Chocolate Orange Sticks are made with a delicious orange jelly filling dipped in melted chocolate – a favorite holiday candy!
Chocolate Orange Sticks are one of my absolute favorite holiday treats! When I was a kid, every year my dad would get a box of chocolate covered orange sticks in his stocking for Christmas and he was very nice to share since I learned to love them too! I recently found a recipe for this special treat and I was really nervous that they wouldn’t taste as good as the kind in the box, but the homemade version was even better! They turned out amazing! Like many candy recipes, the process takes a little bit of time but it is definitely worth it.
You can store these for a week at room temperature (maybe longer, but they’ve never lasted that long at my house!) and they still taste fresh! Since they are so easy to store, this makes this candy the perfect treat to ship to friends and family who live far away – these hold up better than a lot of other homemade treats.
Update: I’ve since created a raspberry version of these and they are amazing too! I can’t decide which ones I like better, so I just have to make both every time!
HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE ORANGE STICKS
- 3 Tbsp unflavored gelatin (I used 4 of the little packets)
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 2 Tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 5-6 drops orange food coloring
- 12 oz melting chocolate or chocolate almond bark
- Soften the gelatin in cold water and set aside.
- Combine sugar and hot water, stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the gelatin mixture and slowly boil on medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients.
- Pour into well-greased molds. I purchased this mold from Amazon, but I also used two mini loaf pans for the remainder of the mixture and the loaf pans worked just as well as the silicone mold.
- Let stand over night and then dip into melted chocolate. I also drizzled a little white chocolate on top just for fun. Enjoy!
- Chocolate Raspberry Sticks
- Chocolate Orange Cookies
- Homemade Peppermint Patties
- Tiger Butter Candy
- Chocolate Peppermint Truffles
- 3 Tbsp unflavored gelatin I used 4 of the little packets
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 2 Tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 5-6 drops orange food coloring
- 12 oz melting chocolate or chocolate almond bark
- Soften the gelatin in cold water and set aside.
- Combine sugar and hot water, stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the gelatin mixture and slowly boil on medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients.
- Pour into well-greased molds. I've used silicone molds and mini loaf pans and the loaf pans work just as well as the silicone mold.
- Let stand over night and then dip into melted chocolate. I also drizzled a little white chocolate on top just for fun. Enjoy!
Erin says
YUM! My husband would die. He loves chocolate orange and these look amazing! Pinning to try ASAP!<br />Erin @ Simple, Sweet & Savory
30b08686-b0b3-11e3-8c2f-000bcdca4d7a says
I would LOVE to have the raspberry version of this too– hope you will post that one too when you get it worked out.<br />I LOVE your recipes and relate to your blog name!
Kara says
These look amazing! When you used the mini loaf pans, did you just fill them 1/2" full, or did you slice them lengthwise?
Terri @ that's some good cookin' says
Wow! Such a lucky family to get to have these treats. I agree; raspberry would be great!
Tosha says
Ice stick molds work really well for this adventure!! they are just a bit thinner giving you a bit more chocolate with your orange.
Jessica says
That is such a great idea- I just got some from Ikea!! Thanks!
Patti says
Do you have to keep these refrigerated?
These are my favorite candy so I would love to try them.
Nellie says
I don’t usually refrigerate these when I make them – I’ve had them last up to a week if kept in an airtight container on the counter. I think they might even be ok longer than that, but they are so good, they tend to disappear within a few days!
KDD says
Did you cut the pieces before letting them sit overnight or right before dipping in chocolate? These are my favorite candies ever, and I want them to work out right the first time. Thanks!
Nellie says
I always cut them after letting them sit overnight. You can dip them as soon as you’d like after cutting them. These are one of my favorite treats too – I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve made these! Enjoy!
tara skaggs says
i was undering if i did the excat recipe for the raspberry for the oranger sticks if it would work. use the oranger jello instead of the juice and the lemon juice. i also found some raspberry danish dessert glaze it is like the gelatine would that work also.
Jessica says
We have a separate post for Raspberry Sticks already- check it out! http://butterwithasideofbread.com/2015/03/chocolate-raspberry-sticks/
Jocelyn says
Can you use sugar free jello with these recipes?
Nellie says
I have never tried it but I am guessing it would work just fine!
Denise says
Do you think you could use agar agar instead of gelatin? Thinking vegan Xmas gifts!
Nellie says
I have never used agar agar, but after doing a little bit of research it looks like it should be a good substitute! Let me know how they turn out!
Rhonda says
I love orange sticks. So do my grandchildren but you can’t always find them in the stores. Can you use the milk chocolate chocolate chips as your dipping chocolate or do you recommend using the candy dipping chocolate? Do you grease the silicone pans and if so what do you recommend?
Nellie says
I’m sure you can use milk chocolate chips to dip, but you may have to add 1-2 tsp of shortening to thin it out just a little bit to make the dipping easier. I have used actually dipping chocolate but often use chocolate almond bark and it works very well too. I do grease the silicone pans very well and have always just used PAM cooking spray. It works wonderfully!
betty boop says
I made the orange sticks the only mold was same material that was showed but i only had star shapes, andf i had to use the chocolate chips, i guess it could of been better, but tasted fine to us. thank you.
Sharon Costello says
My jelly sticks did not come out clear like in the picture but a tad foamy. Why would this happen?
Jessica says
These look spectacular for holiday entertaining! And so easy to make!
Sandi says
I have always loved these. I was really psyched to see they are gluten free! Sharing!
Brenda says
Excellent recipe! I need molds! I hand cut all of them so the uniformity is off but no one will care because they taste great! I used one 10 oz pkg of Giradelli dark melting wafers-perfect amount.
Thank you again my Grandmother will be thrilled!
Teresa hall says
How should you store chocolate covered orange?
Nellie says
I just store them in an airtight container at room temperature and they last at least a week that way. You could probably store them in the fridge if you wanted them to stay fresh a bit longer, but I would set them out prior to serving so they can get back to room temperature.
Karin Patnode says
I made these I believe the Orange jelly got overcooked…when I poured into pan it instantly turned hard and dry …any idea as to why ?
Nellie says
I’ve never had that happen, so I’m not sure, but yes, it sounds like the mixture may have been overcooked? Or perhaps there was too much gelatin added somehow?
Jenny says
Would this work using a regular glass baking dish or a metal cake pan? Would it be difficult to get out?
Inez L. Dooney says
Can these orange sticks be made sugar free with splenda? My husband loves these and is diabetic, I have bought them sugar free in Gresham Oregon. Just wondering if you know or I will just try it
Inez
Nellie says
I’ve never tried using Splenda, but I would guess it would work out ok. Please let me know if you try it!