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Most Recent Update: October 16, 2018

Happy Baby shower to Erin from The Speckled Palate! As every southerner knows, it’s not a shower without mints and nuts. I’ve brought the butter mints!

Erin can probably back me up on this one: mints and nuts are must-haves at every southern shower, whether it’s a baby shower or a wedding shower.

There is something about a butter mint that is just so wonderful. Nostalgic, creamy and crunchy, pastel prettiness.

Homemade butter mints differ from store-bought buttermints in that they have very creamy centers, literally melting in your mouth.

Happy Baby Shower, Erin!

Before we get into the ins and outs of making butter mints, I’m sending my congratulations along with virtual hugs and snacks to Erin from The Speckled Palate since she is about to have her second baby girl. Sweet!

Several of us have gotten together to throw her a virtual baby shower. I’ve got the butter mints covered, obviously! Please check out all the goodness!

Moscato Cupcakes from A Joyfully Mad Kitchen

Lemon Lime Cake from I Dig Pinterest

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dip from A Savory Feast

Chocolate Chunk Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwiches from Ciao Chow Bambina

Ginger Carrot Tartlets from Savory Spin

Mini Six-Inch Strawberry Cake from The Emotional Baker

Blackberry Peach Bourbon Smash from The Crumby Kitchen

Butter Mints from Pastry Chef Online–You’re Here!

Blackberry Coffee Cake from Love & Flour

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Coconut Whip from Crumb Top Baking

S’mores Rice Krispy Treats from Feast + West

Erin, we all wish you and your family the very best as you welcome your new baby!

Are Butter Mints Hard to Make?

In a word, no. If you can make “regular frosting” with butter and powdered sugar, you can make butter mints, no problem.

The only special skill you might need is “rolling dough into snakes,” and I think most of us mastered that particular skill in kindergarten.

Actually, I’ve shared 2 different ways to make these guys, so when you read the recipe, know you have Options.

How Do You Make Butter Mints?

Can you see the unicorn mint in this cup o’ creamy mints?

Okay, here’s the rundown.

• Mix butter and powdered sugar until creamy.
• Add mint flavoring and a bit of milk.
• Shape as desired (see the recipe for 2 ways)
• Let dry out for a good 24 hours or so.

See? Easy!

A Couple of Notes

1. I use salted butter to make butter mints. Why? Because if you use unsalted butter, your mints will be flat tasting and seem way too sweet. You could add a bit of salt, but I find Kerry Gold salted butter to have the perfect amount of salt for well-balanced butter mints.
2. Check your bottle of peppermint flavoring carefully. If you have peppermint oil, it’s super concentrated, so you’ll only need a very few drops to get a nice balance between mint and butter. If you have peppermint extract, you may need 1/2 to even 1 teaspoon since extract is much less potent than the oil.
3. Don’t think you can dry the mints out in the oven. The butter will just melt out, and that is not at all what we want.

How to Make Marbled Butter Mints

If you look in the photos, the blue mints are marbled. I just didn’t stir the coloring in all the way. That’s it. So it’s arguably even easier to make marbled mints than it is to make regular ones!

Can I Make Unicorn Mints?

Yes! That’s easy too. I just took the ends or pieces that broke off my snakes of dough and pushed them together and then rolled that into a snake. Tada!

You can even make them sparkly by brushing them with some disco dust. That’s what I did and, although it doesn’t really show up well in the photos, they’re sparkly and pretty in real life.

Gel Colors Versus Liquid Colors

in the grocery store, you can get little bottles of liquid color. They work well, color-wise, but since they are a liquid, they will thin out your butter mint dough a little–and the more you use, the thinner it will get. It will most likely not be a problem since you’re only going to be using a drop or two, but for other projects where you want to use more color, if the consistency of what you’re coloring is important, I’d forgo the liquid colors.

Gel colors are where it’s at, as far as I’m concerned. They are much thicker than liquid colors, so even if you add a fair amount, the texture of your frosting won’t be affected.

If you are not a fan of using artificial colors, there are some natural food colors out there that you can get.

Or, you can just not color them at all. The yellow ones in the photos are actually not dyed at all. Thanks, Kerry Gold grass fed butter for being so yellow and sunny!

Let’s Make Some Butter Mints for Erin!

I’m almost sad that I know how to make these guys.  They are basically little bits of rich butter frosting flavored with mint and allowed to harden. That’s it, for real! And now you know, too.

If you like the sound of these butter mints, please consider rating and/or commenting. I love hearing from readers! And if you make them, and you really should, share a photo with me on instagram tagging @onlinepastrychef and using hashtag #pcorecipe or in the Pastry Chef Online Facebook Group. I can’t wait to see how you color yours and if you make unicorn mints!

Butter Mints

Yield: 30 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Drying Time: 1 days

Total Time: 1 days 15 minutes

Crunchy on the outside and creamy in the centers, these buttermints taste like the ones you remember from the store, but are creamier and more buttery. So very good! My version contains more butter than other versions I've seen--it makes them super creamy and beautifully buttery, meaning you can add a touch more mint without overpowering the butter flavor. This also makes the dough a bit softer than others, which is why you may need to refrigerate it for a bit before rolling it out.

Print

Ingredients

• 6 oz salted butter (1 1/2 sticks or 3/4 an 8 oz block of butter), I used Kerry Gold at cool room temperature
• 1 pound confectioners sugar
• 1 Tablespoon milk, I used almond milk. Use what you have.
• 4-6 drops peppermint oil*, to taste
• food coloring of choice, 1-2 drops per color
• extra confectioners sugar, for rolling

Instructions

1. Place the butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy. This could take a few minutes, so be patient.
2. Add the tablespoon of milk and the peppermint oil. Be very sparing with the oil, because it is super strong. Mix in a couple of drops and then taste before adding more. (See notes)
3. Divide the mixture into as many portions as colors you want to make and stir/knead in the color evenly. Note that the colors will deepen some as the mints dry, so go easy if you want pastel colors.

How To Shape the Mints

1. If the mint dough seems too soft, wrap each color in a different sheet of plastic wrap, form into a tube about 1" thick and refrigerate for an hour or so. Otherwise, just go for it. Liberally dust your work surface with powdered sugar and use your hands to roll the "dough" into long snakes. Sprinkle them with some powdered sugar and then use a pizza cutter or a knife to cut the ropes into 1/4" to 1/2" pieces. Use your bench knife to scoop onto parchment lined baking sheets and allow to harden for 24 hours.

Notes

If you use peppermint extract rather than oil, you may need 1/2-1 teaspoon. Peppermint oil is extremely concentrated, so do not confuse the two. If you accidentally use 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint oil, your mints will pretty much be inedible.

 

Nutritional Information is calculated for roughly 19 mints, or 30 servings.

Nutrition Information

Amount Per ServingCalories 99 Saturated Fat 2g Cholesterol 12mg Sodium 41mg Carbohydrates 15g Sugar 14g

And there you have it, friends. Delicious, buttery, minty butter mints. Make them for the next shower you go to.

Because you know it’s not a shower without the mints and nuts!

Wishing Erin much joy as she and her family welcome their new baby girl.

Thanks for spending some time with me today, friends. Enjoy the mints, take care, and have a lovely day.

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