Simple Homemade Orange Infused Honey Recipe | Easy Gift Idea
If you need a quick, thoughtful homemade gift for the holidays, this orange infused honey is one of the easiest projects you can make on the homestead. It takes about five minutes of hands-on prep, looks gorgeous packed in a mason jar, and turns everyday raw honey into something really special. With fresh orange peel, whole cloves, and cinnamon sticks tucked right into the jar, it smells just like spiced cider the second you crack open the lid.
I love keeping a few jars of this tucked away in the pantry through the winter. Stir a spoonful into a hot mug of black or herbal tea, drizzle it over a slice of warm Favorite Soft Homemade Sandwich Bread, or serve it on the holiday breakfast table with Great Grandmas fresh biscuits. And if you've ever watched honey settle into all those little nooks and crannies of a toasted English muffin, you know exactly why I love it there, too!
Quick Look: Orange & Cinnamon Infused Honey
🍯 Hands-On Time: Just 5 minutes to prepare the oranges, gather your spices, and fill your jar
🍊 Gentle Warming: 5-10 minutes on the stove to bring out those lovely citrus and spice flavors
🕰️ Steeping Time: 3-4 weeks tucked away in a cool, dark pantry while the flavors develop
🫙 Yield: One pint of golden honey infused with orange and warm spices
🌿 Simple Ingredients: Raw honey, fresh orange zest, dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and whole cloves
✨ Flavor & Texture: Rich, smooth honey with bright orange notes and the warmth of cinnamon and cloves
☕ Favorite Ways to Use It: Stir into hot tea, drizzle over warm biscuits, or spoon onto homemade bread
🎁 Perfect for Gifting: Pour into a pretty glass jar, add a ribbon, and you've got a thoughtful homemade gift straight from your kitchen
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Jump to:
- Quick Look: Orange & Cinnamon Infused Honey
- Why You'll Love Making Infused Honey
- Ingredients
- Instructions
- How to Use Infused Honey
- Substitutions & Variations
- Equipment
- Storage & Shelf Life
- Top Tip
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Final Thoughts from the Homestead
- More Recipes To Try:
- Orange and Cinnamon Infused Honey
Why You'll Love Making Infused Honey
Raw honey is already a great natural staple, but steeping it with whole spices and citrus peels takes the flavor to another level.
Gentle warmth thins the honey just enough to help it coat the spices, while the natural essential oils in the fresh orange peel slowly seep into the honey over a few weeks. Leaving the whole cinnamon sticks and dried orange slices right in the jar gives it a rustic, old-fashioned look that makes holiday gift-giving effortless.
Ingredients
Using whole spices and quality raw honey gives you the cleanest flavor without clouding the jar:
- Optional Star Anise: One whole star anise adds a classic holiday look and a subtle, warm spiced note to the jar.
- Raw Honey: Use a mild, high-quality raw honey like clover or orange blossom. Raw honey keeps its natural enzymes and beneficial properties intact.
- Fresh Orange Zest: The oils in the fresh peel give you that bright, unmistakable citrus flavor. Use a vegetable peeler or zester, taking just the colored skin and leaving the bitter white pith behind.
- Dried Orange Slice: Tucked right against the glass, it looks beautiful and reinforces the citrus notes as it steeps.
- Cinnamon Sticks: Whole sticks slowly release sweet, warm spice without making the honey gritty like ground cinnamon would.
- Whole Cloves: Small but punchy-a handful of whole cloves adds that cozy, mulled-cider warmth.
Instructions
Follow these 4 simple steps to assemble your infused honey:
- Prep the Jar & Spices: Into a clean, dry 1-pint glass jar, add the fresh orange zest, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks,dried orange slice, and optional star anise.
- Gently Warm the Honey: Pour your raw honey into a small stainless steel saucepan over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes until warm and runny. Do not boil or overheat-you only want it warm to the touch so you protect the natural properties of the raw honey.
- Pour & Submerge: Pour the warm honey over the spices in your jar, using a clean wooden skewer or spoon to push everything down so the spices are completely submerged.
- Seal & Steep: Fasten the lid on tightly and store the jar in a cool, dark pantry or cabinet for 3 to 4 weeks. Turn the jar upside down once every few days to help distribute the spices. You can strain out the spices before using or leave them in the jar for a cozy, rustic look!
Eryn's Gifting Hint: When putting these together for holiday gifts, leave the cinnamon stick and dried orange slice right inside the jar! Tie a strip of cotton ribbon or twine around the neck with a little handwritten tag listing your favorite ways to use it.
How to Use Infused Honey
- In Hot Tea: Stir a generous spoonful into a mug of black tea, chamomile, or warm lemon water when you feel a scratchy throat coming on.
- Over Warm Bread: Drizzle it over freshly baked dinner rolls, sourdough toast, or warm skillet cornbread with a smear of salted butter.
- Breakfast Bowls: Swirl a spoonful into warm oatmeal or plain whole-milk yogurt.
- Glazes: Brush over roasted carrots, winter squash, or baked ham during the last 15 minutes of roasting for a sweet spiced crust.
Substitutions & Variations
- Lemon & Ginger: Swap orange for fresh lemon peel and add a few thin coins of dried ginger root for a zesty, cold-season blend.
- Rosemary & Garlic: For a savory bread-dipping honey, steep raw honey with fresh rosemary sprigs and a dried chili pepper.
- Vanilla Bean: Split half a whole vanilla bean down the middle and tuck it into the jar with the cinnamon stick for a smooth, dessert-style honey.
