Peppermint Cracknel Chocolate with Toasted Coconut
Shards of mint cracknel and toasted coconut combine to make these chocolate sticks crunchy, chewy and utterly delicious. Peppermint cracknel chocolate is the perfect snack, but it also works well as an after dinner mint with coffee.
Who remembers the chocolate bar Ice Breaker? It was one of my favourites when I was a child, but for some reason it didn’t stay the course and was discontinued after only a few years. Milk chocolate filled with mint cracknel pieces. What’s not to love? Thankfully, I’ve now discovered how to make my own. This recipe for peppermint cracknel chocolate also contains toasted coconut for an even greater wow factor.
After Dinner Mints
I made these peppermint cracknel chocolate sticks with toasted coconut to give to friends who’d invited us over for dinner. We hadn’t seen them in far too long and I was looking forward to a good catch up. A few weeks earlier I’d borrowed The Chocolate Cookbook by Christine France from our local library and I spotted this exciting mint cracknel recipe in it. The right opportunity to make it had arrived.
Peppermint Cracknel Chocolate Sticks with Toasted Coconut
If you don’t mind making caramel, this is a relatively easy recipe to have a go at. It only requires four ingredients too. Shards of peppermint cracknel and toasted coconut combine to make this chocolate crunchy, chewy and utterly delicious. These peppermint cracknel chocolate sticks make for a very moreish snack or you can tie them up in pretty bags to give as gifts to friends and family.
When I say sticks, my peppermint cracknel chocolate is more like chunks. In this instance, I’d made them too deep, so that when I tried to cut them, they just broke any which way.There was now way I was able to make them into the delicate slim sticks I’d envisaged – ho hum.
I used a 2lb loaf tin to set my chocolate in. I’ve opted for a wider container in the recipe below, so that you’ll end up with something rather more refined. Despite the technical hitch though, the end result was pretty good: nil points for presentation but 9 out of 10 for taste and texture. The tasting panel agreed.
Vegan Chocolate
If you’re vegan or wanting dairy free chocolate for any reason, do please ensure that the chocolate you use is actually vegan. Dark chocolate shouldn’t contain any dairy, but many brands can’t guarantee there aren’t traces to be found.
Don’t Like Coconut?
Just leave it out. You could also just make the peppermint cracknel without adding any of the other ingredients. Use it to decorate a minty cake or just munch as is.
How to Make Caramel the Easy Way
Making caramel can be tricky. I’ve come a cropper with burnt sugar in the past and it isn’t nice, so do keep your eye very closely on the pan whilst it’s cooking. I favour the non-water method, which I find much easier to manage. Plus you don’t need a sugar thermometer.
Melt the sugar in a pan over medium heat until it’s liquified. Let it bubble for thirty seconds to a minute until golden. Take it straight off the heat; it will continue to cook in the pan for a little while and should turn a lovely caramel colour.
If you want to use the water method, the original recipe states to add ¼ pt water with the sugar. But it’s best to have a thermometer if you go down this route.
Other Vegan Chocolate Recipes You Might Like
- Candied orange peel dipped in chocolate
- Dairy-free sesame truffles
- Homemade chocolate brazils
- Make your own chocolate bar from scratch
- Raw chocolate truffles
For even more recipes for homemade chocolates, head over to my Chocolate to Love board on Pinterest.
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these peppermint cracknel chocolate sticks with toasted coconut, 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.
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If you’d like more mint recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.
Choclette x
Peppermint Cracknel Chocolate Sticks. PIN IT.
Peppermint Cracknel Chocolate Sticks – The Recipe
Peppermint Cracknel Chocolate Sticks with Toasted Coconut
Ingredients
- 4 oz granulated sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
- 1 drop essential peppermint oil
- 4 oz desiccated coconut
- 200 g dark chocolate (72%) broken into small pieces
Instructions
- Place the sugar into a pan over a medium heat. Watch it carefully until it’s liquified.
- Allow it to bubble for thirty seconds to a minute until it’s turned golden.
- Remove from the heat. It will continue to cook and go a lovely caramel colour. If it doesn’t, return the pan briefly to the stove.
- Add the peppermint oil, stir and pour onto a piece of baking parchment. Leave to cool and harden.
- When set (this should only take a few minutes), break into bits, then roughly crush with the end of a rolling pin.
- Carefully toast the coconut in a frying pan over a medium heat until golden, stirring all the time. Allow to cool.
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot, but not boiling, water.
- Stir in the coconut and mint cracknel pieces.
- Pour into an 8″ (20cm) sq. silicone mould or lined tin and leave to set.
- Cut into sticks with a sharp knife.
I haven’t tried this yet as haven’t got the peppermint .After a recent conversation with a friend about the sweets we most miss from our childhood I started to look for a way to recreate” mint cracknel” Mackintoshes I think. Will update when I can get the ingredients. many thanks for this.
I used to love mint cracknel too. This recipe isn’t the same as it has coconut in it too, but it’s still very nice. Let me know what you think.
Did you add the 1/4 pint of water at any time?
