Peppermint Patties

I know, I know. There is already a recipe for peppermint patties on Market to Meal. But any of you who know me or have followed this blog for long also know that I'm always trying other recipes of my favorites. I have this firm belief that a good thing often CAN be better. In the food realm anyway! When I first started making homemade peppermint patties about 4 years ago, there were very few recipes out there to choose from. Believe it or not, many called for instant potato flakes. Uh….gross. So at the time my first recipe was all I came up with. Last year, it seems I didn't have the cream when I was going to make them and ended up scrambling for another recipe. Enter NEW peppermint patties. When I made these last year, I didn't even have sweetened condensed milk and made my own. They still worked great. As far as candy making goes, this is great, easy recipe to give it a try with! They are amazing! Happy dipping! 

Peppermint Patties 

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbs peppermint extract

~6 cups powdered sugar

3 cups dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

6 tsp shortening (not absolutely necessary if you don't have it)

Using a mixer, blend together the sweetened condensed milk and peppermint extract along with half the powdered sugar. Add more powdered sugar, a cup or so at a time, under the dough is soft but moldable. You  may need to refrigerate it for 30 minutes to an hour before the next step.

Taking small amounts, roll the dough into balls and lay out on wax paper, parchment or Silpat lined baking sheets. If its sticking badly to your hands, you may need more powdered sugar.

Press lightly with your palm to flatten a bit. 

Place in the freezer for up to several hours to get the dough disks to harden. This will make dipping in the chocolate MUCH easier! When you are ready to start dipping, prepare the chocolate by placing about half the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl or in a double boiler. I usually put about 2 tsp of shortening per cup of chocolate. This just makes it melt and dip a bit nicer. If you don't have shortening you can get by without it. Microwave about 30 seconds and stir, microwave only 10-15 seconds at a time after that, stirring well after each. If using a double boiler, just stir chocolate until melted and remove from heat. Remove some of your dough disks from the freezer and begin dipping. 

Use a fork to gently flip them and to lift them out of the chocolate. Tap lightly on the edge of the bowl to remove excess. 

Use a knife to help slide it off the fork and onto a lined baking sheet. Allow chocolate to harden. I typically put them in the fridge to speed it up. Repeat this with a second round of chocolate as needed to finish your dough. These can be stored in the fridge or at room temperature. I like them better a little cold! 

Notes: I tend to make my dough balls and layer them in something smaller than a cookie sheet that fits in my freezer better. Even with wax paper between the layers, the bottom ones tend to stick to the paper a bit and flatten more under the weight of the others. If at all possible, spread out on something larger like a cookie sheet and don't layer too many on top! Just a tip! You can always reshape them. 

I like melting my chocolate in batches so it doesn't harden as much by the end. You can also keep your melted chocolate over a 2nd bowl with hot water in it to keep it from hardening too much. When its time to dip, you can do it solo but it often times goes faster if you have one person to throw disks in the chocolate and another to get them out and transfer to the baking sheets.