These are very delicious and always very popular, but so easy to make. Only 4 ingredients are used in this recipe (minus sprinkles) and I really like them kept in the freezer for an icy cool, peppermint treat!

I have kept the recipe fairly traditional and used some good dark chocolate to dip the peppermint candies in, but white chocolate works really well too, or you could use a mix of dark and milk if you don’t like bitter chocolate.

Some people like to add a little green food colouring to the peppermint filling, especially when using white chocolate to cover, but I prefer the icy white centre, covered with dark chocolate.

If you are in the mood to decorate, Christmas sprinkles or crushed candy canes are all good here.

For the ones I have made here, I have left some plain, some ruched with a fork and some with sprinkles. I think plain are best, but the children love the sprinkles!

I like to use a non-stick baking liner for my peppermint patties, but parchment will work well too, or oiled foil. Just don’t put them on a baking rack to drain off the excess chocolate, as they will stick to it.

This recipe uses a whole can of condensed milk, so makes a lot, but you can wrap the peppermint filling in cling film and freeze, ready to cut off sections for smaller batches whenever you fancy making some.

Ingredients:
1 x 397g can of sweetened condensed milk
5½ cups icing sugar, sieved (around 680g)
1 tablespoon peppermint extract (add a little more if preferred) – I used Nielsen-Massey
200g dark good quality chocolate – at least 70% cocoa solids
Sprinkles, or crushed candy canes to decorate (optional)

Method:
Place the sieved icing sugar, condensed milk and peppermint extract into a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, wrap a tea towel around the bowl and mix on low speed until mixed. Taste to check you have enough peppermint.  Mixing can also be done with a wooden spoon of course.

The filling should be fairly stiff, but quite pliable – like play dough.  If you think the filling is a little wet or overly sticky, add another half a cup of icing sugar in.

Roll small amounts of the mixture into balls and flatten out on the baking liner. Roll any you are not using right now into a log, wrap in cling film and freeze.

Leave the candies to air dry for around an hour, before freezing them for at least 30 minutes. This will make dipping much easier!

When you are ready to dip the candies, break the chocolate into small pieces and microwave in short bursts, stopping to stir every 10 seconds. When only a few lumps remain, keep stirring as the residual heat will melt the rest of the chocolate. Leave it to stand for a few minutes to cool a little.

If you are using sprinkles, get them ready as you will need to decorate as you go because the chocolate will solidify as soon as you take the cold candy out.

Drop a candy into the melted chocolate and using a fork, gently lift it out, tapping on the side of the bowl to drain any excess chocolate. Place onto the non-stick liner and either drag the fork across to top, decorate with sprinkles or crushed candy canes, or just leave plain before moving onto the next one.

You can give these as gifts in little clear bags, or a pretty box, but I do think they are best stored in the refrigerator, or even better, in the freezer!