Free Recipe Friday. . .you GOTTA try these!

Homemade Peppermint Patties!

It sounds impossible, I know...

but these are even better

than those preservative filled 'York' ones!

You can easily go from eating 1 to 12 in just one sitting!
Kidding, just kidding....or am I?!?

The ingredients are amazingly simple

and the process is eeeasyy peazy.

This recipe is not only to die for, but it will give you a reason,

an excuse if you will (if you needed one)

to go to Hobby Lobby or Michael's. 

And you're welcome!
There's one ingredient you may need to pick up there...

it's the Creme de Menthe extract,
or Peppermint extracts/flavoring, whichever you would prefer.
(You can also order from HERE for much cheaper)
Everything else you probably have in your pantry right now!!! 

So go grab you an assortment of those extracts if you'd like...

(you never know when they will come in handy)
and let's get to cooking! 

INGREDIENTS

1 can sweetened condensed milk

5 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon peppermint extract
(we used TWO little bottles of creme de menthe
and it wasn't even quite 1 tablespoon and flavored it perfectly) 

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

(we used semisweet baking squares for half 

and bittersweet baking squares for the other half!) 

3 tablespoons shortening

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INSTRUCTIONS

Add condensed milk, 2 cups of powdered sugar,

and peppermint/creme de menthe extract to a large mixing bowl.

Mix everything on medium speed using the paddle attachment

until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

Add more powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time,

until the dough is stiff but still pliable.

But be careful...sometimes THIS can happen!

Roll 3/4″ balls of dough between the palms of the hands.

Press each ball down slowly

and set the flattened disk on a flat cutting board or plate.

Transfer peppermint disks to the freezer for no longer than 30 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, temper the chocolate coating.

Place chocolate chips (or squares) in a microwavable bowl.

Melt the chocolate in 30 second increments,

making sure to stir after each time until chocolate is smooth.

Stir in shortening to thin the chocolate.

Remove patties from the freezer.

Place a patty on the tines of the fork

and dip in the chocolate until completely covered.

Allow excess chocolate to drip off the patty

before setting each one on top of wax or parchment paper.

Allow the chocolate coated peppermint patties to completely set up.

This can be done quicker by placing the patties in the refrigerator.

The peppermint patties are ready when they are dry to the touch.

Enjoy!