Old-Fashioned Butter Mints — These old-fashioned butter mints require just 6 ingredients to make! This recipe makes a big batch, so you’ll have lots left over for gifting.
Old-Fashioned Butter Mints Recipe
One of the highlights of going to my grandma’s house when I was growing up, in addition to playing Gin Rummy for money at age six, was raiding her candy dish. She used to have Jolly Ranchers, butterscotch candies, and after dinner mints in that little white dish with the lid. When you’re six,”after dinner” means the minute you can get your sweaty little mitts on the mints, you do.
I decided it was time to make my own meltaway mints since I have such fond memories of them. Skylar told me the pink mints taste better. But of course. In actuality, same batter but that concept wasn’t fully registering. All that was registering was pink food.
These homemade butter mints are so smooth and just melt in your mouth. Normally with mints, one is all you need. Maybe two. With these, you want at least 17 because they are cool yet sweet, firm yet melty. Plus they’re tiny.
It may not have been the brightest idea to make a recipe that needed to be sliced into 250 little pieces (just a guess) and I am not one for extra steps and monkey business and fussy recipes, but I rolled the dough into long skinny logs in between my hands and it felt like I was playing with Play-Doh.
I lined up the logs and sliced through them with a pizza cutter. Back and forth, back and forth. The whole process took about 20 minutes and wasn’t that bad. I did it after Skylar went to bed (no lighting, no pictures) because I didn’t want her eating gobs of the Play-Doh.Scooping cookies with a cookie scoop so they’re all uniform can take just as long as Project Mint Roll Out.
Now, instead of just memories of raiding my grandma’s candy dish, I can raid my own. You will never want a store-bought after dinner mints again. If you’ve never had the mints I speak of these or these are the ones, but now I can make my own.
What’s in These Butter Mints?
To make these creamy, soft mints, you’ll need the following:
- Unsalted butter
- Salt
- Confectioner’s sugar
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Peppermint extract
- Food coloring
How to Make Butter Mints
To make this soft peppermint candy, you’ll first need to cream together the salt and butter for about a minute. Then beat in the sweetened condensed milk, powdered sugar, and peppermint extract. Continue mixing until a dough forms, then remove the dough from the mixer and divide into one to four equal-sized balls.
Add one dough ball at a time back into the mixer and add your choice of food coloring to the dough. Mix until the color is uniform throughout. Wash the mixing bowl and paddle between each color change and repeat this process until each dough ball is colored.
To shape the butter mints, roll out a golf ball-sized piece of dough into a long rope and slice into bite-sized pieces. Once you’ve rolled and cut all the dough, store the homemade butter mints in an air-tight container in the fridge.
Can I Use Another Kind of Mint Extract?
Yes, you can use any variety of mint extract you prefer (i.e. mint, peppermint, spearmint, etc). These after dinner mints will be tasty no matter what type of mint extract you use.
Can I Use Peppermint Essential Oil?
I’ve only ever made this butter mints recipe using peppermint extract, so I can’t speak to whether or not peppermint essential oil will work here.
Can I Use Another Flavor of Extract?
I suspect this recipe would be nice with cinnamon extract, lemon or orange extract, or many other specialty flavored extracts from butter to rum to coconut to coffee extract. If you choose to use another specialty flavored extract, you’ll have to use your best judgement when flavoring these butter mints.
Tips for Making Butter Mints at Home
These soft peppermint candies will make a perfect holiday gift and one batch makes enough to gift to a few people.
I used red and green food coloring, but you could make these for Easter, Mother’s Day, a baby or bridal shower and use pastels. The un-dyed dough is stark white and a blank canvas.
I also thought about dipping these in melted chocolate for chocolate-covered mints but didn’t know if the dough would hold up as it took a searingly warm chocolate bath, so I skipped the dipping and that little what if.
Lastly, mint extract cannot be undone and if you plan to make these, make sure you read my mint cautionary tales in the recipe section. You want to eat mints. Not eat a bottle of Listerine.
Pin This Recipe
Old-Fashioned Butter Mints
These old-fashioned butter mints require just 6 ingredients to make! This recipe makes a big batch, so you'll have lots left over for gifting.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter, softened (I used unsalted, but salted may be substituted based on preference)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (consider omitting if you used salted butter)
- 3 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar plus 1/4 cup+, if needed
- 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract*
- food coloring, optional
Instructions
- To the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and salt and beat for 1 minute on medium-high speed.
- Add 3 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, milk, peppermint, and beat on medium-low speed until a dough forms. If the dough seems wet, add additional confectioners’ sugar until dough combines (I use 3 1/2 cups sugar). The dough will be crumbly but will come together when pinched and squeezed into a ball.
- Taste the batter. If you want a more intense mint flavor, add additional mint extract, to taste (see note below).
- Remove dough from the mixer, separate it into 1 to 4 smaller balls, and add one ball back into the mixer. Add the food coloring of your choice to the ball by squirting the droplets on top of the dough (careful when you turn on the mixer), and paddle on low speed until coloring is well-blended. Coloring will not blend completely into each and every speck of dough if examined extremely closely, but overall, mix until color is uniform. (I separated approximately two-thirds of the dough and made it green using about 15 drops green food coloring and made one-third of the dough red-pink by using about 7 drops red food coloring).
- Wash the mixing bowl and the paddle in between each color change and repeat until all the balls are colored.
- After the dough has been colored, either wrap it with plastic wrap and place it in an airtight container in the refrigerator to be rolled out later or roll it immediately.
- To shape the butter mints, place a golf-ball sized amount of dough in your hands and roll dough into long thin cylinders about 1 centimeter wide. Place cylinders on countertop and with a pizza cutter (or knife – be careful of your counter), slice cylinders into bite-sized pieces, approximately 1 centimeter long.
- Store mints in an airtight container in the refrigerator where they will keep for many weeks.
Notes
*A few notes about mint extracts: They are much more intensely flavored and potent than vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon of mint extract has an extreme amount of potency compared with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. You cannot un-do mint once added so be very, very careful to not over-do it and end up with a bottle of Listerine-tasting food.
There are different kinds of mint extracts available and are labeled as “mint, “peppermint”, “spearmint” and more. For this recipe I used store-brand (Kroger/Ralph’s) “peppermint extract” sold in a small 1 ounce bottle. Select the version of “mint” you think sounds best as not all types are available in all areas.
Recipe variations and thoughts: I suspect this recipe would be nice with cinnamon extract, lemon or orange extract, or many other specialty-flavored extracts from butter to rum to coconut to coffee extract.
I have not tried making the dough first into a ball and then adding the extract after the dough has combined, thereby making it easier to customize the flavors from one big batch of mints into 50 pieces of orange, 50 pieces of cinnamon and so forth. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that extract added after the dough has combined would not disperse well and some pieces would be insanely strongly flavored and others would hardly be flavored at all. Working in an even smaller batch size is an option, although a bit challenging because less than one-quarter cup butter begins to be challenging.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
200Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 11Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 5mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 0g
More Mint Desserts:
Andes Mint Brownies — Super fudgy brownies loaded with Andes! Chocolate + mint is the best! Meet your new favorite brownies and so easy!
Andes Mint Chip Soft Fudgy Chocolate Cookies – Big, thick, fudgy chocolate cookies with a hint of mint and loads of chocolate in every bite!
Fudgy Mint Chocolate Brookies {brownie + cookie} – Part fudgy brownies; part soft & chewy chocolate cookies. Minty, rich & loaded with Oreos!
