Peppermint Patties - cooking recipe

Ingredients

14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon peppermint extract
6 cups powdered sugar
24 -32 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 -6 tablespoons shortening

Preparation

Combine the sweetened condensed milk and peppermint extract.
Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat.
Knead on a surface sprinkled with more sugar until dough is stiff.
(The stiffer the better when it come to the dipping part!) Add more sugar while kneading if the dough is sticky.
Roll 1/4 inch thick.
Cut into approximately 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch circles. If they are much bigger than that they fall apart when you dip them.
My girlfriend said she uses a screw-off wine bottle cap!
Let the cut patties dry for at least 2 hours on *each* side. They need to be really dry.
Melt chocolate & shortening it a double boiler; stirring constantly until smooth. Using 1 Tbls of shortening for every 6 oz. of chocolate. Keep chocolate hot for dipping.
Dip patties in melted chocolate. The method my friend has found to work best: she places them on a long 3-tined fork, puts them in the chocolate (it should be no more than 1 1/2 inches deep), flips them over to coat the other side, lifts them out again with the fork underneath the patty, shakes the fork to shake off the excess chocolate & then places the patty on waxed paper to harden.