Chocolate… mint… can there be a better combo? Especially when you can make these deliciously fragrant drops in literally 5 minutes, with just 2 simple ingredients. I’ve been loving on essential oils the past few months (as you may have seen on my Insta/FB), not only for their topical and aromatic use, but also as an ingredient in recipes. Let’s just say adding a few drops of essential oil to your meals is like plugging in a super-charged energizer bunny of flavour. It will take your cooking seriously next level!

When you’re using essential oils in food, it’s super important that you use the highest quality you can find. There’s been a lot of discussion (some scientific, some not so much) around the dangers of using essential oils internally, and the reasons for this are well founded:

1. Firstly, using essential oils of dubious quality can be rather dangerous internally – many on the market are laden with fillers, synthetic fragrances, pesticides, and endocrine disrupting chemicals. In most countries (including NZ), an essential oil can be labelled “pure” or “organic”, even if only a mere 17% (or less) of the contents are in fact pure essential oil. What’s the rest then? Exactly!
2. Secondly, essential oils are super strong. 1 drop of high quality peppermint essential oil is the same strength as 28 cups of peppermint tea. I.e., the same amount of peppermint leaves that goes into making 28 cups of tea, is what is distilled down to produce 1 drop of oil. So of course, 1 drop internally for most people is going to be health promoting, while 10 drops (aka 280 cups of tea), and we may start experiencing some undesirable side effects.

As a result, whenever I mention essential oils in a recipe (which I have regularly throughout my Be Good Organics blog), please make sure you’re not using some dodgy bottle you picked up from the supermarket, chemist, or heaven forbid, the $2 shop (I’m guilty, I’ve done it). There are only a very select few brands I recommend for internal use, my favourite of which you can read more about here.

If you want to learn even more about how to get your hands on these beautifully pure, ethically sourced, and highly effective essential oils, come along to one of my essential workshops (details on our upcoming schedule here). Or, if you’re out of town, send me a direct email here and I can organise a one-on-one session for you. I’m also planning on doing a FB live workshop this coming June, so that if you can’t make one of the classes in person, you can still learn all about essential oils and how to safely use them.

It’s really important to me that you use the highest quality products in your food and body, and essential oils given their potency are even more important to take care with. This is particularly so if your health is in a compromised state, you’re pregnant, or you’re giving them to children. Either way, come get educated with me so you can learn more!

Now let’s get onto these buttons. Yes, these gloriously dark Choc Mint Buttons are…

• Made with 2 simple ingredients;
• Done in 5 minutes;
• Only require a bowl, pot, and stove top – we even made these in our campervan this week whilst in Queensland!;
• A gorgeous digestive aid after a meal – peppermint essential is known to calm and soothe the digestive tract (I’ve written a much more detailed section on peppermint essential oil in the blog post below, including a bunch of other ways you can use it for your health); and
• Will be your new after-dinner-mint go-to – 10 times better than the plastic packaged biscuits in the supermarket, and any pre-bought mint chocolate you’ve ever tried!

Your guests will never know how ridiculously easy these are. Don’t break it to them until after! The other brilliant thing is you can make a big batch of these and store them in the fridge for any unexpected guest arrivals. Or just until your next after dinner-mint craving hits… check out our new VIDEO above showing you how!

Get peppy with peppermint essential oil!

So, what else is peppermint essential oil good for? Here are 15 of my all-time favourite ways, using it topically, aromatically, and internally. Make sure you’ve got some roller balls, a carrier oil like fractionated coconut oil, and a diffuser before you start!