Mint and Chocolate Fudge Oreo Bars – Fudge-topped mint bars with an Oreo crust! You can’t go wrong with mint & chocolate! Perfect for the holidays
Creme de Menthe Bars – The classic bar everyone loves!
Triple Layer Fudgy Mint Oreo Brownies – A reader favorite, year after year!
Homemade Thin Mints (no-bake, vegan) So easy, authentic, and too good to be true!
Peppermint Patty Chocolate Cookies — They’re slightly chewy around the edges with super soft with tender, pillowy centers.
The Best Peppermint Chocolate Cake — The cake is soft, moist, decadently chocolaty, and perfectly pepperminty. The ganache is fudgy, silky, smooth, and rich!
I made these and they are awesome! I did use essential oils to flavor them and it was fine just added a few drops at a time until I had the desired peppermint taste.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad the essential oils worked fine!
These were delicious and amazing! With all the substitutions I made, I thought they would fail. Instead they were spectacular! I used homemade condensed milk and vanilla extract instead of peppermint.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad they were delicious and amazing and I am impressed with your homemade condensed milk and I bet the vanilla tastes great, like the mints I used to eat as a kid!
I love butter mints at restaurants but I have never tried homemade ones. I am looking forward to giving this recipe a go. Thanks!
I added 1/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk to my recipe and it came out perfect the 1st try.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad they came out great for you!
Just a quick thought…if you use a stand mixer and whip to a light fluffy consistancy and a very pale, pale color…you will get a light tasting candy…it makes a difference! 😁
My mom says she only made pink and green mints once, but I still remember them more than 40 years later!
She made hers spearmint (green) and peppermint (pink). these look delish! I’ll have to try it.
What a great memory!
I was thinking about making one big mint with the entire mixture and then do a chocolate outer coating, do you know how I might do this?
I really don’t know but you could experiment and see what happens!
I used the lemon extract for Easter and it works great
Awesome! Great idea!
I just made these & they turned out terrific! I didn’t use a mixer, just my trusty wooden spoon at first then hands to fully knead in all ingredients. I didn’t use coloring though, the next time I may and utilize plastic gloves. I started with 3 cups of the powdered sugar and gradually added the last 1/2 cup. When time came to rolling, it broke apart, so I grated a little more butter over & worked it in and then it rolled out fine. Now, comes the hard part..waiting for them to fully dry. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
I have made these before, just with butter and sugar. i used a fork to mix it together, until it was soft and creamy. I used to use mint, but my family doesn’t care for the mint, so I just use food coloring and end up with “butter” mints. I roll them in little balls on waxed paper and flatten with a fork, like peanut butter cookies. I let them air dry, until they are no longer sticky, turning them a couple times a day. This does sometimes take a couple of days, and of course they do get eaten upon in the process.
I am afraid if I put these in an airtight container in the fridge to store they will stick together. Do you dry them on the counter first? I want to make a big amount for a baby shower in pink and need to store them for a week. Also after storing in fridge do they soften up when put in a candy dish for serving? They will sit out for a few hours.
Do you dry them on the counter first? = yes
I highly recommend making a test batch to see how things go and make tweaks from there. Good luck and enjoy!
I would love to make these with my daughter, it all I have is a handheld mixer with the standard attachments. Not a paddle attachment. Is there a way I can still make them??
I’m sure a hand mixer will be fine.
I used a spoon. That was “mixer” enough.
could i use coconut oil instead?????
No.
I know this is an old comment, but the answer is yes.
I made this recipe with refined coconut oil instead of butter, and added water in tbsp till I got the right consistency instead of sweetened condensed milk. (I don’t remember how much water but it was less.)
This made the mints indefinitely shelf stable and reminded more of the after dinner mints at restaurants. Since the mints at restaurants NEVER contain butter or milk. More store bought butter mints are sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, and artificial flavor.
Candies like this are meant to “Air Dry” after to harden up so they get firm to the touch not sit in air tight containers and defiantly not in a refrigerator. I worked in a candy store that made all kinds of things like this. From hand dipped Carmel Apples, fudge, cast chocolate, cinnamon candy, hard candy, peanut brittle, too many to many items to list by name, anything that was traditional and specialized in wedding items. I notice some in the comments are confusing theses with the traditional “Wedding” mints made with Cream cheese. I have made millions of those for countless wedding both at the store and for my Grandmother who decorated cakes for weddings. They also need to dry out in an open container the dough can be made ahead and like yours kept in the freezer for at least a year or longer. We would make 10lbs batches at a time freeze then take out what we needed color/flavor and mold it. Once they are air dried then they can be kept in a air tight container especially if you life in an “Wet” climate or you home has lots of humidity, say an area like Washington where it rains a lot of the time. For Christmas Weddings we used to make Red and White peppermint Candy-Cains out of the Wedding mint mix its a lot like working with Fondant. If your mold stick spray with pan spray or dust lightly with powdered sugar the key to getting good molded mints is to keep the dough cold and firm. To only work it in small as need batches so keep the majority in the refrigerator only take out enough to mold a little at a time. If it gets warm your in for a sticky icky frustrating mess.
Thanks for commenting made it so much easier to make
I agree with your hints regarding the storage and keeping candy cold and working with small amts at a time. I as well worked in a candy shop a few years on Macinack Island. TY Averie for this recipe… I’m going to give it a whirl, it’s similar to the one I used to use.
My sister and I were just talking about how one year at Christmas, our Mom made soft peppermint candies. Neither of us are old enough to remember how Mom made them. But I am going to try your recipe and see if I can recreate some Christmas memories.
*were old enough*
Hi there! I used this recipe years ago to make these scrumptious butter mints. At the time I used peppermint extract and they turned out delicious, however I’m wondering if you’ve ever tried Peppermint Essential Oil instead of the extract, and if so, what the ratio of it you could use?
Thanks for your help!
Angela
Haven’t tried any other way than exactly how I wrote it so can’t give suggestions for substitution quantities. Since they turned out great for you before, I’d be inclined to change nothing and repeat!
This recipe doesn’t say to dry these mints before storing. So they are soft? Not hard like the commercial ones?
They are not soft, but they’re not as rock-hard (i.e. break a tooth kind of hardness) as some of those commercial mints are.
Leaving a butter-based dough at room temp to ‘dry’ could be a tricky proposition depending on your climate, warmth level of the house, etc. For me just storing them in the fridge as the recipe is written works fine.
has anyone tried putting the batter through a cookie press? If it works, I’m thinking green buttermint Christmas trees.
I haven’t tried it that way but I vaguely remember having a few people comment on doing it or were going to do it, if you have time to glance at the previous comments. Good luck and let me know if you try!
Really want to try these for Christmas but was wondering-after cutting them do you let them “air dry” (dry out a bit to firm up) before putting in the fridge, or put them in the fridge right away?
Ive made them both ways as you describe. Your dough and climate that day will dictate to you the right way to go based on how moist or dry things seem. Enjoy!
These taste so good. My question is do they get firm after cutting and refrigerating?
Yes they definitely firm up.
I was thinking of making a batch of the butter mints with each of the different flavorings and giving them as gifts that way I would not have to attempt to make tiny batches.
Could these be pressed into candy rubber molds?
Not sure because I haven’t tried it that way. Never know til you try, though!
i tried putting it into a silicon mould and it just stuck to it…i used a pretty detailed mould though. i am wondering if a simpler one might have worked, and def would have dusted with the confectioners sugar!
I’ve never tried with a mould and so can’t speak to results but thanks for sharing. I’ve only made the recipe the way I wrote it.
