Peppermint Serving Plate

Last Thursday, my husband and I were back home with our families for the 4th of July. It had been a busy week, as I had volunteered with a performing arts camp my sister was in charge of. My family was also busy preparing for a community festival they help coordinate. Due to all the craziness of the week, we had a pretty low key celebration. I was exhausted, and didn't have any of my cake decorating supplies, but I really wanted to put together a quick, and festive, treat for my family. I decided to whip up some easy vanilla cupcakes, and just keep the decorations simple. I didn't even have a piping bag to work with! I made some simple stars out of mini M&M's. My niece and nephew loved the stars, and especially the candy on top!

I wasn't entirely satisfied with the outcome, though. I wanted something festive to add an extra special touch. I was looking around the kitchen for inspiration and happened to see a bag of unopened peppermints. Suddenly, I remembered an adorable plate I had seen on Pinterest around Christmas time. Several bloggers and sites had shared various versions of this idea, including different colors, shapes, and sizes. I decided the red and white peppermints had a patriotic touch.

This serving plate is incredibly simple to make, but makes an adorable presentation. This would be great for various holidays, or any get together using a red/white color scheme (also green/white if you use spearmints).

Peppermint Plate ingredients:

• Bag of peppermints (the number depends on how large you would like the serving plate)
• Wax paper
• Cookie sheet

Peppermint Plate instructions:

• Preheat oven to 325F
• Unwrap peppermints and throw away wrappers

• Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
• Arrange peppermints onto wax paper in the shape you want for your plate (round, rectangle, etc); line peppermints side by side, but leave room around edges as it will grow
• Bake for 6-8 mins (until they have melted)

• CAREFULLY remove from oven (mine didn't end up with a perfect rectangular shape as I shifted it some when pulling it out)

• Allow to cool
• CAREFULLY peel wax paper off back of plate
• Use for serving and enjoy!

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