From the time I was a little girl cream cheese buttermints were served at every baby shower and wedding, I can remember. If the event involved a fancy dress you could be assured these melt in your mouth morsels were being served.
When I got engaged my mother offered to make her “town-renowned” wedding mints. I will never forget the night before my wedding. I was so nervous…I couldn’t sleep a wink. As I paced the floor worrying about caterers, florists, and the weather I felt the knots in my stomach tighten. Going over every single detail in my mind, I remembered the cream cheese buttermints in the kitchen. I nervously ate mints for what felt like an entire night.
Now, I can’t say for sure if it was the calming effect of the peppermint on my nervous stomach or the comfort of knowing they were my mom’s mints, but I can say I walked down the aisle the next day and twenty years later I am still making the same cream cheese buttermints.
This week I was organizing my cupboard of candy molds when I came across the exact heart-shaped mold we used to make the mints for my wedding day. I decided to reinvent these mints for Valentine’s Day with a little more shimmer, sparkle, and pizazz than a wedding or baby shower. Try these incredibly addictive mints and you will soon see why this vintage recipe has become a family tradition.
Ingredients: 
8 oz cream cheese softened
4 Tbsp salted butter softened
2 tsp mint extract
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 lb bag confectioners sugar
food coloring (optional)
sanding sugar
nonpareils (optional)
Instructions:
- Beat cream cheese and butter until there are no remaining lumps.
- Add extracts and beat until completely incorporated.
- Thoroughly mix in a bag 2lb bag of confectioners sugar.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Roll dough into a small ball.
- Coat dough ball in sanding sugar or nonpareils and press in a silicone or plastic mold. If you do not have a mold you can flatten the dough ball with the lines of a fork.
- Place mints on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and allow to air dry 1-2 hours.
- Cover and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Tips:
- you can flavor with any extracts or flavor combinations you like.
- If you do not like the texture sanding sugar on the mints you can lightly dust with confectioners sugar. Sanding sugar does make the release from a silicone mold a little easier.
sweeterthymes.com 