These were a pain in the butt to make, and I had to use way more sugar than called for. Then, they kept sticking together, and all in all was a waste of my pantry items
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m sorry you had to use more sugar than called for. Ingredients and climates do matter in baking, especially in candy making, and in this recipe, there’s probably $2.99 worth of powdered sugar. If you feel that’s excessive, I’m sorry.
I made these with anise extract because I very much dislike mint but love the texture of butter mints. They turned out very tasty but didn’t harden quite like they should. I’m not sure if they need to dry longer in the refrigerator (it’s been over night) or if I should have added more confectioner’s sugar – I used 3 1/4 cups and had a very workable yet slightly crumbly dough.
Thanks for trying the recipe and it’s a bit hard to troubleshoot a recipe like this since ingredients and climates vary. I would say that *slightly* more sugar could have worked out better for firming up purposes. Or there could be a difference in the way anise extract stuff vs. mint extract stuff sets up; not sure since I’ve never experimented.
I made three batches today for the first time. I about fell apart during the first batch thinking this crumbly mess will never amount to anything! Then my husband came into the kitchen, looked in the mixer and said “it’s forming a ball Des’…sure enough! They turned out perfectly! I am looking forward to giving a big container out for a white elephant gift and having a dish sitting on the table so everyone can enjoy!
Glad that you saw that ball in the mixer and had faith :) And glad you made 3 batches! Hope your guests enjoy the mints!
Thanks for the recipe. This is the closest that I have ever found for my Auntie Julia’s recipe. She and my Great-Grandma Sophia used to make them every Christmas both for their own use and as presents. In addition to the mint version, I seem to remember her making a version with dark molasses and rum extract. Definitely worth trying in the future. She also made ones with orage and lemon extracts.
how long do i let the dough sit in the refrigerator
Until it’s not mushy and firm enough to slice.
I really want to make these to gift! How long before bottling them should they be made? Do you know how long they would last/stay fresh?
I would make them as close to when you want to give them as possible; fresh is always best. However, in the fridge, they will keep for many weeks, if not a month or two.
Thanks soo much :)
Do you use salted or unsalted butter in your recipes? I am just going to make some butter mints but I don’t want them to salty!
Thanks
Sue
I always use unsalted because I am very sensitive to salt and like to control the amount I add rather than it being already included in the butter, but use what you prefer.
I haven’t read through all of the comments, so I’m sorry if this is a repeat-idea. If you’re content with one color and/or flavor, mixing the food coloring and extract with the milk before combining it with the confectioners sugar would be an easy and effective way of getting even color/flavor throughout the candy. :)
Super late to the party, but I just found this recipe this morning on Pinterest :)
I decided to whip these up with my toddler and OH. MY. GOD.
I’m going to have to make another few batches to give out for Christmas gifts. These are amazing and remind me of the mints my great grandma used to always keep on her coffee table.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe, Averie!
So glad you know these mints and that your great-grandma had them on her coffee table! Same here :) Enjoy & LMK how they turn out!
can I use vanilla extract or must I use a different flavor, would the vanilla still taste good?
To get them to taste like MINT you need to use a mint-flavored extract. If you use vanilla, they won’t taste like mint – not ‘bad’ but just not minty.
Haley, they sell vanilla butter mints, if u like them, try it!
What do you do if your batter if dry? Like a powder dry?
Add more butter.
Did you used to have a recipe on here for making them on the stove? Like boil all ingredients together, then pour out and pull until cool?
Nope, not me!
Oh, I remember these! My Mom and aunt would make these, but they used a marble slab and they were called “Pulled Butter Mints”. I remember watching them work – twisting and pulling the “dough”. I have looked high and low for the recipe, so if anyone knows what I’m talking about, please let me know.
Thanks.!
I make mints that are very similar to these, and yes- I have coated them in chocolate. Yum.
I also switched out the butter for cream cheese once, ooohhh that was good too.
Love the chocolate dipped idea and the cream cheese idea, too!
Hi, I am a young cook and I tried to make these mints for my mom as a gift, because they were one of her childhood favorites. I tried to put the dough into shapes and found that it would not keep its shape. It was too runny. Please help her birthday is soon. Thank you
I already replied!
I tried making these as presents and they wern’t thick enough to cut into shapes. Did I do something wrong?????-please help
Sounds like you maybe just rolled them too thin. I’ve never tried making ‘shapes’. I just make little mints in typical mint shape format.
Just made these and they are so yummy! Good mix of the butter and mint flavor.
I ended up yielding 480 of these things, 1 cm long by 1 cm wide (plus a couple pieces of dough that I ate and didn’t count).
I used 3 1/2 c of sugar and 1/4 tsp Watkin’s brand peppermint extract. I also used some blue food coloring so they’d look pretty when I give a bunch out as gifts!
Just put them in the fridge; looking forward to trying them cold.
Thanks for trying them and for the feedback about what you did and your yield! Glad you’re happy with the recipe!
I loved these as a child and I can’t wait to make these even though its going to be June. Maybe I will do all the colors for a summer .
just a thought – could you roll these out flat – like a really thick pie crust – and then cut them with a pizza cutter? they’d be cubes instead of having a more round shape, but it could be a big time saver.
Made these this evening by hand….only took 2 hours to make dough and roll and cut…lol …wanted to do trial run as I want to make these for my Daughters wedding. I will definitely find someone who has a kitchen aide and make in larger batches!!!!!
Thank you for sharing this recipe with me:-)
this is an excellent recipe! but i found that instead of rolling the dough out into cylinders, its easier to roll it out with a rolling pin, and then cut the dough into a grid pattern with a pizza cutter
Great and glad you found what works best for you!
In your recipe did you use salted or unsalted butter? Will it make a difference if I use salted?
I used unsalted and it’s up to you whether you want your mints to taste saltier or not depending on the butter you select.
I got the salted. :( Do you think it would be alright to omit the 1/4 teaspoon of salt, or do you think it would still be too salty?
I would keep it out, taste, and if you think it still needs salt, add it, and hope it incorporates.
Or, avoid any of this guesswork and just go buy unsalted butter before you start, which is a sure thing.
Could you make these with a cookie press, air dry, then do the “coat & shake” with sugar? Was hoping for cute little shaped mints for xmas gifts.
I have only made them like I described so any other methods would be new to me. Feel free to try & get back to me with your results!
Just made these. I’m letting them air dry for a few hours before I put in the fridge. However, I need to move out of the kitchen so I’ll stop eating them. Hopefully the neighbors will love them as much as I do.
Well that’s awesome that you’ve been sampling and quality-assurance testing & that things seem a-okay :)
Yum…yum…yum!! I just found your recipe on Pinterest and made a batch for a Christmas gift…but, I just had to try them myself, too! They tasted great! And, they were fun to make, especially when it came to the rolling out part. I felt like a little kid making “snakes” out of clay! lol Anyway, thanks for posting this! I’m going to make a lot more!
I felt like a little kid making “snakes” out of clay! = I had my then 5 yr old help me with that. She loved it :)
Glad you’re loving the recipe!
Made them with Maple Extract – Tasted like fudge! MMM…
Oh wow, I bet that was TASTY! good idea!
Hi there! Just made these. Love them. I posted about them my blog! Thanks for sharing!
juststaceyj.com
Thanks for trying my recipe. Glad you liked them!
Just a note I though of….first- I will definitely be making these! And second- I make mint and cinnamon hard candy each year, and I have learned the hard way that you need to make sure to use EXTRACT and not FLAVORING. Flavoring is artificial and will not taste nearly as good. For my hard candies, I use cinnamon oil or peppermint oil. I am not sure how those would work in this recipe.
