Chocolate-Dipped Oranges Recipe (2 Ingredients, 20 Minutes)

Every Christmas morning, I used to get a gold foil-wrapped chocolate orange in my stocking. As a child I didn’t fully appreciate the sophisticated flavor all that much, but l loved the look of the packaging and the ritual of breaking the treat into segments.

Now, with the same childlike wonder, I count down the days until Sumo Citrus season. If you’ve never had the pleasure of enjoying this chic orange fruit, it’s in its prime from January to April every year. The fruit is a cross between a mandarin, a satsuma, and a navel orange, and I think the flavor and texture are unmatched. Sumos are seedless, sweet, floral, and incredibly juicy. They are also easy to peel and hard to stop eating!

I’m not proud to admit it, but I’ve been known to hide these “good oranges” from my kids—otherwise, they seem to fly right out of our fruit bowl. While Sumo mandarins are pretty much perfect on their own, one of the treats I look forward to the most every year are chocolate-covered Sumo segments—a fresh and grown-up take on my beloved childhood chocolate orange.

I make a big batch of the chocolate-dipped segments and keep them stashed in my freezer all winter long. The chocolate perfectly complements the floral notes of the orange, and a hit of flaky salt brings all of the intense flavors together in perfect harmony. 

Two Quick Tips

• Funnily enough, my kids prefer the oranges best plain (fine, more chocolate ones for me), but they love to help with the dipping process. I use standard semisweet chocolate chips for ease, but you could use dark chocolate, too.
• I add a little olive oil to the melted chocolate to keep the coating shiny and also to thin it out a bit. I like the coating to be thick enough to evenly coat the orange but thin enough that it doesn’t overwhelm the base flavor of the Sumo. 

How To Make My Chocolate-Dipped Orange Segments 

To make eight to ten servings (about 20 orange segments), you’ll need:

• 2 Sumo Citrus (about 1 1/4 pounds)
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Flaky sea salt, optional

Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel the oranges, then break them into segments. Carefully look over each segment and remove and discard any stringy pith.

Place the chocolate chips and olive oil in a small microwave-safe bowl. Melt in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each one, until the chocolate is fully melted and smooth.

Working with one orange segment at a time, dip each piece into the melted chocolate, covering about 2/3 of the segment. Gently shake off the excess chocolate, letting it drip into the bowl, then set the dipped segment on the prepared pan, leaving about 1 inch between each segment.

Sprinkle the chocolate with flaky salt, if desired, then set the baking sheet in the freezer until the chocolate has set, about 10 minutes. At this point you can enjoy the chocolate-dipped segments as-is or pop them into a ziptop freezer bag and enjoy them frozen for up to 1 month. If you prefer them fresh and not frozen, after the chocolate has set in the freezer, transfer them to an airtight container and store them in the fridge for about 2 days.