One American treat my husband has long been a fan of is the York Peppermint Pattie. I used to bring bags of them back from the States for him when we lived in Germany and always intended to make them at home so he wouldn’t have to wait for my international travel schedule to enjoy them.
So of course now that we live in the States and he has unlimited pp access is when I decide to finally try my hand at creating them at home.
Dr. B is a purist, so he probably won’t care much for this wintergreen version. He was forbidden to taste them until photos were taken so the verdict is pending.
To make these holiday appropriate, I shamrock shaped them, then sprinkled the tops with green sugar crystals. I couldn’t resist switching up the flavor and color and changing the name to “Paddy” for St. Patrick’s day.
These have the texture of peppermint patties but the aftertaste of wintergreen lifesavers which were always my favorite. So I like them.
I admit you have to like wintergreen to fancy these but the best part is, in addition to not being as difficult to make as I thought, they also provide a great creative opportunity for future batches to experiment with different flavor and color versions.
I used this recipe from Saveur. My variations and tips:
- I added green paste food coloring
- Instead of peppermint oil, I used LorAnn wintergreen oil
- After the fondant was colored and flavored, I patted it flat and used a shamrock cutter to make the shapes. Grease the cutter first with shortening.
- Use a spatula to transfer them to a plate and place them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This made them easier to dip in the chocolate without breaking apart.
