Peppermint Patties

I haven't actually made these but found them in Family Fun magazine and they look delish!

Ingredients:

2 TBSP + 1 tsp water
1 TBSP light corn syrup
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 (1lb) box confectioners' sugar (3 3/4 C)
1 TBSP shortening
10 TO 12oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
6 hard mint candies (starlight) crushed in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin

Directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, stir together the water, corn syrup, lemon juice and peppermint extract. Then sift in half the confectioners' sugar. Add the shortening. Beat on medium, then slowly sift in the remaining confectioners' sugar until the mixture is well combined.

Knead the mixture into a ball (it will be very stiff; if necessary, add 1/2 teaspoon of water to make it workable). Use the bottom of a glass pie plate to apply firm , even pressure to flatten the ball between sheets of waxed paper into a circle about 9 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick. Lay the waxed paper-covered disk on a cookie sheet and freeze until it's firm, about 15 min.

Place the frozen disk on a cutting surface and remove and reserve the waxed paper. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment. With a small round cutter (1 1/4 inches), cut out circles from the disk, then place them on the cookie sheet. Gather the scraps into a ball, use the pie plate and waxed paper to flatten it again, and cut more circles until the entire disk is used up. Freeze the circles for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water. Coat t he patties one at a time: balance each on a fork and dip it (use another form as needed to flip the patty in the chocolate), then shake off any excess chocolate before returning the coated patty to the parchment. Sprinkle each patty with a bit of crushed mint candy. Add more chocolate to the double boiler as necessary until all the patties are coated.

Harden the finished patties in the refrigerator for at least an hour, and preferably overnight. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge, layered between sheets of waxed paper, for up to one month.

Makes 5 dozen.