Peppermint Pattie Recipe (Patty) | The Nibble Webzine Of Food Adventures

TODAY IN FOOD: It’s Peppermint Patty—Not Pattie—Day (Here’s A Recipe)

February 11, 2008 at 2:28 am · Filed under Candy & Confections, Food Holidays, Recipes

February 11th is Peppermint Patty Day. You may indulge in the occasional York Peppermint Patty or box of Junior Mints (we do). But if you love peppermint patties, making them at home is easy.

Combine 1 pound confectioner’s sugar, 3 tablespoons softened butter, 3 teaspoons peppermint extract and 1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract.

Mix in 1/4 cup evaporated milk. Roll into 1-inch balls, place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet and chill for 20 minutes.

Flatten the balls with the bottom of a glass to 1/4″ thick, so they look like peppermint patties.

Next, prepare the chocolate coating in a double boiler: 12 ounces of good-quality semisweet chocolate (you can use chocolate morsels, but the key is to get the best-tasting chocolate you can find, like Guittard or Valrhona) with 2 tablespoons shortening.

Dip the patties and place them back on the waxed paper to harden.

If you want to go all out, you can decorate the tops of the patties with candied mint leaves: Dip tiny leaves or cut pieces of leaf and crystallize in sugar syrup.

This recipe makes about 5 dozen peppermint patties. Be sure to make extra for friends and family—they’re are so good, you’ll want to eat the whole batch.

IS IT PATTY OR PATTIE?

Make a batch of peppermint patties for yourself, plus more for gifts. Yours may not look this perfect, but they’ll taste great (photo courtesy Safe Eggs).

To be perfectly correct, the spelling is patty. Patties is the plural form, so many folks assumed the singular to be pattie.

The dictionary does not recognize “pattie” as a word; although the York Candy Company chose this [incorrect] spelling to refer to a York Peppermint Pattie.

Patty first appeared in English around 1700, from the French pâté. It referred to an item of food covered with dough, batter, etc., and fried or baked, such as oyster patties. It then referred to ground or minced food; and finally, the thin, round candy we call a peppermint patty.

Peppermint Patty is also a character from the Peanuts comic series.

YORK PEPPERMINT PATTIE HISTORY

According to a company history in Wikipedia, the York Peppermint Pattie (sic) was first produced by Henry C. Kessler, owner of the York Cone Company, in 1940. The company was named for its location: York, Pennsylvania.

In the annals of corporate acquisitions, in 1972 the York Cone Company was acquired by Peter Paul. In 1978, Peter Paul merged with Cadbury Schweppes. In 1988 the Hershey Foods Corporation acquired the U.S. operations of Cadbury Schweppes.

The York Peppermint Pattie we know is different from Henry Kessler’s: the mint centers are only semi hard. In February 2009, Hershey closed the Reading, Pennsylvania plant that made York Peppermint Patties, 5th Avenue and Zagnut candy bars, and Jolly Rancher hard candies. Production was moved to a new factory the company built in Monterey, Mexico.

Find more of our favorite peppermint candies in the Candy Section of THE NIBBLE webzine.

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