Mint Chocolates: an After Dinner Favourite

Rich chocolate flavoured with mint is the perfect after dinner mouthful. But these mint chocolates are delicious at any time of day. They make lovely gifts too.

When I was a kid, After Eight Mints were the height of dinner party sophistication. They followed other Seventies favourites like coq au vin or beef stroganoff. Mother, put that fondue set away. Luckily, things have moved on a bit since then, but chocolate mints haven’t lost their appeal.

Mint Chocolates

The first time I made these chocolate mints, it was to take along to a chilli and DVD extravaganza at a friend’s house. Cooling After Chilli Mints along with some of my redcurrant vodka was just the ticket I reckoned.

I don’t have a terribly sophisticated palate when it comes to chocolate, plain dark chocolate doesn’t always quite do it for me. But I do like a really dark milk chocolate. So I thought I’d experiment and combine both dark and milk chocolate. It worked incredibly well and I’ve pretty much stuck to this combination ever since.

If you prefer the idea of dark chocolate or you’re vegan, by all means omit the milk chocolate element. Conversely if you prefer something sweeter and less rich, go for milk chocolate. Or you might like to experiment and go for seventy five percent milk and twenty five percent dark. It’s all part of the fun and coming up with your ideal chocolate mix.

In essence, this recipe is just a case of melting chocolate and stirring in some mint extract. There is, however, a little bit more to it than that. Take a look at my top tips below. But as mint is quite an overpowering flavour, you don’t need to use a high quality chocolate. I usually go with Green and Black’s.

The number of mint chocolates you make will very much depend on the size of the moulds you use. I made twenty eight. I fill my moulds using a metal dessertspoon, but if you’re careful you may get away with pouring the liquid chocolate into the moulds.

Not really much more to add rather than: yum!

Peppermint Chocolate Bark

Instead of making several mint chocolates, try making peppermint chocolate bark instead. When you’ve melted the chocolate, as per the recipe. spread it out onto greaseproof paper or baking parchment into a rough rectangle. Scatter some crushed candy cane, broken matchmakers or other mint sweets over the top and leave to set. Once the chocolate is properly hard, break or cut it into chunks.

My Christmas chocolate bark recipe, might help.

How To Make the Best Mint Chocolates: Top Tips

Temper Your Chocolate

Temper your chocolate, if you have the patience. If you don’t your chocolate is liable to form a white bloom after a while and will bend rather than snap. You can find out more on why tempering chocolate is a good idea in my temper temper post. See below for the cheat’s way to temper chocolate.

Chocolate Moulds

I use both silicone moulds and polycarbonate chocolate moulds for these mint chocolates. Silicone moulds are useful as the chocolates are particularly easy to remove. But the polycarbonate moulds produce the shiniest chocolates. See if you can spot which mint chocolate shapes are made in which moulds.

Oil Your Chocolate Moulds

Before I start chocolate making, I rub my chocolate moulds with a little sunflower oil. This makes it easier to release the chocolates later, but also gives a slightly shinier finish. Go sparingly with the oil and use a paper towel.

Leave Chocolate to Set Properly

Spoon or pour the mixture into chocolate moulds. Tap the moulds on a hard surface a couple of times to remove any air bubbles then leave in a cool place to set. Don’t put them anywhere too cold though and definitely not the fridge. Chocolate does not like the cold, especially whilst it’s setting.

It will take a good two hours to set, but maybe longer. Err on the cautious side. If the chocolate is properly set, you should be able to turn them out of their moulds without a problem. It’s super easy to get them out of silicone moulds, but you might require a sharp tap on a hard surface to get them out of the polycarbonate ones.

How to Temper Chocolate The Easy Way

Tempering chocolate is a bit of a tricky business. There’s a lot of science and temperature control to get it spot on. Take a look at my homemade Easter eggs post for instructions on the correct way to do it.

I tend to use the cheat’s method which usually, though not always, produces reliable results.

1. Place three quarters of your chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Ceramic or glass bowls are best for this.
2. Place the bowl over a pan of water. Make sure it fits snugly on top of the pan, but doesn’t touch the water.
3. Put it on a low heat and let the water come up to a near simmer. Turn the heat off and wait for the chocolate to melt.
4. Give it a stir to ensure it’s smooth and properly melted.
5. Take off the heat and add the remaining chocolate. Leave for a couple of minutes to melt, then stir again.

Other Chocolate Recipes You Might Like

• Candied orange peel dipped in chocolate
• Ginger chocolates
• Homemade chocolate brazils
• Make your own chocolate bar from scratch
• Sparkling chocolate mendiants 

Keep in Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you have a go at these chocolate mints, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter.

If you’d like even more recipes for homemade chocolates, follow the link and you’ll find I have an awful lot of them. All delicious, of course. And then there’s this post for edible gifts galore.

Choclette x

Mint Chocolates. PIN IT.

Mint Chocolates – The Recipe

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5 from 1 vote

Mint Chocolates

Rich chocolate flavoured with mint is the perfect after dinner mouthful. But these mint chocolates are delicious at any time of day. They make lovely gifts too.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Setting Time2 hrs

Course: After Dinner, Gift, Snack

Cuisine: British

Keyword: chocolate, gifts, mint

Servings: 28 chocolates

Calories: 40kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

• 100 g dark chocolate – chopped into small pieces at least 70%
• 100 g milk chocolate – chopped into small pieces at least 35%
• 2-3 drops peppermint extract or 1 drop of peppermint essential oil

Instructions

• Melt 50g of the dark chocolate with all of the milk chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of hot, but not boiling water.
• Stir until smooth, then add the remaining dark chocolate. Leave for a couple of minutes to melt, then stir until smooth.
• Add 1 drop of peppermint extract or the essential oil and stir to combine. Taste for flavour and if you think it could do with another drop, add in some more. But do be careful, mint can be incredibly strong.
• Spoon or pour the mixture into chocolate moulds. Tap the moulds on a hard surface a couple of times to remove any air bubbles.
• Leave in a cool place to set for a couple of hours. Don't put them anywhere too cold though and definitely not the fridge. Chocolate does not like the cold, especially whilst it's setting.
• When the chocolates have set, turn them out of their moulds. If using hard polycarbonate moulds, give them a sharp tap on a hard surface and they should come out with no problem. Pack into bags and tie with a pretty ribbon.

Notes

Use good quality chocolate, but not the best. The mint will overpower any flavour notes the chocolate has.

This recipe uses the cheat’s method to temper chocolate. It’s a bit hit and miss. If, however, you know how to temper chocolate properly, do it.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used.

Nutrition

Calories: 40kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 36mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Please take a photo and mention @choclette8 or tag #tinandthyme on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Sharing

I’m sharing this recipe for chocolate babka with Lost in Food for #CookBlogShare.