Butter Mints

These are the soft, melt-on-your-tongue mints from every Southern wedding reception, baby shower, and church-basement coffee hour for the past 60 years. The texture is something between a cream cheese mint and a hard candy: firm enough to hold the imprint of a rosebud or shell mold, but yielding the moment it hits your tongue.

The formula is simple. Real butter, heavy cream, and a mountain of powdered sugar work together to form a pliable dough that takes color and flavor easily. Use unsalted butter and beat it well with the cream first; the smoother that emulsion, the silkier the final mint.

Divide the batch and tint each portion a different color (pastel pink, mint green, soft yellow) for the classic shower-table look. A drop of mint extract is traditional, but lemon, vanilla, or wintergreen all work beautifully.

Rolling marble-size balls and pressing them into rubber candy molds creates those crisp little shapes. Tap firmly and pop them out onto wax paper to air-dry for a few hours until the surface firms up.

Kitchen Tips

• Use real butter, not margarine. Margarine makes the mints greasy and they don’t hold mold detail.
• If the dough is too sticky to handle, knead in more powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time. If too dry and crumbly, add a teaspoon of cream.
• Lightly dust molds with cornstarch or sugar to release the mints cleanly.
• Store layered between wax paper in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for longer storage.

Variations

• Use peppermint extract for classic mint flavor, or try lemon, almond, or maple for unexpected twists.
• Make a cream cheese version by swapping half the butter for cream cheese for a tangier, creamier mint.
• Roll some balls in colored sanding sugar instead of pressing into molds for a sparkly finish.