The chore list of a busy homestead mom:
Making sure the animals are fed and watered? Check.
Making sure the kids are at least partially clothed? Check.
Making sure there is something semi-edible on the table for supper? Check.
Making sure the floors are mopped? Probably not…
Making homemade candy? Yeah right.
I don’t have the patience to make homemade candy anyway– the incessant stirring, the monotonous dipping, and those darn candy thermometers. Too tedious for me.
However, there are a few exceptions to my rule: homemade tootsie rolls and these knock-your-socks-off homemade peppermint patties.
Seriously guys– if you are even just slightly enjoy York® peppermint patties, you must try this healthy peppermint patty recipe I’m sharing with you today. You MUST.
When I say healthy, I’m referring to the fact they use honey and coconut oil in the filling, instead of powdered sugar and corn syrup like most homemade peppermint patties.
But the crazy part? YOU CAN’T TELL. Even my hubby, who has finely-tuned radar when it comes to my “healthy” substitutions in dessert recipes, was blown away when I told him these little patties-from-heaven were made with coconut oil.
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Homemade Peppermint Patties (Healthy Version)
Makes 12 patties
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (where to buy)
- 3-4 tablespoons honey (I love this raw honey)
- 1/2 t. vanilla (how to make vanilla extract)
- 6-10 drops peppermint essential oil OR 1 teaspoon peppermint extract (*see note below)
- 2/3-3/4 cups chocolate chips, melted
Instructions:
With a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the coconut oil, honey, and vanilla until very smooth.
Drip in the peppermint essential oil or extract. Taste as you go to make sure you are satisfied with the level of mintiness.
Place this mixture in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to allow it to slightly harden (It will be far too sticky to handle at this point.)
Once the mixture is firm enough to handle, divide the coconut oil mixture into 12 portions, and roll them into small balls.
Place the balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Gently flatten them to form a disc. (I found using a flat-bottomed glass periodically dipped in warm water worked the best)
Place the cookie sheet back in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to allow them to firm up once more.
While the discs are chilling, melt the chocolate chips.
Remove the discs from the freezer and dip them into the melted chocolate. Place them back onto the parchment paper and allow to set.
Store your homemade peppermint patties in the fridge to prevent them from getting sticky and melting.
Homemade Peppermint Patty Recipe Notes
- If you are using peppermint essential oil in this recipe, make sure you are using a brand that is very pure and labeled as food-grade. Also, make sure you don’t get the peppermint essential oil and the peppermint extract confused! There is a big difference in potency, and if you add 1 teaspoon of peppermint essential oil to this recipe, it will be completely inedible. 😉 Here’s the brand of essential oils I use and trust.
- I recommend using refined coconut oil in this recipe– this is the kind that doesn’t taste like coconuts. You could probably use the unrefined stuff if you really wanted, but it might taste a bit funky to combine the coconut and peppermint flavors.
- If the coconut oil mixture becomes too sticky or hard to handle at any point, just stick it back in the freezer for a few more minutes.
- Raw honey is a fabulous choice in this recipe, since you don’t heat the ingredients at all.
- You can use baking chocolate in place of the chocolate chips if you like. I used semi-sweet chocolate, but dark chocolate would be yummy too.
- I refuse to disclose how many of these I ate while I was shooting photos. A-hem.
Homemade Peppermint Patties
- Category: Candy
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 3–4 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 t. vanilla
- 6–10 drops peppermint essential oil OR 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2/3–3/4 cups chocolate chips, melted
Instructions
- With a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the coconut oil, honey, and vanilla until very smooth.
- Drip in the peppermint essential oil or extract. Taste as you go to make sure you are satisfied with the level of mintiness.
- Place this mixture in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to allow it to slightly harden (It will be far too sticky to handle at this point.)
- Once the mixture is firm enough to handle, divide the coconut oil mixture into 12 portions, and roll them into small balls.
