Homemade Peppermint Patties

This post is the last in a series of three on edible handmade gifts. You can find the first post on homemade vanilla extract here and the second post on infused vodkas here.

Peppermint patty candies are festive and, believe it or not, incredibly simple to make.  They only call for a few ingredients, making them easy to turn out quickly and cheaply.  In a matter of 30 minutes, you too could have your own tin of these easy chocolate treats that serve as a great last minute gift.

I came upon this recipe over at The Kitchn earlier this month and was surprised how easy it seemed.  I made a batch last week with great success and decided to double it and give these chocolates as gifts. 

I only made one slight change.  Where the recipe calls for refrigerating the filling for 20 minutes, I popped it in the freezer.  I refrigerated the first time around and the filling became gooey and misshapen when I tried to coat it in the melted chocolate.  In my experience, there was no discernible difference in the texture of the filling in the final product using either method.

I had some cellophane bags that I was planning to wrap these in, but I was lucky to see this quick guide to making gift boxes at Heather Bailey's beautiful, color-drenched site.  While the original project is intended for gift cards, they perfectly fit three or four chocolates. 

I didn't have any fancy paper, but I did have some plain heavy card stock sitting around.  I printed ten of these out, cut them with regular scissors, and scored the folds with an empty mechanical pencil. Some pink tissue paper and a decorative stamp completed the packages.

Nick was also making candy this weekend. He had the ingenious idea to make a Twix style candy bar with pistachio butter. He made shortbread cookies, processed pistachios into a butter, and dipped the whole thing in semi-sweet chocolate.  Delicious! 

Handmade gifts might take longer to prepare, but it is a lot more satisfying than selecting a regular store-bought item -- and quite a bit cheaper too.  I hope you have enjoyed this edible handmade gift series.  These new projects are sure to be holiday staples for me for years to come.

Happy holidays everyone!