Homemade Peppermint Patties
The technique for these candies is very much the same as our Almond Butter Cups recipe: melt good quality chocolate, add filling, top with more melted chocolate. You don't have to be a chef to do this! But you do have to care enough about avoiding highly-processed, refined sugar-laden junk to invest just a bit of time and energy.
The first two ingredients in Hershey's York Peppermint Patties are sugar and corn syrup. My recipe is sweetened with raw, local honey. You can find it at health food stores or farmers' markets. It is different than the processed, pourable honey you'll usually see at supermarkets; raw honey is thick and creamy. It is purported to have many health benefits, such as helping to boost your immunity to local allergens (as long as you buy honey gathered in your local area). Please note that raw honey is not recommended for infants under one year of age because of the rare risk of botulism.
Ingredients
(yield: 12 patties)
- about 3.5- 4 oz. bittersweet baker's chocolate, at least 70% cocoa (I used this 72% cocoa organic bar)
- 3T raw honey (preferably local)
- 1/4 tsp + 1 or 2 more drops peppermint oil (food-grade)
If you have a candy mold, great. I don't, so I used my silicone mini muffin pan; if you don't have a silicone pan, you might want to try using paper liners for easier removal of the patties once they're ready.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave and drizzle about a 1/2 teaspoon of it in the bottom of each spot in your mold. Chill in the refrigerator for a few minutes until the chocolate becomes firm.
In a small bowl, mix together the honey and peppermint oil. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of the mixture in the center of each cup.
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| I realize red isn't the most Easter-basket-friendly color. I'm okay with that. |
In your face, Hershey's!
Wow - I'm always so intimidated by making chocolate but this looks so doable! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteEh, this is the easy way! No double-boiler, or anything: I just melt mine in the microwave. There's a link to a how-to video in my Almond Butter Cups post; I'll edit this post to include it.
ReplyDeleteIf you make these patties, come back and let me know how they turned out!
OK, added a link in the text to a step-by-step for melting chocolate :-)
ReplyDeleteI made these last night and despite a comedy of errors they tasted great! First, I couldn't find my silicone mini-cupcake pan and I didn't have mini liners for the metal tin. Sooo I had to make them BIG in the regular cupcake side. Then I completely scorched the chocolate in the microwave so I had to try again (it worked fine the second time). We veganized it according to your recommendations: 2.5 T coconut oil and 1 T agave instead of honey. This made a lot of filling so I ran out of chocolate to cover all the tops. If I were to do it again I'd probably use 6 oz chocolate at least. Then I froze them because I love frozen chocolate treats and even though they looked a little naked they were SO good. I'll make them again!
ReplyDeleteAimee,
ReplyDeleteAwesome, thank you so much for being the guinea pig for the vegan version. I'm glad my weird idea worked - was it a very coconutty flavor or was the oil mild enough to taste the peppermint? Next time I make a batch, I'm going to try it your way. Love the idea of freezing them, too.
Thanks! I had no idea Michael's sold stuff like this. I'll stop in later this week.
ReplyDeleteNot lame at all! I got mine at Michael's Craft Store; they have a whole candy section (which is also where I got the mustache lollipop molds).
ReplyDeleteReally lame question as I am going to make these as one of the Halloween treats my kids can swap the junk for.... where do you buy the candy foil wrappers? I'd never heard of them til I re-read this post. I see them on amazon but none of them qualify for prime and thus wouldn't get here until after Halloween unless I paid some disgusting premium for them. If you don't know of an easy fast place, I'll just do my usual fancy shmancy thing: tin foil.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Can't wait to make these. We love Peppermint/Chocolate!!!
ReplyDeleteHope you like them! I just made a batch for a fundraiser and they were a big hit :-)
ReplyDeletethese look oh so yummy! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, we sure like them!
ReplyDeleteThese are so good. I used creamed honey because I had no raw and they were just awesome. First time I've tried making chocolates and it was such a success, thank you so much for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad the substitution turned out well and I'm thrilled you enjoyed them! Many thanks for taking the time to report back with your sweet review :-)
ReplyDeleteI love this! Now I buy local honey but it isnt creamy - maybe if I let it sit for 6 months HAHAHA
ReplyDeleteJustine, this sounds awesome and so easy .... maybe. I think I bought some candy molds awhile back. I have the peppermint and the local raw honey, but I need baker's chocolate. It's on my shopping list for this weekend. I'll let you know how they turn out.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a dark chocolate with a high cocoa count, that'll work, too! Hope you like :-)
ReplyDeletewhere do you find peppermint oil ? is this the same as peppermint extract ?
ReplyDeleteyou can get it at WHole Foods or any health Food store. It's thicker and more intense in flavor than extract.
ReplyDelete:-)
ReplyDeleteRaw local honey is not creamy. I have bees and harvest the honey and do nothing else to it, the honey is not creamy. Perhaps you get whipped honey or something like that which is made from local raw honey. If it sits for a very long time it does not become creamy either, just crystallized.
ReplyDeleteBtw, love the recipe though, you just may want to clarify because regular local raw honey is going to be too runny. Maybe creamed or whipped???
ReplyDeleteI bought these at a local honey farm and they are AMAZING, but way expensive, so I definitely have to make them myself! The kind I bought used unsweetened chocolate for the coating and I found that I didn't mind because it contrasted so nicely with the richness of the honey, so I might try that when I make mine. Yum! :)
ReplyDelete