Peppermint Patty Footballs

January 29, 2014

For someone who is not much of a football lover it feels a bit strange to be posting not one but two football shaped desserts, but I have to say that this year I am very excited about the football food. (And my family is very excited about the Superbowl. The three year old asks me every day when it will be on.) I keep searching pinterest for superbowl food ideas, just to make sure I’m not missing out on any potentially amazing recipes. The menu keeps getting longer and longer. We are going to be eating leftovers for days. On pinterest I keep seeing various football shaped/decorated desserts (like these fun whoopie pies my friend Melissa of Lil Miss Cakes made.) I am making decorated Broncos sugar cookies (my son’s request) but I wasn’t feeling inspired by that and I wanted to make something else as well. So I decided to make homemade peppermint patties decorated to look like footballs. I have to say I am thrilled with the results, it almost makes me want to be a football fan!

Peppermint patties are one of my favorite candies. I love the cool refreshing peppermint and the snap of the dark chocolate. I posted peppermint patties here on my blog way back in 2008 but I thought it was well time to revisit them. This time in the shape of footballs. The recipe I use for peppermint patties, inspired by the one in David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop, is one of the simplest peppermint patty recipes out there. Simply mix the ingredients, kneed them into a dough, cut out shapes and dip in chocolate. To make the footballs I used an oval cutter and then piped some white chocolate to make the laces. The piping of the laces does take a steady hand, but is not hard once you get the hang of it. (I learned, however, that it is extremely difficult to pipe well while wearing a large baby in a moby wrap. I ended up with some wonky looking laces before I gave up and tried again after I had put him down). Sometimes ideas are better in theory than in execution but these turned out just as cute as I had imagined. I can’t wait to serve these on Sunday. The cooling peppermint will be the perfect antidote to the spicy wings and steak poppers!

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Ingredients & Quantities

  • 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 2 teaspoons water
  • 5-10 drops peppermint oil (not extract)*
  • 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, tempered for dipping**
  • 4 ounces non-dairy white chocolate
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
*For the candy to have the right amount of peppermint flavor the flavor of the dough should be a bit stronger than you would want to eat on its own. Different oils vary in strength so start with less and add more to taste. I use Lorann Oils peppermint oil and 10 drops is perfect to my taste. **If you do not want to bother with tempering you can dip the candies in untempered chocolate and chill them in the freezer until the chocolate is set. Store the finished candies in the refrigerator or freezer. The chocolate coating will be thicker than if dipped in tempered chocolate.

Preparation Instructions

Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap or parchment paper and lightly dust it with confectioners sugar.

In a bowl, mix the corn syrup, water, and peppermint oil. Gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. As the mixture thickens, knead it with your hands until it forma a smooth ball (it will seem dry at first, but it will come together). If the dough is sticky add a bit more powdered sugar until you can knead it without it sticking to your hands.

Pat the dough out onto the sugar-dusted baking sheet about 1/2 inch thick and let it dry, uncovered, overnight.

Dust the extra sugar off the candy dough and flip it over to make sure it isn’t stuck to the parchment paper. Cut the dough into ovals 1 to 1 1/2 inches across.

Melt and temper the chocolate. Melt the white chocolate with the oil in the microwave at 50% power. Transfer the white chocolate to a piping bag or ziploc with a tiny hole cut in the corner. Do not use a metal piping tip because the piping bag needs to be rewarmed in the microwave when it cools too much for the chocolate to flow easily.

Using a dipping fork, completely submerge each oval in the chocolate. Scrape the excess chocolate off on the side of the bowl and place the dipped oval on a parchment lined baking sheet (the easiest way to do this is to place the fork only half way under the candy circle, touch one edge of the dipped circle to the parchment and gently pull the fork out). Repeat with three or four more ovals, then pipe the white details onto the footballs using the pastry bag. (Piping the white on while the chocolate is still melted helps it stick better than if the dark chocolate is fully set). Repeat with the remaining ovals. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Candy recipe adapted from The Perfect Scoop

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