DIY Peppermint Patties

I had to make 2-dozen treats for a cookie exchange.  I love cookies, I love baking, and I like experimenting.  I wanted to go for the "wow" factor. So I found a recipe for home-made peppermint patties. I am totally going to toot my own horn, because these little patties are superb,  Perfect little drops of minty goodness, they taste like Christmas in a little round package!

Peppermint Patties

     

In a mixing bowl combine:

2 Cups powdered sugar

2 tbsp evaporated milk. (I discovered while I was making these little blobs of heaven, that I didn't have ANY evaporated milk, and the thought of taking my four, small-dictators to the grocery store was not something that was high on my list of fun things to do.  So I did the next best thing, I googled how to make my own evaporated milk.  1 cup of non fat powdered milk, mixed into 1 3/4 cups of warm water.  Mix until foamy...voila evaporated milk.)

1 1/2 tbsp butter (softened)

1/4 tsp vegetable oil

1/4 tsp vanilla

1-3 drops of peppermint extract, I used 3, I wanted MINTY patties!

1-2 cups chocolate chips

Mix these ingredients with your hand or stand mixer until a soft dough forms, you may need to add a few more drops of evaporated milk to get the satiny texture you need.

  Toss this dough into the fridge for an hour to firm it up!  This gave me just enough time to take a shower, fix lunch and throw in a load of laundry...if that's not multitasking, I don't know what is!

After an hour or so, break off pieces of the minty filling, roll into quarter sized balls and then press flat (they should be about half-dollar size.)

Put them back into the fridge for about 20 minutes till firm again.  This helps them hold their shape when dunked into the warm, melted chocolate.

Place chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl (or double boiler) and heat for 1 minute, stir and then heat in 30-second increments until melted. If you really want to up the glossy look of the chocolate, mix a tablespoon of Crisco into the chocolate before you melt it, the oil adds a gorgeous sheen to the chocolate when it hardens!

Drop a couple of your mint patties into the melted chocolate and turn to coat evenly, place on waxed paper until set.  I put mine back into the refrigerator to set up quicker!  The faster they set, the faster you can sample your creation! ;)

Enjoy!