Cream Cheese Mints - I Heart Naptime (2024)

Old-Fashioned Cream Cheese Mints

These cream cheese mints are often in pastel colors and called cream cheese wedding mints or baby shower mints. They are the kind of nostalgic treat you’d expect to find in grandma’s candy dish along with rocky road candy and homemade caramels.

Why This Recipe Works

• Addicting.These mints are sugary and solid on the outside with a center that is creamy and melts in your mouth!
• Easy to make.There’s no turning on the oven and this recipe is prepped in 10 minutes! Even the youngest kids can help make.
• Customizable dessert. Peppermint is perfect for a Christmas dessert board but change the color and flavor for Easter, baby showers, bridal showers or weddings.
• Gifting. These travel well, so when wrapped up in a little decorative packaging, they make the perfectneighbor Christmas gift or party favor!

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.

• Cream cheese:Here are tips onhow to soften cream cheeseif you forgot to take it out earlier. Having it soft is key! Use full fat brick-style cream cheese not spreadable from a tub, which contains too much water.
• Butter:You’ll be creaming the butter too, so softened butter is best to use.
• Powdered sugar:Also known as confectioners sugar, this is what adds the yummy, sweet element and also helps preserve and solidify the candy (similar to cream cheese frosting).
• Peppermint extract:I prefer peppermint over mint and ensure you use an extract not essential oils. Use less or more to taste but be careful not too add to much or it will taste like toothpaste.
• Food coloring:Have fun with it. If you choose to use food coloring for added flare, you can use one, two, or a few. Gel food coloring is more concentrated than liquid food coloring, so you’ll need less of it to make them vibrant.

Substitutions and Variations

• Flavors: Add a pinch of vanilla extract to balance the peppermint or play around with other extract flavors like almond extract, lemon or orange extract.
• Color. Make these any color you would like, you can even keep them plain white if preferred.
• Mint chocolate: Dip each mint halfway into some melted white chocolate or dark chocolate. Use could also make a small indent in the mint and fill it with chocolate.
• Decorate: You could also add sprinkles to the tops for the holidays.
• Shapes: To use candy molds like flowers, candy canes, or other festive designs, roll dough balls in powdered sugar and press the dough into the molds. Remove and lay on the prepared baking sheet to set.

• Combine butter and cream cheese.In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat them both until creamy and smooth.
• Add the powdered sugar.Turn the mixer on low and gradually add 1 cup of powdered sugar as you mix. Add in the extract and the rest of the powdered sugar. It should be the consistency of play-dough.
• Mix in food coloring.If you plan on adding some color, divide the dough equally into the number of colors you plan to use. Drop the food coloring into each bowl and mix until the desired color has been reached. Cover each bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Form the mints!Scoop out 1 teaspoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Place it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Dip a fork into powdered sugar and gently press it into the ball to flatten it. Repeat with all remaining dough. Allow them to dry for 2 hours at room temperature.

Expert Tips

• If your dough mixture is sticky,add more powdered sugar until it feels like play dough.
• To avoid the ridges from the fork prongs,you can use the bottom of a glass to flatten it instead.
• Cream cheese butter mints are meant to be firm,so give them the time they need to set. They won’t make great gifts if they’re all melted into one lump!
• Peppermint extract is not mint extract!Mint is usually reserved for savory pairings, whereas peppermint is perfect in sweets.

Recipe FAQs

Looking for more peppermint dessert recipes? Try peppermint bark, peppermint Oreo balls, and chocolate mint cookies with cake mix!