Hello everybody, and welcome to another day of blogmas, but also part of a blog tour! Today, we have Jenni Jennings here to share a festive recipe in celebration of her new book Merry Kissmas to You, which I have not yet read but definitely want to over the holidays because I ADORE her adult romance (written as Jenny Bayliss) and her middle grade is also fantastic so I just know it’s going to be a good time. Anyway, enough of me rambling about how talented she is, over to Jenni!
Peppermint Creams
Because these sweets are made using lemon juice instead of egg-white, they are suitable for vegans.
These make a lovely gift. A few dropped into a washed-out pesto jar or something similar, with a ribbon tied around the top looks quite swanky!
Ingredients:
- The juice of two medium lemons
- 700g Icing Sugar (plus extra for dusting)
- 3-4tsp Peppermint Essence 250g
- Dark Chocolate – melted.
- Line 3 large baking trays with baking parchment
Method:
Pour the lemon juice and peppermint essence into a large bowl and then add the icing sugar.
Begin stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes too stiff to stir. At this point there will be icing sugar that hasn’t yet been incorporated into the dough. Take over mixing with your hands, pulling and kneading the mixture together into a smooth but firm dough.
Break the dough into 3 balls to make it more manageable to work with. Sprinkle a board with some icing sugar and using your hands, roll each ball into a rough sausage shape, about 20cm long. Using a sharp knife chop each sausage into rounds about the thickness of 2 x £1 coins stacked on top of one another. Transfer the rounds to the baking trays and lightly flatten each one.
Don’t worry if your sweets are not completely round, these are homemade and delicious, they don’t need to be perfect!
Melt the dark chocolate, either in a heatproof bowl over a lightly simmering saucepan of water, or on a low setting in the microwave, checking and stirring after each minute (it takes about 2 minutes).
There are 3 ways you can do this next part and it’s completely up to you: You can either dip each sweet into the chocolate to cover half – replacing the sweet back on the baking tray to set – or use a teaspoon to drizzle the chocolate over the sweets. Or, drop the sweets into the chocolate, toss lightly with a spoon to cover, then remove with a fork and lay on the baking trays to set.
Once the chocolate has set – preferably overnight – transfer the peppermint creams to either your jars if you are giving as gifts, or an airtight container. They are best kept in the fridge, where they will keep for about 3 weeks.
Thank you so much for reading! Are you a fan of Jenni’s books? What are some of your favourite Christmassy recipes/foods? I’d love to hear in the comments!
Amy xx
Golden Books Girl 