Cream Cheese Mints are a deliciously simple treat to make all year round! I love to switch out the food coloring based on the next holiday so I always have a refreshing treat on hand for the season.
Cream Cheese Mints Recipe
In addition to food coloring, you can also customize your cream cheese mints with fun mint molds. You can find these online or at your local baking store for every occasion, including baby or bridal showers!
These also look cute, so they’re great to put in a festive dish on the counter before guests arrive. Who doesn’t love a fresh mint?!
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Mints
- Softened Cream Cheese – Be sure to set this out on the counter about 30 minutes ahead of time so it has time to soften. If you forget, check out the FAQs at the bottom of this recipe for an easy hack to soften the cream cheese. Unfortunately, there is no substitute for cream cheese in this recipe, otherwise they would not be cream cheese mints.
- Powdered Sugar – This is what sweetens the cream cheese and thickens the mixture into a dough.
- Peppermint Emulsion – My favorite is LorAnn Oils Natural Peppermint Bakery Emulsion. It has a mild peppermint flavor with the perfect sweetness to it. If you don’t have emulsion, you can also just use peppermint extract, but be sure to start small so you don’t go overboard with a stronger extract.
- Food Coloring – This is optional, but it’s a great way to make the mints festive for every occasion. I prefer gel food coloring so I’m not adding additional liquid to the mixture.
How to Make Cream Cheese Mints
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the softened cream cheese until it is smooth. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can just use an electric hand mixer, but note that this dough will be very thick.
- Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time, allowing each cup to completely incorporate into the mixture before adding the next one. Reminder, this dough will become very thick.
- Now add in your peppermint emulsion or extract. Be sure to taste the mixture and add in additional peppermint if desired.
- If you’re using food coloring, now is the time to add it. Just add a few drops, then mix or knead the dough until it’s evenly combined.
- Now you will create the mints, and there’s a few different ways to do this. You can either roll the dough into a long rope and cut it into small pieces with a butter knife. Or, you can portion the dough into 1 tsp portions and roll those into small balls. Then use the tines of a fork to press down on the ball and create a decorative imprint. Or, if you have mint molds, just press the dough into the molds and then pop them out to dry.
- Allow the mints to dry out at room temperature for a few hours until hard.
- Once the mints have dried, store them in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
- Enjoy!
How to soften cream cheese?
Of course, the easiest way is to let it sit out on the counter for about 30 minutes beforehand. However, if you’re forgetful like me, I have the best hack! You can just set a warmed up rice bag on top of the cream cheese for about 3-4 minutes, then flip the bag and the cream cheese and repeat on the other side. The cream cheese softens quickly and perfectly every time!
How long can cream cheese mints be left out of the fridge?
If you’re serving them, these mints can easily be left out for 3-4 hours, but otherwise you should store them in the fridge so they don’t spoil. When you initially leave them out to harden, don’t worry about spoiling because the sugar acts as a preserver.
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Cream cheese Mints
Ingredients
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 4 cups (428g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp peppermint emulsion or extract
- food coloring if desired
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, cream cream cheese until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, allowing the mixture to completely incorporate before adding the next cup. The mixture should be a very thick dough.
- Mix in the peppermint flavoring of choice, taste the mixture and add more peppermint, if desired.
- Color the dough, if desired, by adding a few drops of food coloring and mixing or kneading thoroughly.
- Either roll the dough into a long rope and then use a butter knife to cut small sections or portion out the dough into 1 tsp portions and roll into a ball. Use the tines of a fork and press down on the ball of dough, leaving an imprint.
- Allow the mints to dry out at room temperature for a few hours, until hard.
- Once the mints have dried, place in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Cathy Proctor says
I will try these tomorrow. Have you ever tried adding licorice flavor? Dorns Cafe in Morro Bay California used to make licorice butter mints. Because of Covid they stopped. I miss them so much so I will try to incorporate licorice.