Hi Todd,
I think the blog post you've provided should work. You can find php.ini file which is going to be used in the Project properties, Server tab section.
Enable SSL checkbox with IIS Express solves a different problem, particularly when you want to develop on local server with https. It should install a certificate that will satisfy the browser needs so if will not be showing you a unsafe page warning.
Please let me know if this helped or if you'd have any other question.
Thank you