I am very clear in the post about using extacts – so that’s covered. As far as using cinn or peppermint oil, I cannot personally vouch for either but based on reader feedback and those who have tried p-mint oil not extract, they were very, very strong. I would just make the recipe using the ingredients I called for and then after you have a feel for it, you can start playing around with oils, etc.
Hi there, how long will they store for? Thanks!
It was written in the recipe section of the post:
” Store mints in an airtight container in the refrigerator where they will keep for many weeks.”
My dad loves butter mints so I just made him some blue ones. I can’t wait for him to try them out. They would be great to make with children also. It’s like playing with play doh. Thanks for sharing!
Oh I am so glad to hear you made these for your dad! And yes, the recipe is great for kids – like edible Play-Doh! :) Hope your dad enjoys them!
Awesome! FYI — these are absolutely delicious dipped in chocolate fondue. They hold up ok in the warm chocolate but then just melt in your mouth. Mmmm.
Oh wow, that’s great to hear that stand up to chocolate fondue! I bet the combo of the buttery mints, against the warm chocolate sauce, is just heavenly! I have to try – thanks for the tip!
I was looking for one receipe and stumbled my way to your other receipes and am looking forward to trying to make so many of them Thank You, whats not to Love all the best, natural, ingrediants in the world and good for you too!
Good Morning, Averie! I made these a few days ago and blogged them today. Thanks for the fabulous recipe! (I still can’t believe how addictive they are! They taste 100x better than store-bought too.)
I’m so glad you enjoyed them and yes they are so addictive and way better than storebought!
Great recipe! Perfect timing for me (sort of). I saw these mints at the checkout of a retail store the other day, and had to have them (knowing full well they’d be about 10 years old and stale). I ate half the bag on my ride home! This could be dangerous!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi! I (of course) waited until the last minute and now I need to make these for a shower tomorrow at 3pm. Do these take time to dry out? If I make them in the morning, will they be edible by 3? I’m going to attempt either way, because they will be edible at SOME point and they look fantastic! Thanks so much for your help!
You know I live in San Diego and it’s incredibly dry here and they would be fine for me, but I suggest making the RIGHT NOW. Like stop what you’re doing, start them! Like now!! That is your best chance and let them sit in the fridge overnight, uncovered to the cold air. And no, if you make them in the a.m. I really don’t think that’s enough time for them to properly firm up by 3p. I mean maybe…but…I wouldn’t chance it since it’s for someone’s special event :) LMK how it goes!
I live in San Diego, too! (And when I was out at Mayo it cracked me up that the first thing everyone said to me was, “San Diego, oh my goodness it’s SO humid there!’ – Uh, I guess compared to Scottsdale it’s humid, but, really people, San Diego is NOT humid! ha!)
I love your blog but hadn’t seen this recipe until today – which is so funny because just yesterday I was complaining about not being able to find after dinner mints and how much I love them, and that the closest thing I can get is chic-fil-a or melting pot’s mints…but there’s only so many of those you can manage to get – especially since they’re individually wrapped. Ha ha!
I can’t get over that these aren’t baked or anything. Are they sticky? I’m so curious…and totally going to have to try this! So fun!
And now I’m relooking at all your recipes since I missed this before I’m afraid I missed more treasures! ha!
No – not sticky. Hope you try them!
I made these today and they are delicious! The only change I made was at the end I put them all in a container and added a bit more confectioners sugar and shook the whole thing to give them that soft powdered finish. AND it kind of rounded them. :>
Rachel – thanks for the feedback and so glad you loved them! Your shake-method sounds perfect. If I do things like that on my blog, people get upset about ‘all that sugar’ that I’ve used :) But I think you made a super smart call and one that saves time, coats them all at once, and now they won’t stick together as much either! Smart girl :)
These are a childhood favorite of mine. I take them to the movies sometimes too. haha I was wondering if you absolutely have to refrigerate them? Or if they would be okay in an airtight container on the counter? Thanks!
As long as it’s a cool-ish room and not the dead of summer, you’re fine on the countertop. There are little old ladies who keep butter out indefinitely on the counter…my grandma was one of them. Some may not be comfortable with this, but it’s really personal choice. But the buttermints will be fine at room temperature for awhile; it will depend how warm the room is before they start softening.
Oh, so they are suppose to be soft? I was waiting for them to dry to be like the little pillow after dinner mints, you know the ones that were always at baby and bridal showers.
“waiting for them to dry to be like the little pillow after dinner mints, you know the ones that were always at baby and bridal showers.” <-- YES they get like that. Add powdered sugar & air dry until that happens. It will!
I never knew what ingredients made up these goodies. Will have to try the recipe, sounds so easy. Thanks for sharing.
Ohhh, I love this! I can’t wait to try it. I used to love to eat these.
I made these for christmas gifts not really sure what butter mints are since i’m from Australia and they don’t have them here. Mine turned out tasting like mint icing? Are they suposed to have the texture of icing? When I keep them in the fridge they are kind of hard, but after just 2 mins out of the fridge they start sweating and melting again? It’s been 48hrs in the fridge so far. It probably doesn’t help that it’s 30 degrees celcius, I’m guessing they’re more of a winter recipe.
They should be much firmer than icing. Icing to me is still soft like…toothpaste. Or maybe a bit harder. Mints should be well, solid at room temperature. And although there’s butter in them so yes, if you brought them outside in very warm temps, it will ultimately melt, but in normal household temps they should stay fairly stable. I think you probably need to add more sugar in order to get them to firm up more and bulk up the dough.
I haven’t made these since the 90s. I keep telling my NannyJean I’m gonna make em. This year I will. Thanks for reminding me how fun these r to make.
I remember my grandmother having these too! Thanks for posting! I just made two batches to give with Christmas gifts. They are yummy and my house smells so fresh! Happy Holidays!!!!
Ps I did every thing by hand as I do not have a stand-mixer and it worked out well.
That’s awesome you did it by hand AND that you made two batches and are giving some away. No doubt people will remember that gift! Thanks for trying the recipe & coming back to LMK you had success!
I made these last night. They required significantly more powdered sugar and then we let them dry, uncovered, in the fridge overnight. Next time I’ll use even more powdered sugar. I think the climate difference between San Diego and North Carolina on a rainy day made a big difference in the recipe. So if anyone reading the comments finds their mints won’t dry or set up, try more powdered sugar and some drying time.
Just like with bread-making, humid climates require far more flour to get a workable dough, not surprising that you required more powdered sugar in your humidity than I do in my dry climate. Glad you tried the recipe!
I do not have a paddle attachment for my mixer, will that mess these up? I really want to make them for Christmas giveaways but am now worried I won’t be able to. They look so good.
Then mix it by hand – elbow grease will work just fine :)
I love the old-fashioned butter mints they sell at Cracker Barrel, these look almost identical in the pictures you posted. The color isn’t as deep on theirs but I like the bright colors better. Will definitely try these. We make our Christmas gifts for everyone outside our immediate family and it’s usually jams, jellies, candies and baked good. Definitely have to add these to my repertoire. Thanks for sharing.
