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Do these need to be kept in the fridge due to the dairy?

@sally599 you are correct. I just updated the post. Thanks!

Holy crap--these look amazing. I might actually drop everything and make some. I've never even considered what that stuff in the middle was made from. Thanks for this.

What would be a good non-dairy alternative?

@ScottArany: Try this. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Peppermint-Patties-240935

any way to get around using shortening?

@spiralcma - not that I know of, but I like Spectrum's shortening: http://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=87 - it's trans-fat free.

These look fantastic. Which type of dark chocolate did you use? Semi-sweet? Bittersweet? Something with a higher cocoa content?

Thanks.

yes, what kind of chocolate??

You can use whatever chocolate you like. You can use semi-sweet chocolate or 70%-cacao bittersweet chocolate.

salted or unsalted butter? i'm guessing unsalted...

Traditionally, these are made with poured fondant, which is a b***h to make by hand, but apparently pretty easy in a food processor. Assuming you're not afraid of sugar syrup, of course. I made them once with fresh mint leaves (steep in sugar syrup, then bring syrup back up to temp, before throwing it in the processor) and no other peppermint patty has ever come close. If people want to make a patty they don't need to refrigerate and they have a food processor, they should give it a whirl (so to speak).

The way around using shortening (which I personally find really nasty, but a lot of people don't mind at all) is to learn to temper chocolate. Tempering scares the heck out of people, mostly because instructions online always go on and on about hitting exact temperatures, etc. Completely unnecessary. Here's how we did it in culinary school, no thermometer required:
Chop chocolate.
Melt 2/3s of the chocolate over hot water (or in a microwave if you prefer that). Remove from heat.
Throw a little less than the remaining third of chocolate into the bowl. Stir. Stir some more. Keep stirring. Is the bottom of the bowl warm? Keep stirring. Cool, now? Good. Test to see if your chocolate is in temper.
THIS is the only real trick to tempering - know when it's tempered.
Take a metal spoon. Dip the tip into the chocolate. Set aside. Touch it after about one minute. Has it already started to firm up? If it's still completely fluid, it's not tempered. But if it's firming up, just tacky on the top, you're in business. Stir another minute or so just to ensure that all the chocolate is ready, and dip away. Your chocolate will be in temper, which means that it will be as shiny as the chocolates in the store, and it will set up firm, not sort of fudgey.

A couple extra hints - if your chocolate starts to get too cold, you can warm it up, but you still should stir away and check to make sure you didn't lose temper. If your chocolate is so hot that all the chopped chocolate melts completely before everything hits temper, you can add a little of the remaining chopped chocolate (that's why you hold some back). Also, always temper more chocolate that it seems like you're going to need, because proper dipping requires a pool to dip into.

About how many does the recipe make?

For me, it made about 24 patties, roughly the size of the mini Yorks you'd get in the store, or slightly bigger. I used 70% cocoa intense dark chocolate, seems to turn out well. I ended up dipping the patties with my fingers, because using a fork broke the patties in pieces. I also used 7 ounces of chocolate, and had quite a bit left over that I used for something else (couldn't bear to see it go to waste).

I just made them with almond extract (the grocery store had no peppermint) I had to use a little more extract to make it the almond taste come out, but it tastes good.

I just made these for a party I went to ~ and they were a huge hit! It was the first "candy" type thing I ever made, it was quite simple and delicious. I might make them quite smaller next time and call them home made junior mints just to mix it up for the kids :)

The insides are great and super easy but the tempering is a bear.

My first batch tempered well- but it was thick and I wanted to thin it out and my brain was multitasking a toddler and an infant so I added some whipping cream.

HAH.

I will be making truffles this week. My melted chocolate totally seized.

I then did my second batch of tempered chocolate. My sample didn't firm up so I know I screwed up. But I had used all my chocolate so couldn't restart the tempering. Anyway, I covered half my patties with fudgy stuff for tomorrow and will keep them very cold.

Tomorrow I will try again. I'll also look for a 2nd hand tempering machine on Craigslist.

Sheeesh. What a day. They taste great though.

Oh, the only solution I could find to thinning the chocolate is cocoa butter. I have no idea if WF or the like even sell this.

Made these last Sunday for a potluck, and they were very much appreciated (I only got one for myself!) I had to use more cream than the recipe called for to get a creamy texture, but my chocolate turned out fine (and I had no idea what I was doing!).

A total candy virgin, I made these tonight. I melted the chocolate in the microwave, a little at a time and stirring.... no problems. Had to chill the centers a bit longer so they didn't break coming off the silpat.

Came out great :)

These are fantastic. I made them and had to add a bit of extra cream too. They will definitely become part of my holiday repertoire.
http://www.izzyeats.com/2008/12/homemade-organic-peppermint-patties-get.html

Bendicks is a British confectioner. They make a candy called Bittermints. It's a peppermint patty -- the usual fondant center, intensely minty. The chocolate coating is very dark -- it may actually be unsweetened. The contrast between the sweet center and the bitter, intensely chocolate coating is really delicious. If you like chocolate, try using a very dark one for this recipe.

I made these yesterday, and had a lot of chocolate left over (probably 4 oz or so). I made the filling in my food processor.

I am planning to use the leftover chocolate to coat peanut butter-flavoured patties (omitting the mint extract and replacing the butter and some of the cream with peanut butter).

I made these to add to my holiday treat tray... but I don't think they're going to last that long! Delicious.

(I also melted only half the the amount of chocolate called for in this recipe, and had just enough to coat all my patties.)

I'm not a pepperminty kind of person but lilsarah's comment about using almond extract got me thinking: some orange zest and some grand marnier might work well here.

anothersplash:
If the chocolate is too thick, it's probably a question of the chocolate quality - some have more/less cocoa butter, and that does make it thinner/thicker, which is why adding more thins it out. Professional confectionery supply mail-order would be the place to get cocoa butter.

I melted Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips for and had no problem doing it in the microwave. Instead of making patties, I used mini-muffin papers (like little peanut butter cup papers) and brushed them with the melted chocolate, dropped a little ball of peppermint pattie mixture, then poured more chocolate on top. They're in the fridge hardening as we speak. This was a lot easier, quicker, faster and less messy than dipping!

I made these P. Patties and a lot of people were real happy.
I did not use the shortening and nothing bad happened to the chocolate. I have never tempered chocolate and found it be quite easy.