An Oreo Ball Competitor?

Here's to you, Gabe! Rabi and I made our own peppermint patties yesterday, and we think they rival the Oreo Balls (although, I have to say, the Oreo Balls still take the cake). This recipe is super easy, and they turn out really well!








Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. light corn syrup, honey, or agave (your choice. We used honey.)
1 1/2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp cream cheese (for the vegan option, just omit the cream cheese. We did, and it was fine.)
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 Tbsp. shortening
2 c. semisweet morsels (or darker than semisweet)
2 Tbsp. butter (or shortening, if you want to go vegan, which we did)

Take out your bowl and dump in the powdered sugar, liquid sweetener of choice, water, shortening, cream cheese, peppermint and vanilla. Blend with and electric mixer until well blended (mixture will be crumbly.) Stir with a spoon to help it all cohere, using a bit of hand-power if necessary. Next, scoop the smooth white ball of dough onto your work surface that has been lightly dusted in powdered sugar (I used my trusty silpat.) Roll out until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Using your cookie cutter (or shot glass) punch circles into the dough, and put back into the freezer for another 10 minutes. While they are in the freezer, you'll start to melt the chocolate. If you are using a double boiler, set it up and put the chocolate chips and shortening into the top and begin melting. If you are using a microwave, put your ingredients into a heat proof bowl and commence melting, heating at 30 second intervals on high and stirring in between until smooth and without lumps. When the chocolate is all melted and the patties are chilled, you're ready to dip! Take the patties out of the freezer and let them sit for a minute to avoid breakage when transferring to dip. Get out a cookie sheet and line with wax or parchment paper. Peel off the circles and one by one drop them into the chocolate and smooth the tops, coating each thoroughly. Place them on the cookie sheet and keep going until they are all sufficiently swathed in chocolate. Put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.

For the 'Junior Mints' variation, simply gather up the odd shaped pieces and strips of dough leftover from the circle cutting process and roll them into small balls, flattening slightly on two sides to form the traditional junior mint shape. Pop them in the freezer for about 5 minutes to firm, and then dip them in the same manner as the circular mints. Chill until set. Be sure to keep them in the fridge to keep them from getting melty.

We used the leftover chocolate on apple slices and put those in the freezer too.

Just a note: this recipe came from the Instructables website. Here's the link: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/5Dp8ao/www.instructables.com/id/Copycat-Candy-Recipes/