Peppermint Patties

Marg (CaymanDesigns)'s Note:

These are amazing! Better than York's because the chocolate is so much thicker. The yield is a guess as the recipe is from a friend who made them at Christmas and gave them as gifts. Fortunately, I was one of the recipients. This recipe has been updated to add more details after questions from reviewers. Cooking time is really drying time for the centers.

• Total Time: 4 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 24

• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon peppermint extract
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 24 -32 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 4 -6 tablespoons shortening

Directions:

1. Combine the sweetened condensed milk and peppermint extract.
2. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat.
3. Knead on a surface sprinkled with more sugar until dough is stiff.
4. (The stiffer the better when it come to the dipping part!) Add more sugar while kneading if the dough is sticky.
5. Roll 1/4 inch thick.
6. Cut into approximately 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch circles. If they are much bigger than that they fall apart when you dip them.
7. My girlfriend said she uses a screw-off wine bottle cap!
8. Let the cut patties dry for at least 2 hours on *each* side. They need to be really dry.
9. Melt chocolate & shortening it a double boiler; stirring constantly until smooth. Using 1 Tbls of shortening for every 6 oz. of chocolate. Keep chocolate hot for dipping.
10. Dip patties in melted chocolate. The method my friend has found to work best: she places them on a long 3-tined fork, puts them in the chocolate (it should be no more than 1 1/2 inches deep), flips them over to coat the other side, lifts them out again with the fork underneath the patty, shakes the fork to shake off the excess chocolate & then places the patty on waxed paper to harden.

Reviews

[Chef #490764]

These turned out great. I used peppermint oil (3/4 teaspoon) instead of the extract. I also did not let dry before dipping. They were fine.

[Axe]

I agree with Sherri35. These were quite time consuming to make, but came out REALLY nice for my first attempt with anything chocolate. I actually let my peppermint dry overnight and coated them the next day. Worked perfectly. Thanks for posting a keeper!

[Sherri35]

I just realized that I hadn't reviewed these yet! I made them for Christmas 2008 and they were a huge hit!! They're definitely a bit of work, but not difficult - more time consuming really. I was covered in chocolate by the time I was done dipping them, but I didn't really get the hang of dipping until I was nearly done. Next time I'll be able to do that a lot neater (I hope). No one that I served them to had even heard of homemade peppermint patties! I cut them out with a small oval cookie cutter and they were the perfect 2-bite size. The recipe makes a ton and I froze the leftovers with great results. Thanks for posting :)