HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE ORANGE STICKS (2024)

Homemade Chocolate Orange Sticks are made with a delicious orange jelly filling dipped in melted chocolate. Simple chocolate candy recipe that is so easy to make!

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 always very nice to share so I learned to love them too.

I never even thought about making them myself, but then years ago, I found a recipe for this special treat. Initially, I was pretty skeptical and doubted that they would taste as good as the kind in the box, but the homemade version is even better. Like, so so so good. We now make these every single year around the holidays and make enough to share with neighbors and friends. Everyone loves them!

Update: I also created a raspberry version of these and they are amazing too! I can’t decide which ones I like better, so I usually just make both every time!

What are Chocolate Orange Sticks?

Chocolate Orange Sticks are a candy that is most easily found in stores during the holiday season. This is candy that has an orange jelly filling that is dipped in chocolate. These chocolate candies can be stored at room temperature for days and make the perfect gift for friends and neighbors.

INGREDIENTS IN HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE ORANGE STICKS

Unflavored gelatin – You will need 3 tablespoons of unflavored gelatin. This usually comes in a box that has small little packets. You will need 4 of the little packets to get the necessary 3 tablespoons.

Sugar – Two cups of granulated sugar are needed to make the candied orange jelly mixture.

Water – You need a half cup of cold water to dissolve the gelatin in. You need half a cup of hot water (hot tap water is fine) to mix with the sugar to help dissolve it before boiling.

Orange juice concentrate – To get the most amazing orange flavor, you will need two tablespoons of frozen orange juice concentrate. You can just scoop this right out of the can and save the rest of the concentrate for future batches!

Lemon juice – You need two tablespoons of lemon juice. I use the kind from the bottle, but fresh squeezed lemon juice will work also. The first time I made this recipe, I was a little nervous because I didn’t really want lemon sticks! But I promise that you won’t be able to taste the lemon flavor at all. Somehow it just enhances the orange flavor. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Lemon extract – You will need 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract. Again, I promise you won’t be able to taste the lemon at all!

Orange extract – One teaspoon of orange extract will strengthen the orange flavor in the chocolate orange sticks.

Orange food coloring – You don’t have to add the orange food coloring, but it does make the candy a lot darker and more visibly orange. Totally up to you!

Chocolate – You need 12 ounces of melting chocolate or chocolate almond bark. Regular milk chocolate pairs so well with the orange, but dark chocolate is also amazing and white chocolate works as well. Use whatever kind of chocolate you like best!

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE ORANGE STICKS

Mix the unflavored gelatin in the half cup of cold water and set aside so that the gelatin can soften up.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and hot water and stir until dissolved. Turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the gelatin mixture and slowly boil on medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Make sure to stir the mixture occasionally. Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients, stirring the mixture until smooth.

Use non-stick spray to prepare the molds you will be using. Carefully pour the mixture into the well-greased molds. I purchasedthis mold from Amazon, but before I had the mold, I used several mini loaf pans and the loaf pans work just as well as the silicone mold.

Let stand over night and then remove the jellied orange mixture from the molds. Cut the candy into the desired shape. If you use the same molds that I did, you will just need to slice each rectangle in half to create the thin rectangles that are very similar to the store-bought orange sticks. If you use a mini loaf pan, you will need to make slices that are about 1/3″ wide.

Now it’s time to melt the chocolate. If you are using melting wafers or Candiquik, just follow the melting directions on the package. Dip the sliced rectangles into the melted chocolate. Place the dipped chocolates on wax paper.

If you’d like to make them look a little bit fancier, you can drizzle a little white chocolate on top just for fun. Just make sure the chocolate coating is set and dried before adding the drizzle.

WHAT KIND OF CHOCOLATE IS BEST FOR CANDY MAKING?

If you can melt it, you can use it. While I recommend using chocolate specifically meant for melting (like Wilton melting wafers or Candiquik), you can use your own melting chocolate of choice. Just make sure that you can get it nice and smooth once it’s melted so that it can easily coat the jelly sticks. I think that milk chocolate pairs best with the orange flavor, but you can also use dark chocolate or white chocolate instead if you prefer.

How to store Homemade Chocolate Orange Sticks

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! They taste great chilled too, so you can store them in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 weeks in an airtight container.

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.

CAN I USE OTHER SHAPE MOLDS?

Absolutely! You can use any silicone mold shape you want to create fun shapes. Imagine hearts around Valentine’s Day, or mini donuts either would be well received. You can adjust the molds to fit themes, holidays and events!

ENJOYEASY HOLIDAY CANDY RECIPES? HERE ARE MORE WE LOVE:

• Easy Oreo Balls
• Buckeye Balls Candy
• Saltine Cracker Toffee recipe
• Tiger Butter Fudge
• Easy Chocolate Peppermint Patties
• Raspberry Jelly Candy
• Easy Mint Chocolates
• Chocolate Raspberry Sticks
• Homemade Almond Joy Bars
• Microwave Pumpkin Spiced Caramels
• Chocolate Peppermint Truffles
• Martha Washington Candy (Coconut Pecan Truffles)
• Rolo Pretzel Turtles
• Peanut Clusters
• Cherry Jelly Hearts Candy

Homemade Chocolate Orange Sticks are made with a delicious orange jelly filling dipped in melted chocolate. Simple chocolate candy recipe that is so easy to make!