Iced Peppermint Melties Recipes

PEPPERMINT MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extract. In another bowl, whisk flour and cornstarch; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, 30 minutes or until firm enough to handle., Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, beat butter until creamy. Beat in milk, extract and, if desired, food coloring. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over cookies; sprinkle with crushed candies. Store in an airtight container.

PEPPERMINT PATTIES

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, combine condensed milk and peppermint extract. Beat in enough confectioners' sugar, a little at a time, to form a stiff dough that is no longer sticky. Form into 1 inch balls, then place on waxed paper and flatten with fingers to form patties. Let patties dry at room temperature two hours, turning once.
• In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate with shortening, stirring often. Remove from heat. Dip patties, one at a time, into chocolate by laying them on the tines of a fork and lowering the fork into the liquid. Let cool on waxed paper until set.

EASIEST PEPPERMINT ICED TEA

Steps:

• In a 2 quart heatproof pitcher, pour two cups of boiling water over the tea bags.
• Steep them for 6 minutes and then remove the tea bags.
• Stir the honey and lemon juice into the hot tea and then add 2 cups cold water.
• Chill and serve over ice with or without a lemon slice garnish.
• Chill out and enjoy !

PEPPERMINT ICED TEA

Steps:

• Steep mint leaves for 5 minutes. Keep in mind, a longer steeping time of dried mint leaves may give a bitter aftertaste. If you don't have dried peppermint leaves, fresh peppermint leaves can be used. To do this, just use a handful of fresh mint leaves in place of the dried. However, fresh leaves have a sharper flavor. Most of the time, I use dried leaves. If you are using fresh mint leaves, steep for 10 minutes. Drain the leaves before the color gets too dark. Fresh mint leaves will give a brighter tea, unlike dried mint leaves.
• Add honey and stir.
• Pour the tea into 2 tall glasses filled with ice.

PEPPERMINT ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Combine the half-and-half, vanilla bean, vanilla seeds and salt in a nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, then immediately remove the saucepan from the heat.
• In a large bowl add the sugar and egg yolks and whisk to combine. Add the half-and-half mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time, to the beaten eggs and sugar, whisking after each addition. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and add the mint leaves. Cook over medium-low heat until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Transfer the bowl to an ice bath and stir frequently until custard is completely cool. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
• Pour the custard into an ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer's instructions for churning time. As the ice cream begins to set, sprinkle in the crushed peppermint candies. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm, about 8 hours.

PEPPERMINT ICICLES

Steps:

• Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Bring sugar, corn syrup, and water to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until sugar dissolves. Cook, undisturbed, until mixture registers 305 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and stir in lemon juice and peppermint extract. Working quickly, pour hot sugar mixture onto prepared sheet. (Be careful not to touch hot mixture.) Let cool until bubbles subside, about 30 seconds.
• Coat a metal spatula with cooking spray, then fold 2 edges of mixture inward, toward center. Continuously fold candy in half on itself with spatula until it is cool enough to handle, about 1 minute (it will still be very hot).
• Wearing rubber gloves and working quickly, pull candy to a length of 1 foot, then fold in half on itself. Repeat, twisting and pulling until candy starts to turn white. Remove a golf-ball-sized piece, and add food colorings to the smaller piece. Continue to stretch and fold both pieces separately. When candy is almost cool, and the uncolored piece is white, pull each piece into a 12-inch-long rope.
• Place ropes side by side, and fold in half together to layer colors. Twist pieces together. Starting at 1 end, pull and twist until rope is 1/2 inch thick. Working quickly, twist and pull end to taper slightly, and cut off a 6-inch length with scissors. Continue twisting, pulling, and cutting icicles until candy becomes too hard and can no longer be pulled. (There will be some left over. Reserve for another use, such as crushing over ice cream or cookies; see Chocolate-Peppermint Cookies recipe) Transfer icicles to a baking sheet to harden.

ICED PEPPERMINT MELTIES

Steps:

• Cream together the butter, powdered sugar, and mint extract in a large bowl until light and fluffy using an electric mixer at medium speed.
• Reduce speed to low; blend in the flour and cornstarch until well mixed. Cover; chill until firm (30-60) minutes.
• Heat oven to 350*F. Shape dough into 1" balls; place 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 12-15 minytes, or until edges are lightly browned.
• Let stand on sheets 1 minute; transfer cookies to wire racks and cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the glaze: Combine the powdered sugar, butter, mint extract, and enough milk in a small bowl to achieve desired glazing consistency.
• Stir in the food coloring, if using.
• Drizzle in lines or swirls over the cooled cookies; immediately sprinkle with crushed peppermints.