Homemade Peppermint Patties

Homemade holidays gifts are my favorite gifts to give!  Since the only crafty thing I really know how to do, is make food, everyone gets holiday candy. Yay!  First up, peppermint patties. 

I promise once you make homemade peppermint patties, you will never look at the store-bought ones the same.

Couple things to note about the recipe. First off to make my recipe a little easier I "fake" temper the chocolate in a technique called seeding. What does that mean?  Well it means that I don't take the chocolate to certain temperatures to avoid "bloom" or the white residue that happens on chocolate sometimes. The reason I don't do this is that these peppermint patties don't last long enough in my house to develop a bloom and I find that if I keep them in the refirgetoar they are just fine. However if you want to learn how to temper chocolate the real way David Leibovitz explains it really well on his site. The method I included in the recipe is called "seeding" and you can read all about it here.  Chocolate is a fascinatingly fickle ingredient! (Side note you could also use chocolate candy wafters that are created specifically for candy making but know that they have sugar in them and you would adding more sugar to the recipe). 

 Also I like to roll out my peppermint patty filling pretty thick creating about 30 patties. If you wanted to make them thinner you could get 60 patties from this recipe, just make sure to double the melted chocolate mixture. 

Enjoy! 

UPDATED TIPS: (2021)

• Depending on where. you are, you may need to add another tablespoon of water or 2 to the filling to help it come together. Mix until the mixture sticks together when pressed with your fingers

• To make the dipping easier, roll them out 1/2” thick. This will help them stay firm when you dip them. Also make sure the filling is super cold or else it will go slack when it hits the hot chocolate.

• I like using these chocolate discs from Ghirardelli - they have a little vegetable oil in them that helps them not only melt easier, but also firm up pretty quickly after the patties are dipped. Regardless of what type of chocolate you use, don’t use a shallow bowl to dip the patties in the chocolate. A smaller deeper bowl will help you get full coverage.

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Homemade Peppermint Patties

• 5 cups powdered sugar

• 3 Tbs. corn syrup

• 3 Tbs. water

• 2 Tbs shortening

• 2 tsp. peppermint extract

• 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate or these Ghirardelli discs

• Crushed candy canes for garnish

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the powdered sugar, corn syrup, water, shortening and peppermint extract. Mix until well combined and powdered sugar mixture starts to form a ball. Roll out peppermint patty filling  between two sheets of parchment or wax paper until 1/2" thick. (If you try to roll it out on the counter it will stick - also if you roll it too thin, it will be hard to dip). 

Using a 2 " round cookie cutter, cut out about 30 rounds of peppermint patty filling, rerolling the filling as needed to get 30. Lay the rounds on a parchment lined sheet tray and chill for at least 15 minutes. 

While the peppermint patties are chilling melt 2/3rds of the chocolate over a double boiler. Remove from heat and stir in remaining chocolate. Using a fork carefully dip the peppermint patty rounds into the chocolate, scraping off excess chocolate on the side of the bowl. Lay on a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining rounds. Garnish with crushed candy canes and allow peppermint patties dry at room temperature for about 1 to 2 hours.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or at room temperature (if your house is not too hot).

Makes 30 peppermint patties.