Description
These festive Christmas Mints are colorful, creamy peppermint patties coated in sugar with a beautiful striped pattern made using a fork. They are easy to prepare, require no baking, and make perfect holiday treats or gifts with vibrant red, green, and white colors.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons light/clear corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 4¼ cups powdered sugar
- 6 drops green liquid food coloring
- 6 drops red liquid food coloring
Instructions
- Prepare Baking Tray: Line a large rimmed baking tray with parchment paper to prevent sticking and set aside.
- Beat Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, use a handheld mixer on low speed to beat together the cream cheese, unsalted butter, light corn syrup, and peppermint extract for 1 minute until smooth and well combined.
- Add Powdered Sugar: Gradually add 4¼ cups powdered sugar, about ½ cup at a time, mixing on low speed. When the dough becomes too thick to mix with the mixer, switch to a spatula or wooden spoon and finish combining by hand.
- Prepare Dough Surface: Lay a piece of parchment paper on a clean counter and sprinkle with ¼ cup powdered sugar. Turn out the dough onto this paper to prevent sticking.
- Divide and Color Dough: Divide the dough into three equal parts. Make a shallow well in the center of two parts; add red food coloring to one and green food coloring to the other. The third part remains white.
- Knead Dough with Color: Knead the red and green dough balls until color is evenly distributed, adding up to ¼ cup additional powdered sugar as needed to manage stickiness. Knead the white dough lightly with a tablespoon or two of powdered sugar if necessary.
- Shape Dough Ropes: Roll each colored dough ball into a rope approximately 18 inches long and about 1 inch thick.
- Slice into Pieces: Slice each rope into ½-inch thick pieces starting from one end until fully cut.
- Form Balls: Roll each cut piece between your palms to create small balls and set aside.
- Coat in Sugar: Toss 2-3 dough balls at a time in the granulated sugar until fully coated, then place them spaced evenly on the prepared baking tray. Repeat until all balls are coated and placed on the tray.
- Flatten and Decorate: Using the tip of a fork, gently press down on each sugar-coated ball to form a flat peppermint patty about ½-inch thick and create a striped pattern on top.
- Dry and Set: Let the peppermint patties sit at room temperature on the tray for up to 24 hours to dry and set before serving or transferring to a serving platter.
Notes
- Yield is approximately 100 peppermint candies.
- Store mints in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks to keep fresh.
- For longer storage, freeze mints in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months; thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
- For deeper colors, add up to ½ teaspoon of liquid food coloring as desired.
- Adjust powdered sugar amount as needed to achieve dough consistency that is firm but not sticky.
- Gel food coloring is recommended for more vibrant colors without making the dough too wet and is safe for those with nut allergies.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 candy
- Calories: 25 kcal
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 10 mg
- Fat: 1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 4.5 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 0.3 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg
