peppermint patty's patties

they're not really hers... they're mine. but i share.

i LOVE the mint/chocolate combo. ice cream, after eights, putting peppermint in hot chocolate, polar bear shots, those delicious girl guide cookies that are hard to find... anything.

these little delights are closest to york peppermint patties. they're a little labour intensive, but it was also my first time making them, so with practice they may become easier. here is what you'll need:

2 1/4 cups of icing sugar (plus some for sprinkling stuff and things.. mostly to do with the patties. your choice though)
1 1/2 tbsp corn syrup
1 1/2 tbsp water
3/4 tsp pure peppermint extract
1 tsp shortening
8-10 oz 70% cacao dark chocolate


hokay. so. take everything (minus the chocolate) and beat it in a bowl. i found it easiest to kind of stir it around best i could first to avoid covering myself in powdered sugar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ38PGV_3wg

you're probably going to feel like you should have more liquid in the mix to get it to the consistency you want... i thought i did, but i waited it out and it was perfect. mix it til it's just mixed together then move it over to a surface dusted with icing sugar. knead it in a way that makes your cat jealous.

transfer it to a piece of parchment paper and then place another piece on top. roll it out between the two, then when it gets to about 1/4 inch thick toss it in the freezer for about 15 minutes on a cookie sheet or something. i don't really care what you put it on.

have you been thinking these pictures are less than awesome? well quit judging me, my camera was dead. don't worry your little head, i charged it.

after the 15 minutes, peel off the top parchment paper and sprinkle with sugar. place the paper back on and turn over and do the same to the other side. you can use any shape of cutter you want, i used a couple different ones i have, but in retrospect i probably should have just used the small circles. you'll be placing these on a fork for the chocolate part, and you don't want anything hanging over the edges or the heat of the chocolate will kind of cause them to warp.

place your cut-outs back onto a sheet of parchment and put back in the freezer for about 10 minutes. you'll have to keep re-rolling the filling to get as many cut-outs as you can with the scraps of each round. basically until you either get to the photo below, or fed up.

i chopped my chocolate up so that it was easier to melt. you can use a double boiler if you want, but i just microwaved it (because at this point it was about 11:30pm)

stir it up so it's all nice and silky smooth, then take your shapes out of the freezer. place each cut-out on a fork and submerge in chocolate and let excess drip off. tapping and wiping the bottom on the side of the bowl will help speed things up.

place it back on the parchment until it settles (i kind of pushed them off the fork with a knife). the fridge will help speed this up, but you'll need a lot of space because they can't overlap (i put them in the fridge in groups as i was doing them).

then voila!

i've been trying to eat healthy lately, but i still want to make yummy treats so i've been bringing things into work. win win?

*disclaimer*

the following things may happen to you if you attempt to make these:

-end up using a new piece of parchment paper every time one is needed
-covering yourself in powdered sugar (not unlike officer farva)
-producing more dishes than you know what to do with (mostly forks and knives, as the chocolate hardens on them quick and it just seemed easier to get a new one)
-your cats sits and stares at you the whole time because of the whole kneading thing
-looking like a 2 year old playing in feces due to the amount of chocolate you end up getting on yourself (ie hands, forearms, face, legs, feet and pj's)
-staying up until 2am to finish them, then waking up late because you're so tired and taking a cab to work so they don't melt in the heat and you make your 9:30am call.

just some very generic things that everyone should look out for. nothing to with with the fact that i'm a messy, clumsy person.