Low-Carb, Sugar-Free Peppermint Patties (LC, GF, SF)

A while ago I got obsessed with the idea of reproducing Peppermint Patties in a low carb way. I can’t tolerate the commercially produced ones because of the maltitol, so I began the quest of making a half way decent peppermint patty with the sweeteners I CAN tolerate.

A lot of mad experiments ensued, most of them not pretty. I accidently found a way to make  something akin to the pink and white peppermint fudge stuff they have in the UK. I forget what it’s called. I might refine and post that recipe some time down the line.

Anyway, back to the patties. I started out with the notion that I wanted to utilize the mostly annoying quality of erythritol to recrystallize  - inevitably and usually rapidly so!

So I started out by trying to heat the ingredients seven different ways, adding this and that to keep the end result from turning into a hard candy etc. But none of it really worked out so well. Not in a peppermint patty kind of way.

Luckily I know not to make big or even normal sized batches until I get to a point where a recipe at least works mostly, so I don’t waste ingredients!

But then a few nights ago it occurred to me that maybe I’d been going about this the wrong way. What if I dispensed with the cooking altogether and just went the route of trying to replicate the more fondant like properties of the inside of a patty!

And after a couple of tries, we have peppermint patties! In fact we have two versions!

 

One is 2g of carbs per patty, but they still have a slight bit of grit on the inside. Mostly that’s due to the fact that my or probably any coffee grinder only takes “fine” grinding so far. They are not exactly like the real thing either, but close enough for me.

The other version is MUCH closer to the real thing, but it’s made with the Ideal confectioners sugar substitute which not only has cornstarch in it, but also has a much higher amount of xylitol. If you can afford the carbs, the second version would be your ticket!

Low-carb Peppermint Patties

Makes about 16 patties

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cups powdered ideal (1 cup ground as fine as you can in a coffee grinder to have powder - NOT their confectioner’s sugar substitute)
1/2 cup erythritol, powdered (measured after grinding to a powder)

2 tsp resistant starch maize

2 tsp oat fiber

1/8 tsp xanthan gum (guar gum is fine too!)

2 tsp glycerine

1 tbsp. egg white (or equivalent reconstituted egg white powder) - more or less depending on how much you need to get the right consistency dough.

1/4 tsp peppermint oil or extract (to taste)

 

For the Chocolate Coating:

3/4  bar Lindt 85% dark chocolate

1 tsp coconut oil

 

Preparation:

Grind your sweetener’s as fine as you can. The grittiness or lack thereof of your patties will very much depend on how fine you can get your sweeteners!

Then mix everything together into a dough. The dough should be a little sticky, but still workable. Use more egg white if the dough is too dry.

Divide into 16 pieces, form them into balls, then flatten them into discs on a piece of parchment paper. About the size of a commercial Peppermint Pattie.

 

Let them air dry for about an hour or two, depending on your climate. This step is optional, but the patties will be much easier to handle if you do this.

Melt the chocolate and the coconut oil.

The patties will be a little dryer to the touch on top after drying, they will however stick a fair bit to the parchment paper. Slice them off with a palette knife. It’s the easiest way to transfer them for coating without messing up the shape.

You can go about coating these any way that is comfortable for you. I found the following way to be the most efficient for me.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Place a wide fork or plastic paddle with holes over a bowl. In my case it’s the chocolate melting pot I used to keep the chocolate warm.

Place the patty on the paddle and drizzle one side with melted chocolate. Keep the coat thin but make sure it’s all covered. Let the excess drip off for a few seconds.

Then lift the paddle with the coated patty on it and place it upside down on the parchment covered cookie sheet - chocolate side down!

Then drizzle more melted chocolate over the top to cover the other side.

There will probably be a little pool of chocolate forming around the patties, even if you keep the coat really thin. Don’t worry about that, you can tidy the patties up when they are hardened.

Once you have done all the patties, place them in the freezer to set. About 1/2 an hour.

Let the patties air dry/cure for several hours on the counter. Over night would be even better. The chocolate will set much better that way and you will be able to pick up the patties without having the chocolate melt on your fingers immediately!

Once cured, you can tidy up the edges with a sharp knife if you so desire.

Store in an air tight container and in a cool place (doesn’t need refrigeration though.)

With this recipe, each patty comes to 2 g of net carbs.

 

Higher Carb Version

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cup Ideal confectioner’s sugar substitute

1/8 tsp xanthan gum (guar gum is fine too!)

2 tsp glycerine

1 tbsp. egg white (or equivalent reconstituted egg white powder) - more or less depending on how much you need to get the right consistency dough.

1/4 tsp peppermint oil or extract (to taste)

For the Chocolate Coating:

3/4 bar Lindt 85% dark chocolate

1 tsp coconut oil

 

Prepare the patties as above!

Each patty comes to 5.4 net carbs with this recipe.