Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Homemade Butter Mints

Christmas is a wonderful time to give gifts from your kitchen. I like to show my appreciation for the special people in my life by giving them something I have made or baked. Anyone can send a box from Hickory Farms. This will be the first of many recipes, etc, that I will be posting over the next month that can be used for a party or given to someone special. I will share some old standards that I have done for years, and I will hopefully have enough time to experiment with some new ones! Today's post is an easy recipe for butter mints. There are several kinds and price ranges of molds to choose from. Places that carry Wilton will have lots of plastic molds, which are cheaper by far, but this time I used a rubber mold. I ordered it from Kitchen Krafts, a wonderful website for food crafters. The link is on my list. It was $21.95, but it was well worth it to me because it was so easy to pop the mints out. I chose a snowflake mold, but there are many others to choose from.


Butter Mints

1 lb box confectioners sugar

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1 tbsp milk

Mix ingredients with a mixer until blended. The mixture will be coarse crumbs. Knead the crumbs together to make sure it is moistened. You can add a little more milk if it's too dry, or a little more sugar if it's too moist. You should be able to make a small ball and press it into the mold cleanly. Pop the mint out of the mold and allow to dry on a flat surface. Store in single layers with wax paper between each layer. These freeze well.



I lay a large towel over my coffee table and make the mints while I watch a movie. It takes a little time, so it's nice to sit down. The mixture should look like this:


It looks crumbly, but when you smoosh it together it forms a nice, smooth ball. This is how they turned out:


I put some in a clear bag to show how they can be packaged to give. Use your imagination!


You can color these with food coloring and do them for showers, also. I made some white seashell mints and gave them as favors for a Caribbean b'day party I gave for Gil a couple of years ago. I used plastic molds and I had some of the favor bags left, so I thought I'd show them to give more fun ideas for ways to use mints year-round. I bought the bags at Walmart and put stickers on them.



Have fun with this recipe. Do it now while you aren't so busy and stick them in your freezer. You'll be glad you did.


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Vickie! Could you post those reindeer sandwiches?

Vickie said...

I think I have a recipe for them in one of my kid's cookbooks. I will check and post it if I do. I think I have one for reindeer cookies, also.

Anonymous said...

The mints sound like something that even I could do. Thanks for a great idea.

Finelly said...

Mmmm! I tried some mints the other day that tasted sort of butterscotchy. They were delicious! This reminded me of them.

Looking forward to trying this out!

Anonymous said...

How long are you supposed to leave them in the molds before you pop them out?. I couldn't get mine to pop out without totally messing up. I think they were too soft and sticky to begin with b/c my mixture didn't look like yours in the picture! I can mess up just about any recipe!

Vickie said...

I'm sorry Kristin! Try adding a little more sugar. It's not your fault. That has happened to me before even though I followed the recipe perfectly. Also, if you used a plastic mold, they are a little trickier to work with. Sometimes the mints need a little coaxing with a knife to get them out. Just add the confectioners sugar until the mixture is crumbly looking, but holds together when you squeeze it with your hand.

dancing_shoes said...

Vickie, I ran across your blog when searching for a homemade butter mint recipe. I'll be trying your recipe very soon. Does your recipe take food color gels well?

Oh, and by the way, I love the music on your Pop-out Player. The Gabe Dixon Band has a new fan!!!
Jamie

Vickie said...

Dancing Shoes:
I haven't tried it with gel food color, only the liquid, but the gel wold probably do just fine.

If you check in my tags under shower ideas, I have this same recipe posted (called Tiny Flower Butter Mints), and they are colored with liquid food color.

I am glad you found me, and also glad you like the Gabe Dixon Band!

Anonymous said...

do you think I'd be able to use almond milk or coconut milk instead of cows milk with this recipe? I'm nursing and unable to have dairy because it upsets my son's stomach but I really want to make these and get to enjoy them too!

Vickie said...

I think you totally could!!