Peppermint Puff Pastry Sticks Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Sprinkle a surface with 1/4 cup sugar; unfold puff pastry sheet on surface. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Roll into a 14x10-in. rectangle. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar to within 1/2 in. of edges. Lightly press into pastry., With a knife, very lightly score a line crosswise across the middle of the pastry. Starting at a short side, roll up jelly-roll style, stopping at the score mark in the middle. Starting at the other side, roll up pastry jelly-roll style to score mark. Freeze until firm, 20-30 minutes. Cut into 3/8-in. slices., Place cut side up 2 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets; sprinkle lightly with 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake for 8 minutes. Turn pastries over and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake until golden brown and glazed, about 3 minutes longer. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

Steps:

• Coat a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray, and set aside. Place sugar, corn syrup, and 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan. Cover; bring to a boil. Remove lid, and cook, swirling pan occasionally, until syrup registers 305 degrees (hard-crack stage) on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and carefully stir in lemon juice, extract, and food coloring.
• Pour hot syrup onto prepared baking sheet, being careful not to touch syrup. Using a metal spatula coated with cooking spray, fold edges toward the middle (this will help cool the syrup). When it is cool enough to handle but still quite warm, using plastic gloves, strech and pull candy, folding it over onto itself before pulling again, until it is opaque and just starting to firm up, about 10 minutes.
• Immediately pull off pieces to form long pencil-thin ropes. Working quickly, cut into 7-inch lengths with a pair of kitchen scissors. Continue pulling until all candy is used or is no longer pliable.
• Temper chocolate: Heat 2/3 of chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water until chocolate registers 118 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove pan from heat, and add the remaining chocolate; stir with a rubber spatula (avoid using a wooden spoon, which can impart other flavors) until it cools to 84 degrees. Remove any unmelted pieces, and discard. Return bowl to pan, and stir until chocolate reaches 88 to 90 degrees.
• Dip top 3 inches of each pepperment stick in the chocolate, if desired. Allow excess to drip off; set on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and let harden.