- Place the balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Gently flatten them to form a disc. (I found using a flat-bottomed glass periodically dipped in warm water worked the best)
- Place the cookie sheet back in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to allow them to firm up once more.
- While the discs are chilling, melt the chocolate chips.
- Remove the discs from the freezer and dip into the melted chocolate. Place them back onto the parchment paper and allow to set.
- Store your homemade peppermint patties in the fridge to prevent them from getting sticky and melting.
Notes
If you are using peppermint essential oil in this recipe, make sure you are using a brand that is very pure and labeled as food-grade. Also, make sure you don’t get the peppermint essential oil and the peppermint extract confused! There is a big difference in potency, and if you add 1 teaspoon of peppermint essential oil to this recipe, it will be completely inedible.
I recommend using refined coconut oil in this recipe– this is the kind that doesn’t taste like coconuts. You could probably use the unrefined stuff if you really wanted, but it might taste a bit funky to combine the coconut and peppermint flavors.
If the coconut oil mixture becomes too sticky or hard to handle at any point, just stick it back in the freezer for a few more minutes.
Raw honey is a fabulous choice in this recipe, since you don’t heat the ingredients at all.
You can use baking chocolate in place of the chocolate chips if you like. I used semi-sweet chocolate, but dark chocolate would be yummy too.
Now, THESE sound delicious! This is the third recipe for peppermint patties (always one of my favorite candy treats!) that’s hit my reader in as many days. The first one used vegetable shortening as the main filler ingredient and the one yesterday used mashed potatoes. Maybe they both taste good, but they just didn’t sound appealing.
Enjoy your site, have subscribed for quite a while. (think I’ve told you that before, but….) Hope you and yours have happy holidays!
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Hmmm… yeah, I have to say I’m not really feeling the mashed potato version either Mike! Hope you enjoy these, though!
Jill, i dip the coconut oil mixture patties in the melted chocolate and they melt or repel the chocolate. HELP! I need these like medicine and am eating them separate- sisters problem solving suggestion:)
Sunny, it sounds to me like your problem is your peppermint oil. It has some water in it which means it is not a pure-grade oil. As you know oil and water will not mix. First try a different oil, making absolutely sure it is all food-grade oil. Check the ingredients label or call the company.
I had this happened the first time I tried it….it is call impatience. 🙂 My chocolate was still too hot. Put the mints back in the freezer and let the chocolate cool more – works much better!
Don’t sell potatoes short as a candy ingredient. I know it sounds icky but the mashed potatoes disappear making a nice rich fondant without so much sugar. My Gran always made them for Easter shaped into small eggs. I don’t know why they are called Needams candy, but you’ll definitely “need ’em” once you taste them…especially if you like Mounds.
https://keeprecipes.com/recipe/howtocook/needhams-candy-recipe
I’m going to try to adapt your healthier sugar substitutes for this recipe.
Wow! That’s super interesting!
Oh how I love peppermint patties. I even have all of the ingredients (thanks to the homemade peppermint ice cream sandwiches I made for my son’s b-day this weekend.) so that means I don’t need to drive into town in order to make these. In other words, I was meant to make these today.
YAY Karen! Enjoy!
Love your blog and especially love your photographs! The toolbox sounds great, but I personally would like the photos also! Whatever you decide I’m looking forward to it 🙂
Claudette
Don’t worry Claudette! I’ll still be posting tutorials/recipes/how-tos 2-3x per week here at the blog, with lots of photos! 🙂
I had to add a tbsp or so of coconut oil to the melted chocolate chips for it to stick to the patties…it kept slipping off! Other than that…perfect! I shouldn’t have made a double batch. Holy cow they’re tempting.
Yeah… I totally have no self-control with these! 😉
These look so good! 🙂
I totally expected this recipe to say…Store these in the fridge, hidden under the vegetables, so the kids and hubs won’t find them. Lol, sounds heavenly, will have to wait til no kids or other half’s are home to make these, or I won’t get any.
