Homemade Peppermint Patties

Although my family has our traditional Christmas cookie favorites, we always like to test out a new recipe every year.  This year we chose this recipe, found on the Blue Eyed Bakers blog. We thought it looked like a bit of a challenge to try and make your own peppermint patties! They turned out pretty well, the only issue we had was making sure to remove as much excess chocolate as possible when dipping and transferring to the cookie sheet to set.  It did get easier with some practice and as mentioned below… key to success is FROZEN patties.  We did shrink the size a bit to offer bite-size pieces and for a lower pp value!

Servings: Recipe will make 44 small, bite-sized patties

Size:  1 peppermint patty

Points Plus: 2pp

Level of Difficulty: Medium

Prep Time: 45 minutes (including time while in the freezer)

Bake Time:  n/a

Rating: 4 stars – Very Good

Ingredient List:

2 ½ cups powdered sugar, divided

1 ½ Tbsp. light corn syrup

2 Tbsp. water

1 tsp. peppermint extract

1 Tbsp. vegetable shortening

8 oz. 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped

¼ cup peppermint candies, crushed

Directions:

In a medium bowl, beat together 2 ¼ cups of powdered sugar with corn syrup, water, peppermint extract and shortening until just combined. Use the remaining ¼ cup of powdered sugar to sprinkle the counter to prepare for kneading.  Work the dough into a ball and gently knead until the dough is smooth.  Shape the mixture into 2 logs, about 1 inch wide by 8 inches long.  Wrap each log tightly in parchment paper and freeze for 20 minutes; it should be very firm.  Remove the logs and cut each one into slices to form the peppermint patties.  You may need to reshape each one to resemble more of a round shape with your fingers.  Place the peppermint patties on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze again for another 15-20 minutes.  While you are waiting for the patties to freeze, melt the 70% cacao chocolate in a microwavable glass dish for 30 seconds at a time until fully melted.  Line another cookie sheet with parchment paper and remove a small amount of peppermint patties from the freezer for dipping.  Key to this part of the process is making sure the patties are VERY cold.  Dip each peppermint patty in the melted chocolate, making sure to evenly coat all sides.  Shake very gently so any excess chocolate falls off before you transfer to the cookie sheet.  Immediately top with a sprinkle of crushed peppermint candies.  Repeat until all peppermint patties are coated and sprinkled.  Allow the chocolate to harden and set (this will take about an hour) before you put into Tupperware.

Tip:

I cannot stress enough the importance of very firm, frozen peppermint patties when you get to the chocolate coating step!  If you start to have issues, just throw the cookie sheet back in the freezer for a few minutes and take a break.  You can only dip a handful of patties within each window before they start warming up too much!

XOXO Megan