Maybe it’s the fact that I grew up with a mother who loved them, or maybe it’s just the perfect combination of mint and dark chocolate, but peppermint patties are still one of my favorite indulgences.
As I continue to move completely away from all refined sugar, and consume only rare homemade treats, I find myself trying to replicate old favorites for my family and I.
I came across a recipe for homemade peppermint patties right before Christmas last year when my friend Megan, from What Megan’s Making, showcased the ones she made. While chock full of sugar, I thoroughly enjoyed changing up the recipe a bit and making these for my mother as a special Christmas treat.
Both the chocolate and the sugar you choose will impart a rich flavor to these little indulgences. I happened to use Ghirardelli dark chocolate and my sugar of choice is whole cane sugar (may also be found as sucanat or rapadura). To use whole cane sugar in this recipe, it’s best to turn it into powdered sugar by placing about 1/2 cup at a time into a blender or food processor until it becomes a fine powder.
Homemade Peppermint Patties
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups powdered whole cane sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1 1/2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
- 1 T coconut oil
- 1/4 cup powdered whole cane sugar for kneading
- 10 ounces dark or bittersweet chocolate – chopped
Instructions
- Beat the sugar, honey, water, peppermint extract, and oil in a mixer until thoroughly combined. It should be rather thick and almost kneadable.
- On a clean surface, knead the sugar (with extra powdered sugar if needed so that it doesn’t stick) until smooth.
- Roll between 2 pieces of waxed paper until about 1/4 inch thick and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
- Using a round cutter of some sort (shot glasses work very well for this occasion) cut out as many rounds as you can. Refreeze rounds. Gather scraps and cut out more, freezing as you go along.
- While the peppermint rounds are in the freezer, melt the chocolate in a double boiler or a bowl over a pan of simmering water. (do not let the steam touch the chocolate) Once the chocolate reaches 90 degrees, remove from heat source.
- Placing a peppermint round on a fork, dip into the chocolate making sure to cover well, and place patty onto a sheet of clean waxed paper until set – about one hour.
Notes
Donielle Baker
I’ve made sugar free peppermint patties with just raw honey, peppermint, coconut oil and dagoba
unsweetened organic baking chocolate.
I gently mix 1 cup raw honey and a drop or two of peppermint oil to taste, then let it chill in the fridge until it gets semi solid.
I melt a bar of the unsweetened chocolate with a tablespoon of coconut oil and honey to taste ( only a tsp or two of honey needed usually) in a glass bowl over a double boiler just until it’s soft and starting to melt. You may need to add a little more coconut oil to melt the chocolate, but you don’t want it too liquid. Coconut oil will solidify when it’s chilled, but you want the chocolate to be able to harden.
Take the chocolate mixture off the heat, stir until it’s all melted and blended. Let it cool down a little,
warm enough to still be liquid, but cool enough not to melt the honey discs below.
Take teaspoonfuls of the chilled honey/peppermint combination and gently shape into balls and then flatten the balls with the back of a spoon into discs,
place on parchment paper lined tray, and spoon chocolate over the top to coat the raw honey discs with chocolate. Chill well, these keep best in the fridge or freezer.
After they are well chilled, you can flip them over and coat the bottom if you’d like…( if there are any left ~)
The first time I made them I tried dipping the cold honey discs into the chocolate to coat more completely, and it worked ok, but the honey started to soften too much and it was a little messy.
I found it worked better to take the chilled raw honey and peppermint, roll it into a ball and flatten that into a disc, then gently spoon the warmed chocolate over it to coat the top.
Yours turned out so much prettier than mine! 🙂
I especially like “It is not a health food by any means and should be made only as an indulgence and to be shared with others.” ooops… 🙂
Those look scrumptious, Donielle! Thanks to Megan and Tina, too. Might have to make some for V Day. 🙂
Shirley