YES! My kids mow these down!
I just now read the comment about adding the coconut oil to the chocolate AFTER I attempted making patties. I now have them all in a double boiler to melt them down to make mint chocolate drops. They were delicious, but the chocolate wouldn’t stick and what I ended up with was….a delicious mess. Maybe I’ll try again, but I’m looking forward to minty drops!
Hmmmm… Sorry it didn’t work out for you Ramona! I’ve made about 6 batches and have never had an issue with the chocolate sticking… I make sure mine are super cold first, though.
I had problems getting the chocolate to coat these too. Even well chilled, they start to melt upon contact with the warmth and it’s just a mess. Great taste. But a mess. ?
I have to go in little stages and sometimes pop them back in the freezer intermittently.
My husband has still been totally devouring them! They taste great.
Wahoo! Always a good sign. 🙂
What kind of chocolate chips do you prefer?
I usually just get the grocery store brand. 😉
I love peppermint patties and would like to try this recipe, but I can’t eat honey due to high fructose levels. (I follow the low-FODMAP diet for IBS.)
I can have maple syrup and brown rice syrup. Do you think either of those could be substituted for the honey?
(I can’t have agave either.)
The maple syrup might work, not sure about the rice syrup… Will probably take some experimenting!
I made these with peppermint extract a few days ago and we really loved them! Today I decided to try them with peppermint essential oil and realized I don’t have peppermint after all, but since I had everything else mixed together already I added lemon essential oil instead and the results were really delicious too!
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I never would have thought about adding lemon– neat idea!
This recipe may be healthy but like a lot of healthy alternatives it is a pain to make (“cooled” coconut mixture melts all over as soon as your hand touches it since it’s liquid at room temperature and, well, an average human’s body temperature is more than 90 degrees). So most likely it won’t look pretty. Sometimes healthy imitations should not be touched and this recipe unfortunately seems to reverberate that every pervasive truth.
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What do you use to dip them? For those who are having melting issues, what if you spread a layer of melted chocolate in a pan, then quickly placed the coconut pieces on it and poured the rest of the chocolate over it? They may melt a bit, but then if you let the chocolate harden you can cut it into squares. That way, you basically have chocolate coconut mint bars 🙂 They won’t be round, but they will still taste the same and hopefully not be quite so messy 😉
These look so good! I might have to try making them this coming holiday season 🙂
I am going to try these. I usually order them on line they cost a fortune, my grandchildren in Edmonton Alberta love so I will try these and let you know how they turn out.
Another commenter suggested spreading chocolate in a pan, and then layering the peppermint filling and chocolate on top. I soon realized that I could no longer ignore the nature of coconut oil–it melts upon contact with skin, no matter how frozen, I find. They all stuck horribly to the bottom of a glass when I tried that approach. I decided to make them in a pan (more like Andes mints than peppermint patties) instead. Tricky, but MUCH more doable.
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Do these have to be stored in the refrigerator? I was thinking about making gift bags….
I made these lots of times and my family loves them!!!!
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I’ve made these for several years now. I discovered too that the coconut oil melts quickly when dipping in chocolate…and it’s VERY time consuming! So I did what someone else here has already suggested…spread chocolate in a pan, arrange coconut oil buttons on it, then layer more chocolate, cool, and cut into squares. Not as pretty, but it works. Then I decided, why not just do layers like the Andes mints. Sometimes I go ahead and swirl it a bit. My husband, like Jill’s, is also usually skeptical when it comes to my healthy versions of desserts, but he loves these!
That’s a great tip! Thank you for sharing! I’m so glad you found an easier way that works for you!
Help! Hubby is allergic to coconuts in any form Any substitute please…
Looking it up, it looks like you could use something like avocado oil as a substitute for coconut oil? I personally haven’t used anything else, but it’s also possible that butter or lard would work instead, but it would change the flavor.