Craving for Peppermint Patty

Last weekend I was really craving a peppermint patty. I made my girlfriend pull into a (*gasp!) gas station to buy me one because I needed it so badly. I'm a big mint&chocolate person... my favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip. I'm so glad there are a few great vegan brands out there now made with coconut milk or almond milk. I have yet to find a good substitute for peppermint patty's though! I decided to get working in the kitchen, and here's what I came up with! (inspired by a recipe by Kelly Keough)

Ingredients:

*1 1/2 cups extra virgin coconut oil, melted

*3/4 C hemp butter

*1/2 C ZSweet (see bottom of post)

*1 teaspoon peppermint extract

*3 drops of liquid stevia peppermint

*3 drops of liquid stevia chocolate

*1/4 C agave

*3/4 C vegan carob chips (melted) or powder

*1/2 C raw cacao nibs

FILLING

*1/2 C hemp butter

*1/4 C agave

*1/4 C powdered ZSweet

*2 drops of liquid stevia peppermint

Line mini cup cake tins with paper liners. Melt coconut oil by placing jar under hot water. when coconut oil turns to a liquid, pour the oil in medium bowl. Slowly whisk in hemp butter until smooth.

Whisk ZSweet into wet batter. Add in peppermint extract, liquid stevias, and agave one at a time and blend.

Slowly stir in the carob and cacao powder a spoonful at a time. Stir raw cacao nibs one at a time. Batter should run off the spoon easily, but not too runny.

To make the filling:

in a small bowl, mix together hemp butter and agave. Add ZSweet and Liquid stevia and mix. with two spoons, drop a small teaspoon full of filling into prepared paper liners. 

Spoon a tablespoon full of prepared batter on top of the filling. Freeze for 15 minutes. Store in the freezer.

Yield: 50 candies

[caption id="attachment_1520" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Score!! "][/caption]

My Hubby Loved them!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:) :) :) :) :) :)

A fellow LA vegan chef, Kelly Keough, introduced me to ZSweet. This recipe was my first time experimenting with the calorie free sugar substitute, and to be honest I didn't taste any difference. I am going to keep experimenting with it and let you know my thoughts! So far, so good!