These Homemade Butter Mints are smooth, velvety, and melt-in-your-mouth amazing! Such a fun thing to make during the holidays!
♡THE BEST OF 12 DAYS OF SUGAR – DAY 8♡
These Homemade Butter Mints were part of my 12 Days of Sugar in December 2017. My mom started making these when I was a teenager and I’ve been in love with them ever since!
(Original post . . . )
I have been so excited to share these Homemade Butter Mints with you. I’ve wanted to include them in my 12 Days of Sugar for the past couple years and for some reason I just haven’t. Probably because my list of things I want to make just continues to grow.
The fact of the matter is I could easily do the 25 Days of Sugar if I really wanted to, but I certainly don’t want to be the cause of any cavities, sugar comas and/or diet failures, etc.
Anyway, these butter mints kind of hold a special place in my heart because my mom made them growing up. I remember many, many times helping her with these. . . pulling & snipping, pulling & snipping, pulling & snipping. These actually are simple to make, but you just have to work fast at the end when you’re pulling the candy and then forming it into ropes and cutting it into pieces.
The recipe is simple and the method is pretty straightforward, but one word of caution make sure you cook these to the right temperature. . . it’s highly important! Keep reading and you’ll see why. . .
The reason I say that is because last year when we had our annual candy making day, we made these and had a wee bit of a problem. My mom had it in her head that you just cook the mixture to a softball stage, so that’s what we did.
When the mixture was cool enough to start pulling, it seemed waaaaay stickier than normal. But we kept pulling and pulling and were just making a sticky mess! We rubbed butter on our hands, but that didn’t work, we were just getting the sticky, sugar mixture stuck to us everywhere. It was a disaster to say the least. We were laughing so hard and I’m sure we looked like complete imbeciles.
One of my sons came home and saw what a huge sticky mess we all were and just walked away laughing.
The mixture eventually firmed up, lost its glossy look and we were able to form it into ropes and snip it into pieces. It did however, take a lot longer for the mints to finally mellow to where they kind of melted in your mouth instead of being chewy.
Anyway, it definitely gave us some good laughs that day and we will never undercook butter mints again.
If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can always to the cold water test. Click here for some great tips on how to test candy without a thermometer.
What if I don’t have a marble slab?
If you don’t have a marble slab, a chilled cookie sheet will also work. Just remember to butter it.
These butter mints are amazing and so much better than store bought. Please don’t be afraid to give these a try. If you have any questions email me, leave a comment or DM me on Instagram!
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Homemade Buttermints
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Lots
Description
These Homemade Butter Mints are smooth, velvety, and melt-in-your-mouth amazing! Such a fun thing to make during the holidays!
Ingredients
- 3 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- 5 to 6 drops of peppermint oil or 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- Food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- In a heavy-bottomed, large saucepan combine sugar, butter, water and corn syrup. Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved and butter is melted. Place lid on and cook until mixture comes to a boil and has climbed the sides of the pan.
- Remove lid and wipe down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan using a wet pastry brush. Continue cooking over medium to medium-low heat, WITHOUT STIRRING until mixture reaches 256 degrees (hard ball stage). Immediately pour onto a buttered marble slab (DO NOT SCRAPE THE BOTTOM OF THE PAN!)
- Sprinkle with the peppermint oil (or extract)and 1 to 2 to drops of desired food coloring (if using), but don’t stir it in yet.
- When the bubbles have all gone, start working with a rubber spatula by pulling the edges into the center and working around the candy, fold onto itself and flatten out then fold and keep moving. Do this until it is cool enough to pick up.
- Form into a log and start pulling. You want to pull as into as long as your hands can reach. Fold into thirds, then pull and fold again. Keep pulling, folding, and twisting. You will notice the color start to change. It will lighten and start getting a dull finish. Sometimes this can take about 10 minutes.
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When you can’t pull easily pull into pieces about using your hands, roll into ropes about 24 inches long slightly thicker than a finger. Add a twist to the ropes. Using kitchen scissors, cut into 1″ – 1.5″ pieces. Place a layer into an airtight container, then place a piece of wax paper in between each layer of mints. Let mints mellow for 24 to 36 hours.
Notes
- These mints are definitely easier if you have a second or third person there helping you pull the candy mixture once it’s cooled. Divide it into chunks and let each person pull their own chunk. Then divide the piece you’re pulling into two or three pieces to make the ropes.
- When pulling the mints, pull it as long as your hands can reach and then fold it into thirds and pull it again. Repeat this process until it loses its gloss.
- I like to wear latex gloves when I do this because it protects my hands slightly from the heat and the mints don’t stick to the gloves.
- I like to use empty candy tins to store my mints in.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Candy
BE SURE AND PIN THIS TO YOUR PINTEREST BOARDS SO YOU CAN MAKE IT LATER!
Originally posted December 7, 2017.
Hi! I’m Jodi, a mom of five boys and lover of chocolate, sweets and everything in-between. Here you’ll find simple, delicious recipes that are all tried and true.
Jodi, please make a video of the mint making !
That’s funny you asked, I was actually thinking I should make a video for these mints. I’ll try and get one done ASAP.
Hi! Did you ever make a video of this by chance?? I’ve been trying to make these for neighbors this Christmas and man.. I’m struggling!!! I actually found your recipe because I made a batch that was sooo sticky! It was making me feel claustrophobic with his stuck it was to my whole hand. Haha so I googled trying to find out why that happened. So I was relieved to find your post! And it’s nice to have a recipe from someone that’s in Utah so I know the measurements and temperature are good for our elevation. But I do wonder .. how long do you think you pull the mints for? I pulled some today for 15 mins and they never lost their shine. They weren’t AS shiny as some before… But they definitely still have some shine. I’m hoping they’ll lose some shine as they rest for 24 hrs. I just really need some help. Ha. I wish you were my neighbor so you could just show me how to make them!
Hi Andrea. No, I still haven’t gotten a video made for these, so sorry. So was it my recipe that you made today and pulled for 15 minutes? I honestly don’t remember how long I pull these for. I’m going to try and get a batch made in the next few days so I will let you how long it takes.
Hi Jodi
This recipe looks so good, and me and my 4 sisters were hoping it would work out for us, as we have tried making butter mints numerous times, and they’ve flopped each time, just before it’s ready to pull. So we made this recipe today, and it flopped – AGAIN! Do you have any suggestions? We followed the recipe exactly. It just turned into a sugary lump as it was cooling 🙁 Did we mess with it too much or what?
Hi Lydia! I am so sorry these flopped for you. If it’s any consultation, I made two batches last week and both flopped. I’ve never had them flop, so I’m blaming it on the fact that it’s 2020 and well, you know Covid (lol)! Seriously though a couple things. . . weather plays a part in these turning out. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. Butter mints are very fussy to make and weather can heavily impact the success of this candy. So, if it is raining or snowing, do not attempt to make them. Also, refrain from doing other cooking while prepping your candy (i.e. cooking soup, boiling water, cooking something in the oven), a cool kitchen will also contribute to success, because it will aid the candy in cooling quickly.
Did you stir after you took the lid off or scrape the pan? UGH! It’s so frustrating I know, so sorry they didn’t turn out!
Hi Jodi,
Thanks for the tips! We will definitely keep those things in mind for the future! No, we didn’t take the lid off or scrape the pan, but it was snowing 🙂 Maybe we’ll try it again some sunny day in 2021 😉
Sure thing! Let me know if you give them another try. Happy New Year!
Also your marble slab must be very cold! Or it’s won’t form right. I’ve made this mistake whilst making cream candy before