Make This: Organic Heart Shaped Peppermint Patties for Valentine’s Day

This contributor post was written by Amanda Toman.

These peppermint patties pack a Valentine’s Day punch in every heart shaped confection! To me, peppermint patties are the perfect treat. The chocolate coating is smooth and snaps a little when you take a bite. The creamy peppermint center gives a nice cool blast that tingles and freshens the mouth. And the two together? Well, together the two are undeniably a good couple.

Like most things homemade, these are way better than your store-bought peppermint patties. Although they taste eerily similar to your store-bought peppermint patties, these dont contain anything funky like corn syrup or artificial flavors. Plus, chances are high that you already have all the ingredients in your kitchen to easily whip up these homemade peppermint patties (even if they are not organic). This recipe yields about 50 patties (if you don’t eat about 12 in the process of making them, like I did) so they are perfect for packing up into these DIY Mylar Heart Treat Bags .

Organic Peppermint Patties

Yield: 50 Patties

• 5 1/2 cups of organic powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons of organic butter (room temperature)
• 4 tablespoons organic cream
• 4 tsp organic peppermint extract
• 3 1/2 cups of organic semi sweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons organic shortening

1: In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, butter, peppermint extract, and cream. Slowly mix until the mixture comes together. The mixture should feel like play-doh and shouldn’t be sticky. If the mixture is sticky, add more powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.

2: Place a sheet of parchment paper on your countertop, lightly dust with powdered sugar.

3:  Roll ¾”³ balls of dough between the palms of the hands.

4:  Press each ball down slowly and flatten it out. Take your heart shaped cookie cutter and punch out a small heart-shaped patty. Repeat this step until you have used all of the peppermint dough.

5: Transfer the parchment paper and the hearts to the freezer to let them firm up (at least 45 minutes or even overnight).

6:  While the dough is chilling, melt the chocolate coating by placing all the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and melt in 30 second increments. Stir after every 30 seconds to avoid overheating. When melted, add the shortening to the chocolate to thin it out. Let cool a few minutes.

7: Remove the patties from the freezer (Note: the more frozen your patties are, the easier it will be to dip in the chocolate!). Grab a fork and dip one patty at a time into the melted chocolate, making sure both sides of the patty are completely coated with chocolate. Let the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl and then place the patty back on the parchment paper. Repeat this step until all the patties have been dipped in chocolate.

8: Allow the peppermint patties to cool where they are for a few hours. If you like your peppermint patties chilled,  you can transfer them to the fridge, or if you’re like me and like them frozen, feel free to transfer them to the freezer.

Recipe and text Amanda Toman // Styling and photography Brittni Mehlhoff

Editor’s Note: When I was styling / photographing these little patties, I managed to sneak in a few bites and they are SERIOUSLY delicious. They’d make a great gift for V-Day. And beyond February 14th, just use a different cookie cutter shape and you can make them year round.

Amanda Toman wrote this post. Amanda is a northern born girl that is southern raised and loves road trips, new recipes, books (well, teen fiction), all animals (especially her little grey kitty cat), crime scene television shows and scary films. You can follow her on Instagram @nannertoman and here on Twitter.