Equipment
- 1-Pint Glass Mason Jar: High-quality glass canning jars with tight-fitting lids keep the honey airtight while showing off the spices inside.
- Small Stainless Steel Saucepan: For gently warming the honey on low heat without scorching.
- Citrus Zester or Peeler: Helps you remove wide strips of orange peel without scraping up the bitter white pith.
Storage & Shelf Life
Crystallization: If your raw honey naturally begins to crystallize or turn solid over time, simply set the sealed jar in a bowl of warm water for 15 minutes until it becomes liquid and clear again.
Pantry Storage: Store your infused honey in an airtight glass jar in a cool, dark cabinet away from direct sunlight and stovetop heat.
Shelf Life: Because of honey's natural preservation qualities and low moisture content, this infused honey will easily keep for up to 6 months at room temperature.
Top Tip
Keep Spices Completely Covered! To keep your infusion fresh and clean, make sure the spices and orange zest stay submerged under the surface of the honey. Turning the jar upside down every few days keeps everything coated and prevents any exposed peel from drying out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to strain out the spices after steeping?
No! You can strain the honey through a fine-mesh sieve after 3 to 4 weeks if you prefer completely smooth honey, but leaving the whole cinnamon sticks and dried orange slice in the jar looks gorgeous on a pantry shelf and makes a much prettier gift.
Can I use ground cinnamon instead of cinnamon sticks?
I don't recommend ground spices here. Ground cinnamon won't dissolve in honey; it simply floats, clumps together, and makes the texture gritty and cloudy. Whole cinnamon sticks release their flavor cleanly while keeping the honey clear.
Can I give this honey to babies?
No. As with all raw or cooked honey recipes, never feed honey to infants under one year of age.
Final Thoughts from the Homestead
Putting together jar gifts from the homestead is one of my favorite parts of getting ready for the winter holidays. A jar of this spiced orange honey takes hardly any time to assemble, costs very little, and feels so much more personal than anything you can buy in a store. Set it by your tea kettle or tuck it into a gift basket with a box of tea!
More Recipes To Try:
Orange and Cinnamon Infused Honey
Ingredients
- 1 quart of raw honey preferably local honey, such as orange blossom or clover honey
- 2 tablespoons of fresh orange zest
- 1 dried orange slice for visual appeal
- 2 organic cinnamon sticks
- 7 whole cloves
- Optional: star anise for a fun twist or rose petals for a floral touch
Instructions
- Warm the Honey: Gently heat the raw honey. This helps to release the natural flavors of the orange zest, cinnamon sticks, and cloves. Be sure to warm the honey, but not heat it to a high temperature, as this can destroy its beneficial properties.
- A small saucepan on low heat for about 10 minutes works perfectly for a quart jar. Reduce the time to half for a pint size amount. You can also warm the honey by placing it in a heat-safe jar and setting it in a bowl of warm water.
- Add the Flavors: While the honey is warming, add to the jar the orange zest, dried orange, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.
- Once honey is warm, pour over ingredients in glass jar. Stir gently to combine, ensuring the plant material is fully submerged in the honey.Seal and Infuse: Seal the jar tightly with a tight-fitting lid and let it sit in a dark place for about 3-4 weeks. The flavors will gradually meld, giving you a rich, aromatic finished product.
- Strain or Leave As-Is: After the infusion time, you can either strain out the dried ingredients or leave them in for a rustic, visual appeal. I love leaving them in, as the herbs and spices create a beautiful, homemade touch that makes this honey an even more charming gift.
If I want to make small amounts ..like 1 cup jars ..how much cloves and orange zest per jar ?
Hi Carolyn! For 1-cup jars, you can scale everything down quite easily. I’d use about ½ teaspoon orange zest, 1–2 whole cloves, and a very small piece of dried orange peel for looks. A tiny sliver truly goes a long way in a small jar.
Creamed honey works just fine for infused honey. It warms and thins out as it sits with the spices, and the flavor infuses the same way regular liquid honey does. Just warm it gently so it loosens before pouring over your ingredients.
For adding orange peel to each jar, dried is the way to go. Fresh peel can introduce moisture, which shortens the shelf life. A little dried peel brings great citrus aroma and looks pretty in the finished gift.
Let me know how your jars turn out — they make such sweet gifts!
Thank you for you response ..just looking over the recipe ..getting into this tomorrow . You say orange zest ...looks like from the picture it's chunks of peel ..I always thought zest was finely grated .
Hi Carolyn! Great question. In the recipe I’m using finely grated orange zest—that’s what gives the honey its strong citrus flavor. In the photos you’re seeing some larger pieces of dried peel that I tucked in mainly for looks.
You can stick with just finely grated zest, or add a small piece of peel for appearance if you like. As long as the peel is well washed (and ideally organic), both options work nicely.
Sounds so yummy ? wanting to make 1 cup jars for gifts . My question is the local honey I can get here is creamed honey ..not runny . Does this type work ? Also if you want to put orange peel in each jar after ..you use dried peel ?
I make a few jars of this every holiday season, and it’s such an elegant little gift. The orange zest with cinnamon and clove gives the honey a warm, festive flavor that’s beautiful in tea and drizzled over biscuits. My best tip: gently warm the honey just enough to loosen it, pour over the zest and spices, then tuck the jar away for 3–4 weeks. I like to leave the cinnamon sticks and dried orange in the jar for that pretty, rustic look. Simple ingredients, big payoff—this one always gets rave reviews from friends.