well under warm water.  Cut the ends off each lemon and orange and then slice in half length wise.  Take each half and cut in thin slices.  Remove any excess membrane and seeds.

Measure your citrus now, you should have about 2 1/2 cups.  If for some reason you don't; use the same volume of water and sugar (equal parts) as you have in fruit.  So for instance if you only have 2 cups of fruit then use 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar.  Bring the water and fruit to a boil and cook for about 20 - 30 minutes until the peels are very soft.

Add the sugar and turn the heat up to bring the mixture to a boil.  Once boiling, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 more minutes or until the mixture is set. Start checking the mixture at about 15 minutes using the frozen plates.  Put a spoonful of the liquid on a frozen plate.  If the mixture looks like jam and not a runny syrup then it's ready.  Allow the mixture to cool and then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.



Orange Cream Cheese Bread

Pinterest has become my new best friend.  I'm totally addicted and that's where I found this recipe.  I fell in love with the name and then after I baked it I fell in love with the bread too.  Very tender and moist.  I'm a fan of the hint of orange flavor that is not overpowering.  My husband loves walnuts so I added them but I think it would have been just as good without them.

This recipe makes two loaves so you can freeze one or share it. 

Orange Cream Cheese Bread
From "Just a Pinch" found here

1 - 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp grated orange peel
1/4 cup orange juice

Preheat the oven to 375, grease and flour two 8 inch loaf pans.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix the cream cheese and the shortening well until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, mixing well after each addition.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.  Gradually add this mixture to the cream cheese mixture a little at a time alternating with the milk.  Begin and end with the flour mixture.  Mix well after each addition.

Stir in the orange peel.

Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pans and bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle the orange juice over the loaves.  Move the loaves to a wire wrack to finish cooling.

Blood Orange Sorbet

I was at the grocery store the other day and found these delicious Blood Oranges.  I grabbed a bag not really knowing what I would use them for, so I hopped on the Internet and quickly found this Blood Orange Sorbet recipe from David Lebovitz and knew I'd found the right recipe. If you're not familiar with Blood Oranges they are slightly smaller than a regular orange and their skin can sometimes be multicolored (light and dark patches).  They are usually harder to peel than a regular orange as well.  As far as taste goes, I've read it described as a slight raspberry flavor.  The color is created when the fruit develops with low temperatures during the night.

I love using these oranges, they are delicious and so pretty to use in drinks, desserts or just to snack on.

Cut and juice the oranges.  I used about 2 cups of juice but you can use as little or as much as you want in 1 cup increments.

 

Using the appropriate amount of sugar, place it in a saucepan and add just enough juice to saturate the sugar. Cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Pour the sugar/juice mixture back in with the rest of the juice and let cool.  After it's down to room temperature you can transfer it to the refrigerator.  I put mine in overnight. I also left the pulp in, if you don't like the pulp you can strain in before refrigerating.

When cold, add the mixture to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions for processing times.

I found this recipe here from David Lebovitz. I recommend going to the link and checking out his other suggestions and tips for these oranges.

Juice the oranges and measure the juice.

For each 1 cup of juice you'll need about 1/4 cup of sugar.  I used 2 cups of juice and used 1/2 cup of sugar.

Use a small non-reactive sauce pan.  Pour in the sugar and just enough juice to saturate the sugar.  Cook over medium to medium low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Pour the sugar/juice mixture in with the remaining juice and bring back to room temperature, then chill it in the refrigerator.

When cold, process in your ice cream maker using your manufacturer's instructions.