February 11 – Peppermint Pattie Day
“Hiya, Chuck!”
No, this day isn’t dedicated to the famed Peanuts character–though I’m sure somewhere in the list of other random national holidays that do not include food, Peppermint Patty has a day devoted to her somewhere on the calendar. It is, however, to celebrate the Peppermint Pattie, that small, round disc of creamy peppermint fluff, covered in bitter dark chocolate, providing a sweet and refreshing bite to one’s confectionery snack. While the idea of the chocolate peppermint candy had been around for a while, it was perfected in 1940 by Henry C. Kessler, in York, Pennsylvania. When he began selling it, he named it after the city, and the York Peppermint Pattie has been a confectionery favorite ever since.
While you can get the popular silver-wrapped disc in any candy store in the city, some restaurants have gone the extra mile to give you that refreshing Arctic feeling. Ample Hills Creamery in Brooklyn has created the perfect form of a peppermint pattie to really keep you cool: peppermint pattie ice cream. A huge hit when it opened shop last June, Ample Hills features tons of ice cream flavors inspired by childhood candies and confections, and the Peppermint Pattie flavor is one of the favorites here. It, as all their ice cream, is hand-made with all-natural ingredients–real peppermint ice cream with a dark chocolate swirl and pieces of their homemade version of the candy mixed in. It’s such a cool combination that it’s caught the eye of Serious Eats, New York Magazine, and even the New York Times’s CityRoom blog.
Ample Hills Creamery
623 Vanderbilt Ave (between Prospect Pl & St Marks Ave), Brooklyn
www.amplehills.com
“At Ample Hills Creamery, a double dose of peppermint comes through in each serving of the Peppermint Pattie ($4/scoop). First, a clean hit of the peppermint ice cream, simultaneously cool and rich. Then, the housemade peppermint patties, chopped and folded into the velvety ice cream base. And because chocolate and peppermint go hand in hand, one more swirl of dark chocolate to complete.”–Serious Eats
“Handmade ice cream takes time. At Ample Hills, they crack their own eggs. They make the peppermint patties that make the Peppermint Pattie. Hence the price of $3.90 for a scoop of ice cream, plus $1.35 for a handmade cone made with brown sugar and vanilla beans.”–NYTimes CityRoom
Some reviews from Yelp.com:
“We also tried the peppermint patty and the chocolate was very rich. It was so good that I couldn’t share and ended up buying a second one for my husband.”–Katie P.
“The Peppermint pattie was really good the last time I went. Normally, a truly natural mint flavor is not that great in ice cream, personally speaking of course, but they did something just perfect to enhance the overall flavor of the mint and chocolate together.”–Caesar R.
National Food Days in New York City 
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