";

Sugar: back on the Paleo menu! (APRIL FOOLS)

Over the last few years, we’ve seen white potatoes and white rice creep into the Paleo scene as “safe starch” alternatives to the beloved sweet potato (among other vegetables). However, after doing a lot of soul searching and scouring many scientific papers, we have come to the conclusion that sugar of all sorts (cane sugar, white sugar, brown sugar, etc.) are all pretty much okay to consume. So in an effort to make Paleo even easier and more accessible to the masses, we are proud to say that it’s okay for everyone to eat sugar again! You know you want to!

There’s nothing quite like having a sugar craving at night, and now, instead of having to look for “healthy” alternatives, you can just reach for a candy bar. No big deal! With this recent change to our “30 Day Guide to Paleo” program, it’s so easy, anyone can do it!

In celebration of our new inclusion of sugar in the 30 Day Guide to Paleo (30Paleo for short), we’ve cooked up a batch of candied orange peel. Who knows, a recipe like this could even make it’s way into our next book! For this recipe, I followed Alison Walker’s recipe in her book, A Country Cook’s Kitchen. Hayley gave me this book as a christmas gift this past year, and I’ve really enjoyed flipping through it and reading about the recipes. Now, for those of you with our new cookbook, Make It Paleo 2, you already know I LOVE A FOOD PROJECT. There’s a whole chapter of them in our new book, with projects like how to cure your own bacon, how to make your own coconut milk yogurt, fermenting ginger beer, curing salmon, pickling burdock root, rendering lard… it’s a really fun part of the book that’s also a little unique! (by the way, if you haven’t gotten a copy yet, you can get it on Amazon (of course), but it’s also in Costco for a huuuuuge discount, as well as Barnes & Noble and other bookstores too).

Anyway, this recipe was a fun project (albeit a long one), and since we’re totally cool with eating sugar by the spoonful now, we thought it would be fun to have around to snack on in-between meals.

Candied Orange Peel-1

For the first week, we only took a few instagram photos, so the nice photos pick up around the halfway point in the project. Here’s my reminder to myself to let these dry, starting on Saturday afternoon.

Candied Orange Peel-2

The orange peels were boiled in a simple syrup (1:1 ratio of water and sugar), several times over, and then subsequently left to steep in the increasingly concentrated solution.

Candied Orange Peel-3

After a week of going back and forth to the burner, and steeping, the orange pith becomes translucent.

Candied Orange Peel-5

Here they are, ready for sugar (which is totally Paleo, now. 2015 people…. come on!)

Candied Orange Peel-6

There we go, just dump an entire bag of raw cane sugar onto a plate.

Candied Orange Peel-7

And then let the sugary bites of orange roll around in it.

Candied Orange Peel-8

This one might need some more. It looks like I missed a spot.

Candied Orange Peel-9

Now, the next step in the recipe says to let the orange peel sit out for one week. Um, WHAT? Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Candied Orange Peel-10

So into the dehydrator they went! It took about 36 hours for them to dehydrate adequately.

Candied Orange Peel-12

And about a day and a half later… voila! Sugary sugar orange peel. MMMM!

Candied Orange Peel-14

So, in conclusion….

GOTCHA.

Gosh, I hope by now you figured out that we were kidding about the whole sugar thing! If you want to find out more about going Paleo (and what it’s ACTUALLY ABOUT), our 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking program is on sale this month (and you get 60 Days of recipes and meal plans, instead of just 30!) Click below to see whats included in this awesome guide, which is perfect for anyone wanting to get started on this whole Paleo thing.

30 Day Guide Ebook Mock Cover

Learn More Button

Happy April, friends!

B&H

Primal Palate Spice Blends

Share a recipe

Upload your own recipes to Primal Palate, and help others find great food on our site,, meal planner and app!

Primal Palate Cooking Channel

    COMMENTS

    1. greenapples
      April 1, 2015

      LOL…..I was like, whaaat? I know that rice and white potatoes have been creeping back (I’m totally cool with the rice but I can’t quite get with the potatoes), so you kind of got me for a minute. I also discovered in my younger years that I’m one of the most gullible people on the planet, so I always kind of fall for things no matter how far fetched. 🙂

    2. eatveggies
      April 1, 2015

      Not Paleo at all. People ate root vegetables for hundreds of thousands of years, not fructose-based sweeteners. Plus, the statement that research says fructose is fine could not be further from the truth. Fructose = fatty liver, sorbitol congestion, leptin resistance, and increased triglycerides. Most sweetened foods contain no nutritional value.

      1. April 1, 2015

        I’m going to go ahead and bet that you didn’t read the post in it’s entirety.

        APRIL FOOLS.

    3. April 3, 2015

      You got me. I was just browsing, and I thought, “gee – these crazy people – can’t even keep straight what stuff is bad or good for them…”

      Good one.

      1. April 4, 2015

        Yes! finally got one over on you. 😛

    4. rezzrovv
      April 5, 2015

      Thank god sugar is back. I didn’t read this whole thing because I had to stop and run out immediately to get some Little Debbie Swish Cake Rolls.

    Write a Comment

    You need to be registered and logged in to post a comment.