1. Chocolate peppermint slice: After you’ve made these buttons you’ll be hankering for more of that chocolate + mint combo guaranteed. So, try my super lux Chocolate Peppermint Slice! Divine.
2. Eliminate bad breath: Take a drop of peppermint essential oil in water and swish around your mouth and spit. If you are on the road you can also literally just put a drop in your mouth and move it around with your tongue – it is FIERCE.
3. Mouth rinse: Add 2 drops of peppermint and 1 drop of lemon essential oil to a 100mL glass bottle with water, and use as your daily mouth rinse (super affordable, and chemical free). You can also add 1 drop of OnGuard essential oil to your mix too a beautiful anti-bacterial blend containing clove and cinnamon. Remember how your mum/gran always used to say use clove oil for a toothache? They were right!
4. Stay focussed during work/study: Diffuse peppermint, or peppermint and wild orange/lemon, to keep you alert and focused when you need to get cracking on that task at hand.
5. Early morning wake-ups: Getting up for a 6am yoga class, or maybe an early morning flight? Dilute 20 drops of peppermint oil in a 10mL glass roller ball with fractionated coconut oil, and rub on your temples, forehead, neck, and shoulders to wake you up for the day – it really works!
6. Caffeine-free coffee: Inhale or diffuse peppermint in the afternoon when you’re reaching for that 3pm coffee/chocolate. Or, inhale it AND have one of these choc mint buttons as well…
7. Long drives: Inhale and use your roller ball blend (as above) to rub on your temples, forehead, neck, and shoulders, before that long 6 hour drive, to keep you awake and alert. Apply during the drive as a pick-me-up, again instead of that 3^rd coffee…
8. Ease digestion: Take one drop of peppermint in warm water to calm indigestion or an upset stomach.
9. Tummy calmer: Using your diluted roller ball blend of peppermint and fractionated coconut oil, rub clockwise on your tummy. Great for nausea and morning sickness too.
10. No more headaches: Apply your diluted roller ball blend to your temples, forehead, above your eyes, round the back of your neck, and on your shoulders, massage in, then go for a quick walk in the fresh air. 10 minutes later and your headache will be on its way out! No more Panadol needed.
11. Improve respiratory and sinus function: Take a drop of peppermint oil on your thumb, put it on the roof of your mouth and inhale deeply; diffuse; take in a veggie cap; or just smell it straight from the bottle.
12. Cool down: Make a spray bottle with water and a few drops of peppermint oil to cool down your face (eyes closed), back of the neck, hair, arms, legs and feet. Especially good in hot weather, or when you’re feeling stressed or flustered. You can also add it to a cold-water compress or foot bath, to cool off when overheated.
13. Make a blissful foot soak: A few drops of peppermint essential oil and some epsom salts in a mini foot bath = BLISS.
14. Stimulating hair and scalp treatment: Add 10 drops to your shampoo and conditioner and shake to combine, for an invigorating morning scalp massage and hello morning wake-me-up.
15. Make your own toothpaste: Use equal parts of bicarb soda and organic virgin coconut oil, add ten drops of peppermint, stir and store in a glass jar – minty fresh, no nasty chemicals, and super affordable.

Hope that list gets you inspired on how to use your pepp, and not just for the chocolate either!

My favourite peppermint essential oil is by doTERRA, thanks to it’s potency, purity, and gorgeously fragrant flavour. It’s THE perfect oil to be using in your cooking (and all the above applications). You can get 25% off this beautiful oil (and more), by setting yourself up a wholesale account through me; full instructions on how to do so are here. Or, if you’re not quite sure how to set it up or would prefer to buy a bottle retail to start with, send me an email right here.

If you make these yummy Choc Peppermint Drops, I’d love to hear what you think! Leave me a comment or photo below, tag me on Instagram with @begoodorganics and #begoodorganics, or share your thoughts over on my FB page here.

Meanwhile, we’re about to head north to the Daintree rainforest hinterlands, up the very top of Queensland’s east coast. Last stop is Cape Tribulation – the beaches are meant to be stunning! And absolutely no wifi coverage either – I can’t wait 😉 If you want to follow along with more of our campervanning adventures, check out my insta stories here or FB stories here.

Hope you have an equally beautiful weekend planned, whether there be adventure or relaxation involved. Til next week, stay happy and well.

PS If you like this recipe, I’d love you to pin it on Pinterest, share it on Facebook, post your recreation on Instagram (tag me @begoodorganics and #begoodorganics), or share it with your family and friends. Also, if you’re not already subscribed to my weekly recipe emails, be sure to do that here, and don’t miss my next recipe video by signing up to my YouTube here.

And, if you’re interested in one-on-one advice, I have a small number of Naturopathic and Nutrition consultations available each week, either in person or via Skype – you can find more information on those here.

Love my recipes and emails on plant-based nutrition? Leave me a review here!

Please note – if you are wanting to meet any of the specific dietary requirements below, please read my recipe notes.

V GF NF SF

Chocolate Mint Buttons

5 from 1 vote

AuthorBuffy Ellen Gill

Servings 30

Pin Recipe Print Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

To firm 2 hours hrs

Ingredients

• 250 g dark chocolate
• 12 drops peppermint essential oil
• Handful baby mint leaves

Instructions

• Break chocolate into squares, place in a small bowl, then lower into a saucepan of gently boiling water.
• Heat and stir until melted, then add peppermint essential oil and combine.
• Drop buttons onto a reusable sheet of baking paper (you can use it again another time!), top with baby mint leaves, and place in fridge or freezer to set for 10-20 minutes.
• Will keep for at least a week in a sealed container in the cupboard, or in the fridge. If you make them without the mint leaves, will keep for up to 2 months in the cupboard/fridge.

Recipe Notes

• You can also use a cinnamon, clove, or orange oil, such as doTERRA’s protective immune-boosting OnGuard blend, for a wintry earthy feel (just reduce the drops to 8-10). Decorate with an almond or goji berry on top of each.
• Another flavour option which is great is lavender – chocolate lavender is divine! Swap the peppermint oil for lavender essential oil, and top with lavender petals.
• One more for you – chocolate lemon. Again, swap the pepp oil with lemon essential oil. So many options, and they’re all so easy!
• If you’d like to learn more about the incredible therapeutic benefits of plant-based essential oils, and how you can use them in your life, check out my introductory workshop here.
• To make this raw and refined sugar free, simply buy a chocolate that has both of these characteristics – my personal favourite is the Loving Earth bars which we have in our online store here.

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