HOMEMADE PEPPERMINT PATTIES

Cute, delicious, and perfect for the holidays, these homemade peppermint patties are so easy to make!

Homemade peppermint patties have been on my bucket list of things to make for years. They are my mom’s favorite treat (I’m pretty sure she keeps them in the freezer because apparently frozen peppermint patties are delightful and are harder to find for unsuspecting treat-seeking souls) but I’ve always thought they’d be a bit fussy to make (read: not worth it when the store bought variety will do just fine) so I put it off until just recently.

You’d think I’d learn my lesson by now: homemade is always better.

Actually scratch that.

Homemade is usually better.

I once tried to make yellow mustard. It was revolting. But these peppermint patties? Definitely not revolting.

The peppermint dough for the filling is wonderfully easy to work with and if you have a spare fork and butter knife handy, the dipping is a breeze, too.

I kept these refrigerated, as the recipe states, and even though it makes a bazillion, after gifting some to nether parts of our neighborhood, we had no trouble devouring the rest.

I was surprised, actually, that the boys loved them so much since I was a little heavy-handed with the peppermint.

Apparently spicy mint filling enrobed in dark chocolate is kid-approved in this house.

The white center is creamy and sweet and the rich dark chocolate cuts the minty mintness perfectly.

Personally, I preferred the ones not topped with crushed mint candies but I’ll leave that up to you (the sprinkle of candy definitely helps out the pretty factor).

HOMEMADE PEPPERMINT PATTIES

INGREDIENTS:

• 7 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin or refined coconut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon food-grade peppermint essential oil or 1 teaspoon peppermint extract (see note)
• 1 1/2 pounds bittersweet or semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
• Crushed peppermint candies for sprinkling, optional

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, milk, corn syrup, coconut oil and peppermint on low speed until combined. Shape the dough into two round circles, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Sprinkle a liberal amount of powdered sugar on a clean countertop or on a piece of parchment paper. Unwrap one disk of dough and place it on the counter or parchment. Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar, too. Roll the peppermint patty dough to about 1/4-inch thick and cut into rounds with about a 1 7/8-inch or similar-sized cutter.
3. Reroll the scraps until all of the dough is used. Repeat with second disk of dough. Place the rounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes or overnight.
4. Melt the chocolate (I use the microwave on 50% power and cook for 1-minute increments, stirring in between; I melt until it is mostly melted but there are still a few small lumps of chocolate – I stir these in until fully melted. This will help to avoid blooming on the set chocolate.)
5. Using a fork, dip the frozen patty rounds one-by-one into the chocolate. Tap the handle of the fork on the side of the bowl to drizzle off the excess chocolate, scrape the bottom of the fork on the edge of the bowl and gently place the dipped patties on parchment-lined baking sheets using a butter knife to gently slide the patty off the fork if needed.
6. Sprinkle the dipped patties with crushed mints, if using. Let the chocolate set, about an hour. Store patties in the refrigerator.

NOTES:

The recipe calls for either food-grade peppermint essential oil or mint extract. In either case, you’ll want to add more of either if needed – so taste the filling before rolling, cutting and dipping. I used about 1/4 teaspoon peppermint oil initially but ended up adding a few more drops for a more potent peppermint taste. I haven’t tried this yet but I think it would be absolutely delightful to add a touch of peppermint to the chocolate, too.

Source

source http://dishes.dumay.club/homemade-peppermint-patties/