Wow! These look amazing, and I can’t wait to try them. I used to love melt-in-your-mouth Buttermints as a kid. It’s been a long, long time. It’s about time for me to take a trip down memory lane, don’t you think? Many thanks for a great recipe! Kristi
I made these last week to put on my daughter’s birthday cake , they are one of her favorites . I decorated the cake & used them for a boarder. She just loved it and got the rest of the batch to eat & share. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
That is so awesome! Cake decorating with them and then eating the extras and sharing them with guests – that’s great thinking! Thanks for the feedback and taking the time to write – I appreciate it! :)
Well,I didn’t heed your advice and wait until the little one was asleep. My almost 3yr old son has been helping me bake in the last couple of months and this was too much fun for him. I think there was no surface not covered with powdered sugar. The colors, we had the NEON ones too, were quite something with his help.
We worked on his fine motor skills with having him help cut the “worms”. Not exactly uniform shapes and sizes but a great project to share with him. This again goes to his violin teacher and he’s excited to dress up the jar with his CARS stickers.
I didn’t change the recipie much except used just a little less peppermint extract and a little more milk just because it seemed to need it.
I’m a single working mom and I’m finding that baking and cooking with my son has been one of my biggest joys. I love to show him your pictures and we decided togehter what to make. He always wants something with chocolate chips in it hence your pumpkin bundt cake was perfect timing.
Keep up the great work – I, for one, really appreciate it!
Glad they were a hit and that you (and your son) enjoyed!
i looked for peppermint extracts in baking and confectionery supplies shops in my region and the only sell peppermint oil, they said it’s the same, is it okay as a substitute? thanks
probably will be fine – but I haven’t tried it, so use it sparingly to begin with!
I used peppermint oil I had (from doTERRA), and they turned out perfect with only a few drops.
However, after I cut them apart and went to go place them in an “air tight container” for storage, they all stuck together. Am I missing something? I tried coating them in powdered sugar (yuck and didn’t work anyway). I still have most of my wrapped up balls waiting for processing (I did a double batch, and only rolled out a little – thank gooness). So, I’m hoping that someone can tell me how to keep them “unstuck” from each other.
Glad the peppermint oil worked in terms of flavor – maybe it contributed to the sticky situation? Not sure. Although mine were a tiny bit sticky and yes, they do stick together a tiny bit, they can easily be pulled apart. After all, this is sugar we’re working with here and it’s sticky.
Your dough/batter may be a bit moister than mine…I’d let them just sit out, exposed to the air, so they dry a bit maybe & help the sticky issue.
I love mints! Do you know those mints (circular) that tasted of wintergreen? I recently acquired some wintergreen food flavoring… and I think I know just the recipe to replicate! Thanks!
~ nerdwithtaste.wordpress.com
I ran across this recipe while looking for mints to make for a bridal shower. Surpriseingly enough I had all the ingredients on hand. I made a test batch tonight. They were incredibly easy to make. I only had about half of the amount of peppermint extract that is needed for the recipe. After making them and tasting them tonight I think the entire 1/2 teaspoon may have been to strong for my taste. However, the flavor may change after the dry. Mine, also, seemed to be salty even though I used unsalted butter. I did use the Wilton food coloring paste and it mixed extremely well. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you tried the recipe and enjoyed it and yes, every brand of extract will vary in intensity as well as taste preferences and this is definitely one of those ‘to taste’ recipes! Just a tiny tiny pinch of salt is all you need, if any, and again, salting is always highly subjective, too. Glad you liked them!
Have you tried adding the food coloring to the milk before you add it to the dry ingredients it may make the coloring more even…I am going to make these tonight and I will let you know. I know you would only get one color out of the batch but for a big project like a wedding or if someone only like the “Pink” ones…LOL it may work.
I use some of the ‘neon’ food coloring drops and they are VERY intense. The pink is ridiculously bright so just add it when I indicate in the recipe but I’m sure you could add it when you’re saying too, but yes, you only get one batch. However, the ones I use, in person, *can* be blindingly bright if I wanted them to be, added when indicated in the recipe.
These look AMAZING. I think I will try them this weekend. One question though, how long do the mints have to be in the refrigerator, if you aren’t going to color them?
Just long enough to firm up so you can roll them out; it’s butter and sugar so use your judgment.
I’m allergic to any mint, so I guess I can leave it out without causing some bizarre issue? Also, would these freeze well? Thanks!
If you don’t add mint extract when making mints, you don’t really have…mints. It’s hard to make mints without using mint :)
They freeze fine, though.
Do you use unsalted butter for this recipe?
Thank you!
Yes unsalted!
Can i put peppermint syrup intead of extract?
I’ve never worked with peppermint syrup so am not sure how to answer this. You can always try it…
Thank you, thank you! I found this recipe on Pinterest and made these mints for my daughter’s engagement party. I rolled them in granulated sugar and pressed them into little heart molds- they were a hit! You have some great recipes, thanks!
Oh I am so glad they’re a hit for you! Fun idea with the heart molds, too!
I love after dinner mints. We always had them in “nut cups” mixed with salty peanuts! I can’t wait to try this as the after dinner mints can be hard to find. Thank you for making a new tradition to my family memory.
I wanted to add that I doubled a batch and froze half. They were great when I unthawed them so you could make these ahead of time (like for upcoming Xmas gifts).
I love this recipe, so much in fact that I was wondering if I could post it on my blog. I did add less salt but other than that I didn’t make any other changes.
I’d prefer if you just linked back to the recipe on my site since you really didn’t change anything. Glad you enjoyed them so much! I like to freeze them, too!
Just made these mints… SO GOOD!I swirled green and blue food coloring together so they look like marbles :) Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Love that you made them and the little marbles sound fabulous!
Thank you so much. My husband and I LOVE butter mints and I am excited to find this. Will be a fun Christmas gift, too.
Enjoy!
Wow! Memories just came back in a flash when I saw these. Used to love them while I was in the States but now that I am in Malaysia, I totally forgot about them til I stumbled across your website. Thank you for sharing your recipe and I hope to attempt this one day.
Oh wow! My grandma had the same mints in her candy dish. I never left her house without a little tissue filled with the buttermints to eat on the way home! How wonderful to have a recipe to make my own. I don’t have any grand kids (yet) so I have plenty of time to prefect your recipe. Thank you : )
Do you have to refrigerate these?
considering they’re made of butter, I think that’s a safe bet long term :)
This brings back wonderful memories as a child. My mom would bring hers to a candy boil and then pour into strips onto frozen buttered marble. She would add different food coloring to each strip. Each of us kids would butter our hands, grab a strip and start pulling and pulling! As soon as it lost its gloss we would twist and snip into pieces! This was one of favorite Christmas traditions! Thank you for pulling out old memories for me!!!
Awww, thanks for sharing :)
Ive had mine in the fridge for a few hours and they are still soft and like dough, is there something i did wrong?
Sounds like you added too much liquid to the dough – you may need to add more powdered sugar OR if you live in a dry climate, roll out the dough and let it get some air. This is a very precise dough, and literally 1 teaspoon of milk can make the difference. Play around with your ratios and you’ll get there!
I just tried these with vanilla extract instead of mint because there was no mint in the cupboard and my family doesn’t really like it. I don’t know how good they will be, they smell like straight condensed milk… Maybe I should’ve stuck to the recipe lol ;)
Yes, since they are called old-fashioned MINTS, really, without using mint – you can’t really compare what you did to what I did and made…since you didn’t use mint, to make mints! I just want to clarify that because others come to the comments and read things so yes, pretty trick to make mints without using mint :)
Quick question: Do you just let the mints sit out for a bit until they’re dry? I can’t wait to try these!!
well after you roll them & form them into mints, they naturally just dry out. So even in a container in the fridge, they are pretty dry. Not sure if that’s what you mean but yes, they’re dry without “doing” anything special.
