Post #882 Peppermint Dreams

December 24, 2023 at 3:40 PM | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

This is a short post to wish everyone a happy/merry Holiday Day, and to share a couple of recipes I made today and in the past. One of my favorite flavors is chocolate. As far as I’m concerned, it should be a food group and included in every meal. Every. Meal. A close second is peppermint. I love the coolness it imparts into everything it touches. All my personal soap products are peppermint scented; I drink peppermint tea (when I drink tea; not often); and I have a bag of pep-o-mint lifesavers almost all the time. When I was a kid at Christmas, mom would yell at me for eating all the candy canes off the tree. And Partner/Spouse just got me a large bottle of peppermint oil to make my own peppermint scented stuff. Smells so good. And it’s good for you, but I’ve written about that in the past so you can search the blog if you’re interested.

Because today, I’m going to tell you about two peppermint candies that I’ve made and that I love. I just finished making one; the other I haven’t made in years. The difficult part is that when I make these things, there’s so much we end up either freezing part and forgetting about it, or tossing it because it goes stale before the two of us can finish it. And we seldom stay in one place long enough to give anything to the neighbors.

So the first thing I’ve made in the past is basically peppermint pillow mints. These are a light, soft, peppermint candy made from three ingredients and a simple process. All you need is 8oz of cream cheese at room temperature, 3 cups of confection sugar, and 1 tsp of peppermint extract. A couple of heads-up about the ingredients. First, always use the highest quality you can afford. Second, sift the sugar to avoid lumps. Third, make sure you use peppermint extract not oil. Peppermint oil is far too strong to use on cooking.

First, I use my stand mixer for this recipe. It makes a very stiff dough and it’s usually too strong for any hand mixer or wooden spoon. Unless your arms look like Arnold’s and the wooden spoon is a canoe paddle and the hand mixer is a super triple deluxe model for chefs on the go. Put the softened cream cheese and the peppermint extract in the bowl of the stand mixer and beat it until it’s smooth and creamy. Add the sugar one cup at a time and mixing thoroughly between additions. By the end, the dough will be like playdough. If it doesn’t look or act like this, add more sugar in quarter cup increments.

That’s it. The candy is ready for manipulation. And it’s here where the possibilities open up. You can leave it white, or add color. You can make the whole batch one color, or split the batch and make various colors. Just add food coloring for whatever you like. I suggest using the gel rather than the fluid. It mixes faster and more evenly. (Funny story, one time I made a batch for Christmas at my ex-wife’s mom and dad’s house. I split it up and made four colors. Her sister swore the “blue ones taste better” even though I explained it was all one batch. She insisted.) Then, you break off small bite-sized pieces and shape them any way you like. You can roll them into small ball then flatten into discs. You press into small(!) molds. You can roll the dough into thin sheets and cut into diamonds or circles or squares or triangles or whatever. I’ve even made small balls and dipped them into chocolate. The sky’s the limit!

The second peppermint candy I make, I made today:

This is Peppermint Bark. Bark is really just melted chocolate cooled into a sheet and broken into pieces that resemble shard of tree bark. Sort of. Use your imagination. You can use any form of chocolate you like, even that monstrosity called “white chocolate” which isn’t really chocolate at all because the very thing that makes chocolate chocolate is removed from “white chocolate.” But I won’t tilt at that particular windmill just now.

First, to prep the area, get a sheet pan (with a lip) and spread either parchment or foil on the bottom so it goes up the sides a bit. Spray with a cooking spray for easy release. Now at this point you can put the melted chocolate from the next step directly onto the foil or you can create a “crust” by putting cookies, or pretzels or crackers or cake or whatever the heck else you like in a thin layer on the bottom. Melt about 12oz of chocolate chips either in the microwave or over very low heat on the stove top. Add 2 tsp of shortening (think Crisco not butter). Pour the melted chocolate in the sheet tray over whatever crust, or not, you’ve chosen. Add toppings. Toppings are whatever you want. The most important one is crushed candy canes. This is called peppermint bark so you have to have something that tastes like peppermint. Candy canes add the flavor and a pop of color, too. Another important element is a hit of salt to cut the sweetness. Pretzels, potato chips, a rough grind of salt, salted caramel, popcorn, corn chips, whatever strikes your fancy. Just be sure it doesn’t make the peppermint taste weird.

So my bark today is a layer of graham crackers, melted bittersweet chocolate, and a top layer of crushed candy canes, crushed pecans, crushed cashews, and sunflower seeds. I also had pretzels, but forgot to put them on. Right now the whole sheet is cooling and solidifying. Once that’s done, I’ll break it up and put it in a bowl.

There’s another method to make bark that is caramel forward. Layer a single layer of small pretzel sticks on a prepared sheet pan. Melt some caramel candies carefully so they don’t burn and carefully pour it over the pretzels. While the caramel is still hot, sprinkle chocolate chips, coconut, and any other topping you like. Let it cool completely, and break into bark. It’s yummy.

So, there it is. Peppermint candy two ways, and both of ’em easy peasy. I hope everyone has a wonderful time. Reach out if you need me. I’ll be here.

and as always,