Old-Fashioned Homemade Butter Mints

/ Jodi

old fashioned homemade butter mints

I have always loved these soft smooth buttery mints. Not those hard so-called “party” mints that crack your teeth (and like Grandma sometimes had in her candy dish), but the butter mints in soft yellow or pastel shades that were often put out as “after dinner” mints at special occasions or for parties when I was growing up.

I had pinned a recipe for homemade butter mints some time ago on my Pinterest page, not knowing when I’d get around to making them, and/or deciding on an occasion to make them so I wouldn’t eat them ALL myself! Then a friend recently asked me about them for a special party she is working on, and it was the perfect opportunity to give the recipe a whirl.

And whirl I did indeed! Woohoo! Are these ever EASY peasy and even better than I remember.

old fashioned homemade buttermints 2

Did your Grandma always have a candy dish full of these little treats at her house like mine?

Grandma kept hers in a special candy dish atop the server in her dining room.

I can still picture it vividly. It sat on the far left back corner of the server, and it was amber glass with a pointed dome lid on a pedestal. We always tried to carefully lift the lid when we were sneaking taking a piece so as not to “clink” the glass and make it ring throughout the entire house (at least that is what it felt like!)   Because if you did happen to just tap it ever so lightly to make a tiny tingy noise, Grandma’s little dog, Felix, would come a running! Felix loved those mints, and you always had to throw him one if you wanted to prevent the entire house from knowing you were in the candy jar again!

My brother was often known for purposely rattling the jar just to get Felix all worked up.  The poor little thing did practiccandy dishally have a heart attack when he heard that dish a ringing!

When I was trying to describe the candy dish, I thought I’d google it using the descriptive words I came up with, and to my surprise, I found what I believe would be the EXACT match (at least as far as my memory serves)!  It is actually for sale on Etsy.  I saw several.  I guess they are considered somewhat prized antiques at this point.  I’m kinda tempted to get it, but I think I’ll just keep the memory.

Here is the recipe I found on Barefeet in the Kitchen.  (Mary even made a cocoa mint version if you want to check that out too, and her recipe is slightly adapted from Averie Cooks)

Homemade Old-Fashioned Butter Mints

  • Servings: Approx. 200 mints or 3 cups
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Ingredients:old fashioned homemade buttermints

1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
3 1/4 – 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
Optional: Food coloring for the desired shade you would like

Using an electric stand mixer, combine the soft butter and salt, and beat to combine. Add the condensed milk and beat again to combine. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating to combine thoroughly. Add the peppermint extract and food coloring if you are adding. The dough will be mostly crumbs, but should stick together when squeezed into a ball.  If it is sticky, add a little more powdered sugar.

Remove the dough from the mixer and pull off golf ball size pieces. Roll each ball with the palm of your hand into a long skinny log about 1/2″ in diameter – just as if you were making a snake with play dough.  Slice the strips into tiny mint-size pieces. A pizza cutter works great for this, and you can cut several strips at a time quick and easily.

Spread the soft pieces across a baking sheet and allow them to sit at room temperature overnight. You could speed up the process and put them in the refrigerator uncovered.  When they have hardened enough to store, transfer the mints to an airtight container.   Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

22 thoughts on “Old-Fashioned Homemade Butter Mints”

  2. I had no idea these could be made. I didn’t think ANYONE made them. I just thought they magically appeared and were already made.

    Great post Jodi! I have fond memories of “the candy dish”. Clear, cut-glass, and yes, with a lid we got really good at quietly replacing. I don’t think she really cared though. The adults were usually in the other room talking about adult things. We were more concerned with the dish and it’s multi-colored pieces of candy.

    Thanks for the memory raiser.

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    • So you have similar candy jar memories! Yet another thing in common 🙂 And the true artist in you was more fascinated with the color! An artist’s eye even then. I was all about the sugar…. 🙂

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      • I sure do have similar memories. That was a big treat at Gert’s house. (Grandmom to me, Gert or Gerti to others.) Another treat was how she’d slip us a quarter or even a dollar on our way out, closing our palms around it in a sort of ‘shhhh don’t tell your parents, this is only for you….’ way.

        I look forward to discovering what else we have in common Jodi.

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      • I love that your grandma’s name was Gert! Makes me smile 🙂 My grandma would slip me money too – if she had…. She would’ve given the shirt off her back to make me happy. Mostly she cooked and baked for us – I think which is why I like to express my love for others that way. 🙂

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  4. Oh, I do remember those little after-dinner mints! Loved to see those things and love this post that makes me remember them. (And btw…yes, I think the apothecary jars are back in vogue now in a big way! Love those!)

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  11. OH yes I remember my Grandma having these in her candy dish. I have a candy dish very similar to what she had in my china closet 🙂 Picked it up on yard sale! Similar to your picture to. They were yummy and whenever I eat them I think of my sweet Grandma. Thanks for sharing this recipe and bringing back a memory!

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  12. Pingback: Buttermints and Besties | life in between

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