I am so excited to try these! My kids and I love butter mints. We are staying on vacation here with my Grandmother. I think we will make some and fill up her little glass hen candy dish! I’d love to share this recipe and our results on my website, giving you link love of course! Thanks so much for sharing!
Keep me posted how things go!
omg I used to love these when I was little!
lol, do u think they would last 3 months? or can u be more specific with many weeks please?
I think they would last 3 months, yes.
Do I think they would be at the height of freshness? No.
Unless there is a reason why you’d purposely want to make them 3 months ahead of time, I would try to make them within 1 month of using them. Yes, I have some lingering around my fridge for a month+ but it’s not like I am serving it to company and I’m fine with that. With longterm food storage issues, it’s highly personal based on comfort levels and I hate to recommend exact storage times.
HELLO HOW LONG DO THESE LAST?
Hi Mary, you’re SCREAMING!!! Guess you’re excited about the mints :)
I discussed how long they’d last in the recipe section…many weeks.
I use a recipe very similar to yours to make chocolate covered mints. Simply form your patties or balls (whatever shape you choose) and freeze them for at least 5-6 hours. Then dip in your melted chocolate. The mint holds up well and the cold helps set the chocolate faster. Refrigerate in an airtight container and the will keep for several weeks (if they don’t get eaten first!).
Good to know…I actually was going to try this. Just freeze it very well first, then dip. Good to know it works just fine!
I tried these butter mints and doctored the recipe a little. I used only 3 cups of pwd sugar and added a couple of tablespoons of butter (on my second batch )after I found it too dry to work with on the first one. They turned out beautifully. You don’t mention how long they need to dry. They taste yummy!
Like all recipes that contain few ingredients and a dough needs to be formed, some tweaking can be necessary based on brands, temperatures, moisture levels, etc. – glad you found the tweaks that work for you and they only need to dry as long as necessary in order to be rolled…from a half hour to many…will just depend on those variables. Mine was about a half hour.
I’m nowhere near getting married in even the next 2 years, but I believe I just found my wedding favors! I even know what colors they’ll be. Green, yellow and white (white is amazing and saves me actually adding food coloring, yet still gives me a 3rd color) will look amazing in little containers. What an amazingly budget friendly idea you just gave me! Showed the bf and he loves it too. :)
You’re the second person in a week who’s told me she’s going to use these as wedding favors! The only thing is if you’re getting married in the summer and it’s going to be warm out, these are not “shelf stable” indefinitely…they tend to get melty b/c of the butter content. You could freeze them even to buy yourself a bit of extra time but just a heads up on that one! But that’s exciting!
We’ll prolly freeze them just in case. I live in Cali and we were considering a winter wedding since things are cheaper then, with how few weddings happen in that season. So it should work out pretty well.
I have a nephew who is allergic to milk, eggs, soy and nuts. So I was doing some research earlier for a coconut milk recipe I can do a substitution with. I found one that is very simple. I haven’t tried it yet but I thought I’d share for those interested. I saw another recipe that called for the use of agave instead of sugar, but he gets so few things, I don’t make substitutions where I don’t have to.
2 14oz. cans coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
Simmer the coconut milk in a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan. Fold in the sugar and stir until dissolved. Reduce the volume by half (this will take about an hour).
I got the recipe from this site: http://myaspergersgirl.blogspot.com/2008/09/gfcf-sweetened-condensed-coconut-milk.html?m=1
Hope that helps! :)
I would simply refrigerate a can of full fat coconut milk, let it separate, don’t shake/disturb much, pour off cream, add sugar, at least 1/2 cup (to be as sweet as real sweetened cond milk you need plenty!! of sugar) and then simmer/reduce that. And use multiple cans worth. That way you don’t have all that diluted liquid to contend with.
Mmm, I love butter mints! Sadly, I am the only one in my family who enjoys them, so we never usually have them around (because when we do, I eat and eat and EAT THEM). These are so precious and petite. I love the colors you chose!
We love butter mints! They are so delicious. We remember them as kids! YUM. We are so glad that you linked up to our “Strut Your Stuff Saturday”. Please come back again really soon! Thanks! -The Sisters
The butter mints looks great! The colors looks lovely, too.
thanks!
I loved these mints when I was a kid, thanks for the memories and the recipe. I’ll be making them soon and I shared the recipe on my facebook page. I’m always looking for new recipes and ideas to share with people!
Glad you like it!
I love those dinner mints, and definitely want to try these out!!!
These look amazing! They bring back so many memories of peeking through the candy jars at my Nannie’s house, just for something tasty and sweet!
I’m dairy intolerant, though, so I’m wondering what I could use instead of evaporated milk, that’s either soy or nut based…
Read through the comments before you; I suggested an option to another reader (vegan) about coconut milk, add agave, reduce it, thicken it…try that. Get creative! :)
I made some peppermint, anise, and vanilla mint using your recipe and they are phenomenal! Thanks!
Love the flavors…vanilla mint, ooh I’d love to try one! Thanks for LMK about it!
You mentioned dipping them in chocolate… Whenever I want to dip something that may or may not last through the process, I either freeze it, then dip, or I melt the chocolate and paint the chocolate on with a paintbrush. Dipping looks nicer, though. Just a random suggestion to try, though I am about to try this recipe myself, and will try to post a pic of my chocolate dipped ones. Wish me luck. :)
I’m so excited I want to make these for my wedding (six months from TODAY!) I do cakes and my groom has put his foot down on me doing my own (out of love, he doesnt want me turning into Cakezilla on our wedding day) But the mints….well I can make these in advance! How long do you think they keep? I AM going to have to try a “practice” batch (for quality control purposes, naturally) in advance before I start cranking out mass production mints. These may even be my guest favors in dollar tree favor boxes, perfect roundout to my DIY wedding!
Wow…you make cakes and you want to use this recipe as wedding party favors or to be served at your wedding…I am HONORED! Thank you :) The thing about these is that they will not remain “shelf stable” for long b/c of the butter. So you can’t put these in a gift bag and just forget about them b/c the butter will spoil and/or they will get melty. However, refrigerated, you can make these ahead ages in advance. I’d say a month…seriously. I would also imagine they freeze/unthaw just fine, too. So the pre-cooking isn’t the issue; it will be storing them in a temperature-controlled way for guests. PLEASE keep me posted as to the progress of this and how it all shapes up for you!!
The following website has free printable stuff, which includes gift boxes…. for your DIY wedding. There are some really nice ones….
http://dfc.c-ij.com/cpark/search.do?categoryId=ALL_CATEGORIES&datacount=15&langCode=en&value=gift+box&searchButton.x=89&searchButton.y=8
I’m so excited to see this recipe. I love butter mints. I haven’t had any in years. They’re getting hard to find in the stores. And I hadn’t thought of looking for a recipe. I cannot wait to try it out. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I do have a suggestion for your ”thin mints’. Every Christmas I make these. I melt almond bark and add a bit of peppermint or spearmint (depending on what taste I want) to the chocolate. I then take ritz crackers and dip them in the chocolate. Then I place them on a rack. You get the exact taste of a Girlscout thin mint cookie. ;-) My girls like to add sprinkles to make them look more festive for Christmas, but otherwise they are done. Quick easy cookies that taste awesome!
My mom makes a mint bark and I bet the mint bark-encoated Ritz would be heavenly! Thin Mints, but with Ritz. Ritz Mints :) Good idea!
I just found your blog and I thought these looked gorgeous so I made them today in green and blue (planning to test out the orange flavour tomorrow) thinking I would use them for my son’s 5th birthday party on the weekend if they worked. I loved them and they were so easy. According to Mr almost 5 though the green ones were disgusting (not a kid big on new things), however, the blue ones are delicious. I just smiled remembering what you said about Skylar.
