#mccblr

Prep: 20 mins*            Cook: 1h 40mins            Total: 2 hrs     

* Can vary based on how fast you can trace the pattern at the end. I recommend doing this before you start.

Ingredients (makes ~28):

½ cup (120 ml) sweetened condensed milk

½ tsp. (2 ml) peppermint extract

2 ½ cups (300 g) powdered sugar

2 cups (340 g) bright white melting chocolate wafers*

3 tbsp. (44 g) all-vegetable shortening

40 dark green melting chocolate wafers**

7 orange chocolate melting wafers**

10 white chocolate melting wafers**

Black candy colouring or ~6 black chocolate melting wafers

* I used Sweet Tooth Fairy brand.

** I used Merkens brand.

Prepare a baking tray with a piece of parchment paper.

Combine the sweetened condensed milk and peppermint extract in a medium bowl (left).

Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, add the powdered sugar until it comes together into a non-sticky workable dough (right).

NOTE: The dough cannot be sticky at all for this. Any amount of stickiness will make it a nightmare to cut out the circles in the next step. This should take most if not all of the 2 ½ cups of powdered sugar.

Lay out a piece of parchment paper as a work surface and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Place the dough on the parchment and sprinkle a little more powdered sugar on top.

Roll out the dough into a ½ -inch (~1.5 cm) thick circle. Using a 2-inch (5 cm) diameter circular cookie cutter, cut out as many peppermint circles as possible (top).

Transfer the peppermint circles to the prepared baking skeet (bottom left). Cover and place the tray in the freezer to chill for at least 10 minutes.

After chilling, cut each patty in half (bottom right).

While waiting for the patties to chill, melt the bright white melting chocolate wafers and shortening using either a double boiler or microwave-safe bowl. To melt them in the microwave, follow package directions.

Dip each patty in the chocolate one at a time. To dip them, submerge the bottom half of one in the chocolate and drizzle more on top. Lift the patty out of the chocolate with a fork and tap the side of the bowl to create a smooth surface. Scrape the fork against the lip of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. 

Return the dipped patties to the prepared baking sheet (left). Once they’ve all been coated, return the tray to the freezer until the chocolate has set, ~15 mins.

Once the chocolate has set, trim the edges of the patties using a knife (right).

Flip the parchment with the traced pattern (see end of post) over so side with the pen/pencil/sharpie is on the bottom. Lay it flat on a movable (if possible) lighter surface so the pattern is visible and tape down the corners to keep it from moving.

To make the dark green: melt together 30 dark green, 6 orange, and all black chocolate wafers in the microwave in 10 second bursts for 30 seconds, stirring each time.

If using black dye instead, melt the dark green and orange wafers together and then stir in 7 drops of black candy dye (top left).

Let the melted chocolate sit for 10 minutes to cool down and let the colour set. After cooling, transfer 2 tbsp. into a decorating bag or into the corner of a ziplock bag. Snip the bag just enough for the chocolate to flow easily when you squeeze the bag, then snip off a little bit more.

Keeping constant pressure on the bag, trace the pattern on the template, going around the edge first. For a smooth look, try not to spread the chocolate too much with the piping bag. Instead, once the border has been traced, pipe a larger line of chocolate in the middle and lightly tap the parchment paper to let the chocolate spread (top right).

You’ll likely still need to spread the chocolate a little using the piping bag, but try not to do it much.

Transfer the parchment paper, and the surface it’s on, if possible, to the fridge to set while you prepare the light green.

To make the light green: melt together 10 dark green, 10 white, and 1 orange chocolate wafers using the same method as the dark green (bottom left).

Let the melted chocolate sit for 10 minutes to cool down and let the colour set. After cooling, transfer all of it into a decorating bag or into the corner of a ziplock bag. Snip the bag just enough for the chocolate to flow easily when you squeeze the bag.

Keeping constant pressure on the bag, trace the pattern on the parchment with only one line of lighter green (bottom right).

Return the parchment paper, and the surface it’s on, if possible, to the fridge to set, about 5 mins.

TIP: You can try and use a toothpick to smooth the ends of the line of light green against the dark green.

Remove the patties from the freezer and dip just the edge of the flat side in the remaining dark green, re-melting the chocolate in the microwave if needed (left).

Attach the chocolate irises to the rest of the eye using a little bit of melted chocolate (right).

And then you’re done, enjoy!

I’m really happy with how these turned out! It’s surprisingly easy to make peppermint patties and I loved being able to put my spin on them and make another dessert for MCC.

The dark green I made is a little darker then I would like, but I think I fixed it in the instructions given.

The pattern to trace: