bought the stuff to make some cream cheese mints because the mints that Eric and I made over his winter break were so delicious. I originally got this recipe from my mom, who has been making these things nearly ever winter for years. I thought I’d be nice enough to share the recipe with anyone who might like to try it. Trust me, if you are a mint lover and a cream cheese lover, then this recipe is for you. To make it even better, the recipe is super easy. So easy in fact that my son can almost make these all by himself.

Cream Cheese Mints

Ingredients:

»1 (8 oz) package cream cheese – softened
»2 pounds powdered sugar
»1/4 cup (1 stick) butter – softened
»1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract*
»food color

Directions:

Cook the cream cheese and butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until very smooth. Gradually add and stir in the the powdered sugar. Stir in extract. If you choose to do so, separate the mixture into portions and color each portion with food coloring to the desired color. Since these were Christmas mints, I divided them into 3 portions and colored one portion green, one red and left the other one white. Shape the mixture into 1 inch balls and place on wax paper or aluminum foil. Use a fork to flatten, and also for design. If desired you can use a cookie stamp or something else to get the desired decoration or design you want. Leave them to stand uncovered for about 4 hours or until they are firm to the touch. The idea is for them to be firm on the outside and creamy on the inside.

*If you prefer to use a different flavoring, you can try spearmint extract, wintergreen extract or even lemon.

Gift Ideas: These make awesome and cheap homemade gifts for Christmas. You can use various colors and make various flavors, for example you could make ther red ones peppermint flavored, green can be spearmint, white can be wintergreen and if you choose to use lemon you can make those mints yellow. After you have prepared them, you can use an old jar or even a mason jar and fill it loosely with mints. Cut out a piece of decorative cloth in a circle large enough to cover the lid, cover the lid with the cloth and use ribbon to secure it.