Wow..that was fast! Glad you made them and liked them and the blue ones were approved of by the little guy :)
I made up a batch today and tried them with orange essence instead of mint and they were amazing ! I also decided to try adding red and yellow colouring in 2 separate places during the initial mixing stage. Obviously this meant my whole batch was orange in colour but the result was beautiful marble like streaks of red and yellow through the orange. Thank you so much for this recipie, I’m sure they will be a big hit today at Mr 5’s party !
orange in color, orange in flavor…sounds heavenly! I bet the melting taste-sensation just went perfectly with the orange flavor and with marble streaks…PRETTY! Thanks for LMK they were made and a hit!
Would these withstand the heat and humidity of summer outside for a party?
Probably not for too terribly long b/c it’s butter and sugar and unfortunately not made to really stand up to high heat/humidity for long time periods. You could freeze them and maybe buy yourself a bit of extra time. But I would say keep them inside or in a cooler somehow.
I always love these mints when you get them at restaurants and these seem so easy to make! What a great party favor idea also!
Thanks Mercedes and yes, they’d make great party favors!
Love these. I can’t wait to make them and give them as gifts in little mason jars over the holidays. What a great idea. Pinned this one :)
thanks for the Pin and for planning on making them!
I love this!!! I found a stray mint in the car on the way to the doctor and was pleasantly surprised that it was a soft melt-away one! They are my favorite mints, and the pastel ones always remind me of eating in restaurants when I was little–when eating out was a big deal and not an everyday thing like now. This is one of my favorite recipes that you have made. Good one!! :D
I was JUST thinking of you about an hour ago and bam…comment from you! Hope the moving-in process is going well and I was also thinking of you and these mints b/c I had a feeling you liked mint and yes, the melty ones are the best kind. The pastel ones at Chinese restaurants were my fave as a kid :)
Oh man! I love butter mints…but I have never thought to make them myself! I can’t wait to give these a try! :)
I love these mints! And I sort of want to grind up a few and rim the glass of a mint martini with them.
I love those butter mints. They look so easy. YUM!
Yum, these look wonderful! I adore mint and have it exploding in my garden now! My current fave recipe is just using the fresh mint leaves in raw vegan brownies or cakes, simple.
Ahh these are gorgeous! I love me some after dinner mints – they look perfect for shower gifts, great idea!
Ohhh, I love buttered mints. I grab a handful when restaurants give them out, which isn’t often anymore. Great recipe!!
I love packaged butter mints and these look easy. I have a bunch of LorAnn flavorings, so it would be fun to try different flavors (chocolate butter mint maybe?!?!). I made some Kahlua creme de menthe bars for a party years ago. I initially thought the combo of liqueurs might be a little off, but it worked well together ( kind of a minty-mocha flavor).
Kahlua creme de menthe bars sound fabulous…or Baileys somehow in them, too. I love all those flavors! And yes, I have the LorAnn’s too and was thinking of going wild on flavoring these up…but time prevented me. But wheels are turning.
Haha, I used to do the same at my grandma’s! Except at her house it was the melty mints — the pastel colored candies shaped like Hersheys kiss, with white sprinkles on the bottom. Mmm. But my sister always loved these, the “after dinner” mints. And I hear ya on being careful with mint — NOT the time to be heavy handed!
Oh I saw your cake batter/yogurt dip on Kelly/eatyourselfskinny’s site and it reminded me of when you first posted it…a year and a half ago. Time flies!
I am so impressed! Kuddos to baker Avery!
Whoops, did not mean to hit submit yet. I had relatives visiting this weekend and one of them made a ginger-balsamic reduction….I seem to remember reading about a balsamic reduction you made a while back. I didn’t think I’d like it, but it was delicious – so much so that I posted about it today! The ginger got all soft and sweet from cooking in the balsamic – delicious!
I love balsamic. As for the sweetened condensed milk sub…gosh….you could try JUST the thick part of a separated can of coconut milk and sweetening that, heavily, with sugar and/or then boiling it to reduce it. You need something very thick and very sweet. In this recipe, it’s a must-have. Many other recipes, you can fudge it but not this one…
These are beautiful! They are so professional looking. They don’t look too hard to make, either….I just have to figure out a substitute for the condensed milk.
I love this idea bc I have been searching for this amazing mints in stores for a baby shower I’m hosting. Now I will impress people by making them myself:) How soon in advance can I make these and what’s the best way to store them so the will keep for at least 3 days?
you can make these well in advance and just store them in the fridge – butter and sugar will keep for a very long time in the fridge – but because there is butter in them, hence the name, you can’t bring these to an outdoor shower in the summer in the park and expect them to not melt! They are stable at room temperature for a few hours but do need to be stored long term in the fridge or they can become soft like butter will do over time. They don’t soften as fast as a stick of butter though, which is a bonus.
Wow, I am super impressed that you made candy! Very cool! I do like mint flavoured things.
These would indeed be perfect for homemade holiday presents! I will definitely file the recipe in the back of my head for mid-December. :)
Oh, interesting recipe, and if you’re willing to take the time to dye different batches, you could probably mix them and roll out designs/patterns too!
You definitely could mix, match, over-lay, layer, both with colors and flavor extracts..it’s RIPE for opportunity…if you take the time :)
Oh my god, I LOVE butter mints! These are just like how I make my peppermint patties at Christmas time!
I can’t believe you did all that rolling and cutting, though I can imagine it was probably someone meditative. I get like that with repetitive tasks sometimes.
Averie, those little mints are just adorable! Love, love what you’ve done! Mint, where do I use it? Hm, actually mostly in savory dishes and teas. I do love mint, I grow 3 variety on my patio, and use it in salads and dressings a lot, almost every day. What I use mint every single day is in my green tea, I think I am going to have a cup now, thanks for reminding me :) How long can you keep those cuties?
mint and green tea..I have never tried that!
I love buttermints!
I haven’t had those in ages.
Very nice girl!
Thank you my friend. Was trying for something other than…more cookies :)
Oh, thanks for such a great reminder of a favorite. They are beautiful.
Reminds me of something we called “wedding mints”. I think they had cream cheese in them and mint flavoring and were pressed into molds. They were served at weddings and baby showers when I was a kid back in the dark ages. HA!
Wedding mints! Yes! Very similar, actually. The ones I am thinking of really didn’t have cream cheese, just butter. They sort of melt away in your mouth. These are the same!
I loooooooveee that you made these! I haven’t had them in so long, but I used to love them!
Love these! They are so pretty and I bet delicious! Can’t wait to try them.
well if you end up making them, LMK!
Im jealous, my grandmother never had anything this good (ok, that makes me sound like a royal brat – but you know what I mean!! We were lucky if we found stale cookies in the back of the pantry). These little mints are crack – you can’t have just one!
Oh wow, both my grandma’s houses were LOADED up on treats and goodies…there was so much stuff it was insane. And great memories :)
Oh, no way! I used to scoop these up like crazy when I was a kid, but actually I never knew until now that they contained butter – no wonder! ;) Such a creative recipe, Averie. Thanks for sharing!
well I think that the commercially made ones nowdays are probably some sort of non-butter but tastes like butter and a million chemicals to give them that “melting away” property…but these, and the ones I am sure I grew up on…real butter :)
I used to love these mints sooo much!!! They had a big bucket of these at my church when I was a kid. Heck yeah did a take a handful each time!
or at restaurants as a ‘thank you’…I thanked myself by the handful!
