Here’s another one of those things that look a lot harder than they actually are. Peppermint patties are simple to make, pretty well foolproof, and yummy to boot. They make a cheap and elegant hostess gift or party favor, and you can goth them up a little by dying the fondant odd colors and wrapping them in colored foil or mesh.

These should really just be called “chocolate-covered fondant candies,” since if you don’t want to use peppermint you can substitute a flavoring of your choice. Cherry or orange is particularly nice.

The instructions call for a food processor, but you could use a blender or even an electric mixer as long as you make sure to get the fondant nice and creamy.

If you plan to color the fondant, try to use paste-type food coloring (available at cake and candy supply stores) if possible. The extra fluid in liquid food coloring can throw off the texture if you use too much. I used red and black to make a sort of bruised purple in this demo, but you can get as creative as you want: Blood red, gangrene yellow, pumpkin orange; you get the idea.

You can use regular eating chocolate (dark chocolate makes a particularly nice contrast to the mint) to coat the candies, or use “coverture” chocolate designed for this purpose. If you use the latter, omit the vegetable shortening.

For measurements in grams and milliliters, check out the conversion calculator at AllRecipes.

Ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar
1.5 Tbsp softened butter
2 tsp peppermint extract (or other flavor of your choice)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp cream
Food coloring (optional)

8 ounces (about 1-1/3 cup) chocolate, chopped
1 Tbsp vegetable shortening

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