PepperMint Patties

Yes, this is what I made.  It was Easter, and I wanted chocolate MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD.  Ok, maybe the time of the month had something to do with it too...  Don't you love chocolate and mint together?  Ok, peanut butter and chocolate is even better, but I'd just devoured a batch of Balanced Bites Almond-Butter-Cups.  I was boldened after that little experiment, but wanted it to be alot simpler.  So I thought--if I use unsweetened chocolate, and just add a dab of slightly sweet chocolate, wouldn't I get dark chocolate??  Like REALLY dark chocolate?  Because actual Bakers dark chocolate is alot more expensive than doing it this way and I'm all about keeping it affordable.  And this is sooooo simple to make.  A quick note--I use a double-boiler for a lot of things like this--it allows you to keep the melted chocolate warm and pliable while you're still working with it.  But if you don't have one, a stainless bowl placed over a pot will do the same thing.  And if you have neither of those, you can always melt the chocolate in the microwave, just be careful not to burn it and you may have to re-heat it a few times.

These are alright to keep on your countertop when they're done, but I really recommend keeping them in the fridge.  I found the chocolate "bloomed" on my countertop, and the mint is stronger and sweeter from the fridge.  But do try to make them as thin as possible.  I made 12 with this recipe, and they were as thick as a peanut-butter cup, and very hard to bite down on (so I chopped mine up into  small bite-sized pieces and just let it melt on the tongue....)

You will need:

baking sheet
cupcake liners
double-boiler

Ingredients:

8 squares Bakers Unsweetened Chocolate
3 squares Bakers Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1/4 c coconut creme
2 tsp mint extract
2 tsp honey

Method:

First, prepare thy self!!  Measure out coconut creme in a small microwave-safe dish.  On a baking sheet, lay out at least 12 paper cupcake liners.In a double-boiler, melt chocolate. 

Once the chocolate is melted, measure out half of it into the paper cupcake liners.  I just used a metal spoon and poured a spoonfull into each liner.  make sure it fills the bottom of the liner; you may have to smear it/spread it around a little.  Leave the rest of the chocolate on the double-boiler.  It should stay warm enough.

Place your cookie sheet with the paper muffin liners on it into the freezer for five minutes.  While this is freezing, melt your coconut creme and then mix in the mint extract and honey.  Remove the frozen chocolate from the freezer, and measure out a small teaspoon of mint into the middle of each chocolate bottom.  Use it all up.  Do press it somewhat flat, but do not spread it all the way to the edges.  Put it back in the freezer for another 5 minutes.

Now use up the rest of the chocolate on the frozen mint and chocolate base.  Remember to keep it as thin as you can or they become very hard to bite down on.

Slide your cookie sheet back in the freezer to set everything firm.  Once set, you can move it all into a tupperware container and into the fridge.

Voila.  It really was that simple.

Now, if you'd rather have an almond-butter-cup, just switch the filling to almond butter with a splash of vanilla and honey.  But you won't be able to stop eating them if you do this.  Sure, there's barely any sweetener in this, but its still a treat, not a meal....