Fun and Tasty Weekend Holiday Project: Peppermint Bowls!

With all the leftover peppermint candy I have from cookie-house-making, I am planning on revisiting these peppermint bowls I made many years ago for our book, Candy Aisle Crafts. ⁠They're not as hard as you might think (and super fun!) but it’s good to read through the instructions, below. Especially the tip to use a potholder while handling and shaping the melted candies to the bowl (essential!). Also, as I describe below, it helps to melt the inner candies and then add rows of candies. If you heat them all at once the inner candies are sheltered and won't melt enough.⁠

MATERIALS
- Parchment paper
- Heatproof bowl (I used a 6-inch metal bowl)
- Vegetable oil
- 18 starlight mint candies
- Scissors

1. Preheat the oven to 275°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Very generously grease the outside of the bowl with the oil.
2. Place 1 candy on the baking sheet.
3. Place in the oven for 2 to 2 1/5 minutes until the candy starts to look shiny and softens but doesn’t melt or sag.
4. Remove and place six candies around the heated candy, touching it.
5. Return to the oven and heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the oven as soon as the candies start to soften. Don’t let them melt.
6. Place eleven more candies around the circle on the baking sheet. (You can try this step with nine or ten candies for a smaller bowl.)
7. Return to the oven for 7 minutes.
8. Remove and let cool for 1 minute. Quickly trim off some of the parchment paper.

9. With the candy still on the parchment paper, and using a potholder, flip the candy onto the greased bowl and quickly center the middle candy on the bowl’s bottom. Shape the candy around the bowl, using the oven mitt to press the candies into one another. Remove the parchment paper and gently lift the peppermint bowl off the bowl (it should slide right off, but if it sticks, let the candies cool for another minute or two and gently pull it off).
10. Place the finished candy bowls on top of small circles of parchment paper so they don’t stick to surfaces.

Serve a scoop of ice cream topped with crushed peppermint in the tiny bowls. Or a pile of cookies in the larger ones!
Lemme know if you try it by tagging me on Instagram @supermakeit!