homemade peppermint patties

I can get lost online, clicking from link to link, finding new blogs and new recipes. This recipe comes from one of those discoveries. A random facebook friend posted a link to a recipe on a blog. While I have yet to make that recipe (which looks very good), I found this recipe in the meantime.

Peppermint patties are not available locally in my city, but most of these ingredients are easy to come by or used in small quantities. The recipe is very fussy about the temperature of the chocolate. I decided it was too much mafan so I approximated. You want the chocolate to be liquid but not so hot that it melts the peppermint rounds.

HOMEMADE PEPPERMINT PATTIES (makes 3-4 dozen)
from Gourmet Magazine (as seen on What Megan’s Making)

2 ¼ cups powdered sugar plus ¼ cup for kneading and rolling
1 ½ Tbsp corn syrup
1 ½ Tbsp water
½ tsp peppermint extract
1 Tbsp shortening
Pinch of salt
10 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

MIX 2 ¼ cups powdered sugar with corn syrup, water, peppermint extract, shortening, and a pinch of salt until just combined. Knead on a work surface dusted with remaining ¼ cup powdered sugar until smooth. Roll between sheets of parchment paper on a large baking sheet to ¼ inch thickness. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Remove top sheet of paper and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Replace top sheet, then flip round over and repeat sprinkling on other side.

CUT out as many rounds as possible with cutter (the recipe recommended a shot glass, but not having one around, I used a clean cough syrup cup), transferring to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze until firm, at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, gather scraps, reroll, and freeze, then cut out more rounds, freezing them.

MELT three fourths of chocolate in a double boiler. Remove bowl from pan and add remaining chocolate, stirring until smooth. Cool significantly. (According to recipe, cool until thermometer inserted at least 1/2 inch into chocolate registers 80°F. Return water in pan to a boil and remove from heat. Set bowl with cooled chocolate over pan and reheat, stirring, until thermometer registers 88 to 91°F. Remove bowl from pan.) Balance one peppermint round on a fork and submerge in melted chocolate, letting excess drip off and scraping back of fork against rim of bowl if necessary, then return patty to parchment paper. Coat remaining rounds, rewarming chocolate (to 88 to 91°F) as necessary. Let patties stand until chocolate is set, about one hour.