Got extra lemon peels? Often recipes such as Trim Healthy Mama’s Singing Canary say to trim them off and juice the rest of the lemon (including the white).
But no need to waste those peels! Make homemade dried lemon peel in 3 easy steps. In the video below, you’ll see me do it in (literally) a minute. Give it a try!
Homemade Dried Lemon Peel in 3 Easy Steps
Ingredients
- lemon peels
Instructions
-
Transfer peels to a dehydrator tray and spread them out. (I don't dry the end with the hard stem stub.)
-
Put the tray in the dehydrator and dry around 100 degrees Fahrenheit for about 24 hours -- until the peels are curled up, dry and crispy.
Now you’ve got dried lemon peel for your favorite scones, muffins, or other desserts — even loose tea mix. These Blueberry-Lemon Muffins (can be grain-free) are great!
Do you make your own homemade dried lemon peel? How do you use it? Feel free to share recipes or links in the comments.
P.S. Learn how to dehydrate practically anything in our Dehydrating eCourse. 🙂
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Thank you so much for such a great idea! I’d been putting my lemon peels into the freezer and using them in my potpourri crockpot, but this is a great idea, too. I’m wondering how I would specifically use powdered lemon in baked goods. Is there a ratio of how much to put in for each cup of almond flour? Do you use this in beverages, too? Thanks! 🙂
It’s really a matter of taste and balancing out the flavors in other ingredients. Like in these Blueberry-Lemon Muffins:
https://traditionalcookingschool.com/lemonmuffins
I use 2 T of lemon peel with 5 cups almond flour. Maybe that ratio will get you started? And be cautioned – I like lemony taste. 🙂
Enjoy!
Thanks, Wardeh! I really love the strong taste of lemon, too! 🙂
Hi Wardee,
Great post and great idea! I was wondering what your opinion is about using non-organic lemons for this. I like to do the same thing with apple peels, to make herbal tea, but when I don’t buy organic I don’t save the peels. Do you think it’s as big a deal with lemons and other citrus?
Jennifer — Great point! Personally, I only do this with organic no matter what fruit.
When I visited Florida we drove through the countryside and saw so much being sprayed on the citrus that I couldn’t bring myself to buy any, even though it was so fresh. I only use organic peels too.
You mentioned Trim Healthy Mama. I would love to see a conversation on this, if you, or others have found a way to follow the principles in a whole food sort of way.
Rhonda
This isn’t a true conversion of Wardeh’s recipe, and I haven’t personally tried this, but here’s an idea for bluberry-lemon muffins:
The recipe makes 4 muffins, so make a triple batch to fill a regular sized 12-cup muffin tin.
Ingredients: almond flour (blanched is best), eggs, stevia, baking soda, apple cider vinegar
Mix together 2 eggs, a few shakes of pure stevia extract powder) and 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar. Add 1 cup of almond flour and 1/4 tsp. baking soda. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes, or until slightly browned on the edges. Cool in the pan for 1/2 an hour.
You can easily add flavors to this.
Try adding frozen blueberries, and opt. lemon juice/ lemon zest/ lemon extract.
Poppyseed and lemon/almond extract is one of my favorites.
You could add cinnamon, and even sprinkle cinnamon and truvia on top of them for a treat.
You could also add chopped nuts and banana extract.
Try whatever flavors you like! I’ll bet they would be great as ginger lemon muffins to accompany a soup. Let me know if you try any other great flavors!
Read more: http://trimhealthymama.freeforums.net/thread/43/almond-flour-muffins#ixzz31zm0Z3OU
Rhonda — I just started a discussion on this on our member forums. Please stop by! You’ve got access. 🙂
I’m some what new to your site. And loving it. I do not have a dehydrater. Any ideas for me. Low and slow in oven? Thank you. I do love your site all the things I love in life, cooking, gardening…… Cathy
Hi Cathy,
Before I purchased a dehydrator I did use the oven for drying things. I put it as low as it would go and also cracked the door (my oven’s lowest temp is 200). Be sure to keep an eye on it. 🙂
Millie
GNOWFGLINS Support Team
thanks for the ideas. Just wondering why we don’t whizz up the peel first so it is much smaller to dehydrate/dry. I would be doing in a long slow oven as I don’t have a dehydrator and I thought it would work quicker due to being so small and even in size. What are your thoughts? thanks Jan
I use a microplane on my citrus before cutting or juicing. Just catch the zest on a sheet of wax paper & set aside until dry. No dehydrator or electric needed. Just the right size for a spice bottle when dry.
I would love to know if I can use the whole peel, not just the yellow part, but the white part too. I have just juiced about a million lemons, ha! I have saved the entire peel of all of them–they are organic meyer lemons, so beautiful. I thought I’d chop them up and dehydrate them, then maybe powder them or something and use them in tea for the vitamin C. But can I use the white part too?
Hi Shari,
You may be able to use the white. However the problem with the white is it tends to be bitter. This might not be a problem for tea, then again it might. I think it will end up being a personal choice. 🙂
I have just got my buffalo dehydrator and tried orange slices as I wanted to add acid for a powdered dip and dip the slices in chocolate at christmas. Problem is the whites are very bitter which is a shame as the actual orange is great.
Any tips ? Obviously try and find thin skinned oranges but can you put them in boiling water first ?
Also I have been trying to find how to turn sourdough started into breadcrumbs in a dehydrator as I now have one :o) <- smug face
Hi Claudia,
Oranges are not typically a great dehydrated food because of the high white content. We don’t have any tips other than it would be better to dry a non-citrus fruit for dipping in chocolate.
Millie
Traditional Cooking School
I bought extra juicy oranges boiled them for 4 mins, then sliced and dehydrated them. It worked !