I love thinking about my grandma’s candy dish. Her’s was always filled with Reece’s Pieces. But I do love butter mints. Love the colors you chose. Very fun recipe!
Mine had these and Hershey’s Kisses. Tons of foil wrappers were unwrapped :)
What a great recipe to bring back going to Grandma’s house. My Grandma always had Extra Peppermint Gum and Pringles. The only place we got to eat either :)
gum and pringles..mine too! and lifesavers by the roll!
I love mint, but wow that stuff is powerful. Although, I’ve started to add it to my smoothies more often and I detect a tolerance building up, lol.
Ok, I love these candies – I can’t wait to try them. But I love, Love, LOVE the fact that you played Gin Rummy for $ when you were 6. That’s the way to live and learn!!! Another awesome post, Averie!!!!
And I saw your bday cake on FG. Congrats on a beautiful Tosi recipe. I just had too much going on to get that one done. And yes, start ’em young with card-sharking :)
Oh wow! I love these mints, yours sound and look fantastic. I remember them from my childhood as well. Bookmarking this!
OMG… I am so guilty of taking more buttermints at restaurants :P now I can just make them hahaha!
Naturally gluten free as well, what more is there to ask for?! :D
Thanks for the sweet recipe Averie, definitely gonna have to try it.
Please check out our blog! http://krisandtgogfree.blogspot.com/
College students eating Gfree on a budget. We post restaurant and product reviews, recipes, tips and advice :D
Fun blog you’ve got!
Yummy! I just made some homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream and forgot how much I love mint as a flavour! True that you have to be SUPER careful with mint extract though, I hear ya!
I realllly want to try your peppermint patties!
I like your last post…summer shoes :) That and some mint ice cream and Im all set for summer!
Of course the pink ones must taste better! It’s like at the end of the Disney movie Cinderella…when the fairies keep changing her dress from pink to blue and back to pink! My 2 sisters and I would always shout out: “Leave it pink!!” Pink is ALWAYS better when you are a little girly girl! :-)
OK. In a bazillion years I would never have thought to make these mints myself. I would have thought it was some long and drawn out and extremely difficult process. I love that you tackled this and as always, made it super simple. I have great memories of eating these at every wedding I attended as a child and also at my grandma’s house. Funny though, any weddings I have gone to as a grown up have not served these. A blast from the past?! :-)
I think people think they’re too…old-fashioned to be at a “modern” wedding but I’m all about nostalgia!
I love butter mints!!! So delicious, this is a fabulous idea. I agree with Bev – these would be perfect for showers!
Yeah I had written in the post showers or even as a party favor for girlie birthday parties or make them pastel and do more of an Easter/Mother’s Day theme…so many ideas in my head for these!
These totally remind me of baby showers and wedding receptions! I’d forgotten ALL about them. So cute!
Cute food is especially important at showers :)
I cannot believe you created those old-fashioned mints! Brings back so many memories!
Glad you have some memories of them, too!
My grandma had the same mints in her pretty crystal bowls in the dining room. I would try and sneak handfuls before dinner and always got caught. I never realized how easy these would be to make yourself!
I think it was standard issue for grandmas to have!
I loooove buttermints… I used to hoard them from restaurants :)
My grandma used to let me put them in my little girlie purse (or in hers). Free samples, you know :)
Oooh, I forgot about this one. My grandma always made these for Christmas and kept them in a jar. I will have to hunt through my old recipe box and see how similar the recipe is, as I haven’t made them in many years (10?). These look great Averie. I do know that I didn’t make that many little bites, I think they were more of a ball that you flatten into a disk. But these little bites are adorable!!!!
With this dough, I could have rolled it into York Peppermint patty type sizes to save time but I wanted to old-fashioned little mints! Lmk if you ever find the recipe!
Oh Averie these are fantastic!! And so adorably colored :)
Thanks, Megan! They were fun to color. Like Easter eggs in mint form :)
oh my gosh i love butter mints! thats so cute about your grandma — i used to play Gin Rummy with her too:) I love the colors too! And those mint/oreo brownies….what a treat! thanks for sharing!
Your grandma was a card shark, too, eh? :)
what a fun idea! We love these
Oh my goodness — butter mints are my favorite!!! My coworkers have always made fun of me for keeping a stash of them (the storebought ones) in my cube to snack on. But strangely I’ve still never tried them homemade. Totally bookmarking this one!! :)
LMK if you try them!
These look great! I must admit I am a victim to the excess peppermint except with ice-cream,the tinest bit of this gives such a MASSIVE punch! I have now (hopefully) learnt my lesson :)
yes peppermint is one of those foods you cannot un-do and until you cook with it at least once (and likely over-do it), you just don’t know!
I love those mints! Everything looks wonderful.
I remember these!! So funny Skylar likes the pink ones taste better :)
She’s ALL girl!
Oh I used to love those little mints! I very rarely make anything that ever calls for mint actually. Does a mojito count ;-) Jason loves a fresh mojito
That totally counts! And hey, these are GF. You can make them for your sister :)
Yum! I have great memories of the mints at my Grandparents house, too. That and sorbet (my grandpa used to call is “sure-bet”)… ohhh memories :)
Sure-bet. Love it.
wo this is cool I never would have thought up making mints! But yes I know which mints these are… I feel like they always have them (in open bowls, eek) at chinese restaurants. Love the simple pics and colors!
open bowls in Chinese restaurants… 100% parallel experiences!
So fun! I seriously need to give these a try!
My grandma used to have a “mint stash” too just like these mints! Haha. That side of my family is huge, and all of my cousins and I would raid the 2 mint jars like our lives depended on it ;) Love this recipe!
I was way older than one set of cousins so I had my pick at the candy jar :)
SO AMAZING to hear that I am the winner, Averie!!! I couldn’t be more excited. I have a Silpat already but am in desperate need for two since I tend to bake a lot of cookies at one time. AMAZING!! Love your giveaways.
These butter mints are my favorite! Kevin totally thinks I’m weird but whenever I see them at the store, I always buy a pack. In fact, I have one in my drawer at work haha! I love sucking on them – they are SO good. I am blown away that you made your own though! Never would have thought to make them myself AND I never knew they were so stink in’ easy! I’m with Skylar… the pink ones must taste better. :)
Your suggestions for coffee extract is just…..genius. And what colorful, gorgeous pics too!
There’s so many ways to customize these but as I mentioned, I sort of think that you’re stuck with an entire batch of that flavor based on the timing of the extract addition. But they’d make great gifts :)
Cute story about you and the mints!
these are so cool averie! I love this idea! I am so going to try them – i always enjoy your posts they are so coll and different!!!!!
I try to do things other than chocolate chip cookies these days and the typical stuff if I can think of things :)
I LOVE mint! These look amazing, such a great holiday gift idea. I wanted to tell
You I made your chilli nacho casserole for my husband- it is definitely going to become a regular in the rotation!
The one with rice – this one?
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/05/cheesy-taco-casserole.html
Or this one?
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/05/chips-and-cheese-chili-casserole.html
They’re both really similar but would love to know which one it was and which one is going on the regular rotation!
The second one! It was so great I made him chilli the first night and then the next night turned the left overs into a casserole. He will never eat left overs so this will be awesome!
Oh man I hadn’t thought of butter mints in forever! I could eat them by the handful. Maybe better if I don’t try this recipe, heehee:)
they are so good (and easy) to make! I hadn’t thought of them in ages and was at a restaurant and they had some out…and then the quest began.