Mint Patties rank highly in my list of favourite childhood sweets. When we were good, we were allowed to pick any lolly from the supermarket shelf. Although the crazy amount of sweets to choose from would be enough to make a kid’s head explode, the shiny emerald green wrapper of the mint pattie would always catch my eye. Concealed in the foil is a flat round disk of sugary peppermint marshmallow fondant coated in dark chocolate, which totally outranked its lesser cousin – the Golden Rough coconutty abomination.
Tasting them again as an adult, they didn’t seem to be the same as the Mint Patties I remember as a kid. The insides are a little rubbery now, and perhaps my adult tastes can no longer stand the compound chocolate on the outside. But my dismay turned to joy when I found a recipe for Mint Patties in Frankie’s Sweet Treats recipe book.
The delicious minty insides in the recipe is simply a mix of icing sugar, condensed milk and peppermint essence. Just melt a little of your favourite quality dark chocolate, paint a generous amount on the top (or dunk the whole thing in the bowl of molten cocoa-liciousness) and voila! Mint pattie time!
When you think about it, mint patties are really just after-dinner mints on steroids. Some sophisticated adults are satisfied consuming one micro thin square of mint covered in a sliver of dark chocolate after their fancy grown-up dinner parties; these patties are for the rest of us 
What was your favourite sweet as a child?
Homemade Mint Patties
Makes 24 – 30 mint patties
You Will Need:
1/2 can (200g) Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 tablespoon of Peppermint Extract or 1 tablespoon of essence
4 cups Icing Sugar Mixture
100g Quality dark chocolate, chopped (I used 50% cocoa). Use 200g if you want to coat both sides of the patty.
2-3 drops Green food colouring
Directions:
Mix condensed milk, mint and food colouring in a large bowl. Beat in the icing sugar a little at a time on slow speed using electric beaters. After a while, you will need to hand kneed the mixture as it will get quite tough.
Tip the dough out onto a bench and keep kneading together to form a smooth ball.
On a sheet of baking paper, roll out the dough to around 3-5 mm thick and cut 4cm wide circles using a round cookie cutter or a drinking glass. Lift the rounds off the sheet and transfer to a baking tray lined with a fresh sheet of baking paper. If the weather is really warm where you are, you might need to refrigerate the patties for 1 hour. Once all the dough has been used, heat the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring well each time, until the chocolate has melted. Paint the chocolate on the top side only, using a silicon pastry brush or small spatula.
Leave to set, then store at room temperature if it’s cool, or in the fridge if the temperature is warm. If you wanted to dress them up a little, I spotted some cute patterned foil sheets in the confectionary aisle of a craft shop.
