Candy Cane Peppermint Patties

For the ultimate peppermint lover, these Candy Cane Peppermint Patties are melt in your mouth delicious! With a refreshing, cooling, creamy center and a delicious milk chocolate coating, these patties are topped with crushed candy canes for even more peppermint flavour, texture, and colour!

Talk about an easy, no-bake recipe!! These Candy Cane Peppermint Patties are just that. Fashioned after the popular York Peppermints, these are a delicious little treat that also make a great hostess gift! When I started working on recipes to include in this series, I knew I wanted to include a few candy type recipes, because afterall, the star of this series is peppermint and you can’t get any more candy-like than a classic candy cane!

I consider myself to be quite good at managing my time. I’m a planner. I make lists for everything and unlike John.e, who will write up a list and then put it down somewhere and ignore it, I follow my lists religiously. But, even someone as OCD as me can find time running short as the holidays approach. That is why I love a no-bake recipe so much. As we get closer to the big day, we don’t have much time to bake. Candy Cane Peppermint Patties are so easy to make, they’re quite delicious, and your friends are going to love them!

I have seen these patties prepared with the centers being coloured or tinted with food colouring. If you want to do that, you can, but please pay attention to this section first. There are two basic forms of food colouring – liquid and gel. Liquid food colouring will certainly affect the consistency of these patties. In all cases – like every single time – I use gel food colouring. I’m not promoting the product, and I’m not being paid to say this, but Wilton has the best gel food colouring I’ve ever used. You can buy it in any baking supply store, but Amazon stocks it as well. If you’re in the United States, you can get it here. Or, in Canada, you can order it online here.

WELCOME TO A LORD BYRON CHRISTMAS!

I’m going to tell you all about this recipe and how you can make it in your home this holiday season, but first, I want to tell you about what you can expect from Lord Byron’s Kitchen this Christmas. I know we’re getting closer to the big day, so it’s time to get to the holiday-themed recipes! Over the past decade, I have built a reputation for sharing series-type recipes. The most popular would be my annual 24 Cookies of Christmas, which was fashioned after an advent calendar. But, I have others that are only 12 days, which were fashioned after the 12 Days of Christmas.

This particular recipe is a part of my third holiday series for this year. So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Lord Byron’s 12 Christmas Candy Cane Recipes Series. Just like every other series that I’ve shared over the years, this one will also see a new recipe shared each day for the next 12 days – even on Saturday and Sunday! You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas recipes could one possibly have or need? Well, I say you can never have too much of a good thing. And, I love having lots of choices. Who wants to prepare the same holiday recipes year after year?

SUBSCRIBE NOW AND NEVER MISS ANOTHER RECIPE!

Traditionally, every year I share a series of recipes that you might already be familiar with. For example, I’ve previously shared 12 Holiday Trifles, 12 Holiday Bars & Squares, and even these 12 Edible Holiday Wreath recipes! Also, some of my favourite recipe collections from previous years are my 75 Homemade Gifts from Your Kitchen, my 50 Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Christmas Recipes, and my 30 No-Bake Christmas Recipes post.

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! And, just in case you’re curious, you can see previous annual posts for my 24 Cookies of Christmas Series here!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Canned Sweetened Condensed Milk – This recipe has not been tested with low fat condensed milk.
• Peppermint Extract
• Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar.  It is used in frostings quite often.  When dusted lightly onto cakes and cookies, it adds just a touch of sweetness, but more importantly, it looks very visually appealing!
• Milk Chocolate Chips
• Vegetable Oil
• Crushed Candy Canes

HOW TO MAKE CANDY CANE PEPPERMINT PATTIES

Measure the sweetened condensed milk, peppermint extract, and 3 cups of the confectioner’s sugar into the bowl of stand mixer. On low speed, beat until the mixture is smooth. Next, in 1/4 cup increments, incorporate the next one and a half cups of confectioner’s sugar until fully incorporated. When you have incorporated four and a half cups of confectioner’s sugar, pinch off about a tablespoon-sized amount of the mixture and roll into a ball. If the ball holds its shape, you do not need to add the remaining confectioner’s sugar. If the ball does not hold its shape, beat one tablespoon at a time of the confectioner’s sugar into the mixture until you can roll a perfect ball.

Next, dust a sheet of parchment paper with confectioner’s sugar. Remove the pattie mixture from the mixer and transfer it to the prepared area. Form into a large ball and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Dust the top with more confectioner’s sugar. Use a rolling pin to roll the pattie dough out to 1/2 inch thick. Using a one-inch circular cookie cutter, cut out shapes in the pattie dough. Remove the scraps and re-roll to make more patties. Slide the parchment paper carefully onto a baking sheet and transfer to your fridge for 30 minutes.

Next, transfer the milk chocolate chips and vegetable oil to a microwave-safe bowl. In increments of 30 seconds at half power, melt the chocolate, stirring well between each increment. Once the chocolate is fully melted and silky smooth, it’s time to coat the peppermint patties. Working with one pattie at a time, dip it fully into the melted chocolate. Use a fork to lift the covered pattie out of the chocolate and gently tap the fork against the rim of the bowl allowing the excess chocolate to fall back into the bowl. Place the chocolate-covered pattie onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and top with a little sprinkle of crushed candy canes. Continue until all of the patties are coated.

Set aside at room temperature for two hours before transferring to your fridge to finish cooling. Once the chocolate has hardened, pack the patties into a food-safe container with a lid. Store in your fridge.

SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK

I have a lot of recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen with sweetened condensed milk as one of the ingredients. (Click here to see them!) Growing up in Newfoundland, it was always something I’ve been aware of. But, that’s not the case for everyone. I get many questions from readers about it. For someone not familiar with the gooey, sticky canned milk, it might be easily confused with canned Carnation condensed milk, for instance. Let me explain what it is here.

So, first of all, it’s condensed. The milk is condensed by removing water. This can by accomplished by applying heat. The water will evaporate causing the milk to condense, which thickens the milk. Sugar is added to sweeten the condensed milk. The main purpose of adding sugar is to prolong the shelf life of condensed milk, which can sit on room temperature shelves for years. Sugar prevents microorganisms from growing in the milk and helps to thicken it even further—it’s added after the milk has been boiled, reduced, and pasteurized.

If you find an unsweetened condensed milk, it’s most likely that it’s simply evaporated milk or condensed milk, which is thick, but not gooey and sticky. Evaporated milk is often used as a cream added to tea or coffee. If you are unfamiliar with it, please read the can carefully. Also, shake it – can you feel the liquid splashing about inside the can? If so, it’s not sweetened condensed milk; it’s evaporated or condensed milk only!

MAKING YOUR OWN CRUSHED CANDY CANES

If you don’t want to use the red and white crushed candy canes that you can find just about anywhere this time of year, you can crush your own candy canes by placing unwrapped, broken candy canes into a sturdy bag and firmly rolling over them with a wooden rolling pin.

Either way you look at it, the candy canes should not be crushed too finely. Many times, you’ll find they have too much powder, meaning that they have been crushed too much. You want chunky pieces in order to get the red and white speckled pattern.

I’ve tried crushing them myself and have crushed them a little too much. Even the type you buy in the store can sometimes have too much candy cane dust. You can easily fix it by filtering out the dust. Working in small amounts, place a heaping spoonful of the crushed candy canes into a colander. Sift out the dust so that you are left with nice little pieces.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!

Finally, as I stated previously, every day I will be posting a new recipe. If you miss one, don’t fret. You can find my entire collection of Christmas Recipes right here! There are over 200 Christmas recipes and counting. There’s something for everyone! Cheers!