No, I find making caramel without water easier, so I didn’t use it. The original recipes did though.
Ooooh now this looks fabulous!!! What a fabulous tongue tingling combination!
Celia – thank you. I shall heed your wise words and enjoy.
Yum! These things can’t be cut neatly, they have to be smashed and rough-hewn! It seems to improve their flavour.. 😉
Maria – thank you. If I hadn’t given them away, I think I could have eaten rather too many.
Wow, these sound really nice and very moreish!
Maria
x
Brittany – he he, eating too much is always something I find hard to resist 😉
Foodcat – thank you for your lovely and encouraging words 🙂
I think the appearance is definitely in its favour. What’s the point of making something homemade if people think it came from Tesco? This looks beautiful and chic.
Yum! The texture of this looks delicious. I think I’d eat too much of this one!! 😀
SewHappy – do let me know how you get on – hope you like it. I used vanilla sugar but the original recipe was just for straight white sugar.
Baking Addict – thank you. I think I’ve come around to the chunky look now.
Lizzy – thank you. Glad your husband understands these things 😉
Chele – thanks, but not half as lucky as your friends 🙂
Suman – yes, definitely refreshing – a good after dinner treat.
Cook in a Bar – thank you for your kind words and thank you for the award.
Sensible Vegetarian – thank you for visiting and for kind words.
Mary – thank you and thanks for explaining about the corn. I knew about blue cornmeal but not white.
Jackie – thanks for kind words and thanks for following.
All that I’m Eating – thank you.
Kath – thanks. It’s usually fun but can also be a bit worrisome trying out new things 😉
Suelle – yes it did seem an odd combination, but it worked fine, although the coconut was more texture than taste. And yes, a larger pan would probably have been a good idea – in retrospect!
Maggie – this could work with lots of flavours I think, or just leaving it with the coconut would be nice.
Jill – thank you. Yes, they did smell rather gorgeous.
Johanna – ahh, peppermint crisp sounds good, perhaps a bit like the ice breaker we used to have. Ha ha, no actresses were harmed in the making of this cracknel 😉
Corina – it would be fun to have a blogger gathering to try out each other’s goodies.
Pudding Pie – thank you for liking my chunks. I really like coconut and chocolate together too.
Hazel – thankyou. Rustic sounds good, not quite so sure about the tattered!
Janice – thank you.
Nesrin – thank you
CityHippy – it seems as though chunks are the preferred option. I should know by now that elegance is not my style 😉
These look really good. All the ingredients sound like they were made for each other. Presentation doesn’t matter if they tasted as good as they sound!
Just found your blog! Healthy + chocolate recipes? Yes, please!
I followed you and am looking forward to the next post 🙂
While they may not look the way you envisioned they are lovely and I’ll wager delicious. They certainly sound wonderful. You asked about the cornmeal. Here we have three types of corn. Blue, yellow and white. Meal can be ground from all three of them. White corn is less sweet than yellow corn and is better for certain types of baking. The bread can also be made with yellow cornmeal with a problem. It just will not be a traditional Portuguese loaf if made with anything other than the white corn. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Absolutely delicious chocolate bar. First time here, lovely recipes.
I think your bars still look delicious. I’ve given you an award on my blog.
Never heard of cracknel before, sounds like a great treat..loving the flavor of mint in it..must be refreshing and delicious!
Love the name! Must try this, they sound the perfect treat to have with a cuppa. Your friends are so lucky!!!
Hey, my hubby (another chocolholic) does not give a hoot about what his treats look like…as long a chocolate is a primary ingredient! But, I understand, as a blogger, that nil for presentation is not what you’re going for. These look pretty darn good to me, though.
These look delicious. I love the chunky bars!
Sieht ganz lecker aus. Ich liebe Schokolade. Grüsse…
I like the sound of this. I am of to buy peppermint oil and vanilla sugar and hope to give it a try very soon. I will let you know how it goes.
Ah you see, I think that presentation looks lovely…but then I’ve always been a chunky fan. I’ll bet they tasted deeelicous!
Sounds amazing!
Wow! I have never heard of cracknel before. Personally, I like the rather tattered and rustic look!
I think they look just as good as chunks rather than sticks! I really like coconut and chocolate, I think it’s undervalued in baking 😉
ooh. I wish I could be on the tasting panel for these.
reminds me a little of peppermint crisp – an aussie chocolate bar with peppermint shards inside – my mum always puts it on pavolva with cream – so I think this would be lovely finely chopped on a cream topped pav
btw – never heard of the term cracknel – except for australian actor Ruth Cracknel
Brings back memories and can just imagine the incredible aromas when you open up that tin! Fabulous looking recipe, as ever.
My Mum used to make something similar to this but without the mint. It looks delicious.
I wouldn’t have thought of putting mint and coconut together, but it sounds as if it worked for you.
Perhaps setting the chocolate in a larger tray would help with neater cutting – for when presentation is important.
I like the sound of the peppermint cracknel and I like the rustic look of your bars. Looks like proper homemade treats.