Orange Cream Cheese Mints are buttery, sweet little bites that dissolve on your tongue like a dreamsicle memory! These no-bake beauties are made with cream cheese, butter, and a hint of citrus, and they’re perfect for showers, weddings, holidays, or anytime you want something sweet and elegant without turning on the oven.
Love More Cream Cheese Mints? Try My Cream Cheese Mints Recipe or this Funfetti Cream Cheese Mints next.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
These Orange Cream Cheese Mints are irresistible for so many reasons! They melt in your mouth with a creamy, buttery texture that’s perfectly balanced with bright orange flavor. They’re incredibly easy to make—no oven, no candy thermometer, no fuss. Plus, they look absolutely elegant on any dessert table.
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Orange Cream Cheese Mints
- Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 5 dozen small mints
Description
Homemade orange cream cheese mints displayed on parchment paper, showing their smooth texture and decorative fork pattern on top. The mints are a soft peachy-orange color and arranged in neat rows, perfect for serving at weddings, showers, or holiday gatherings.
Ingredients
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened (use brick-style, not spreadable)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered (confectioners’) sugar, roughly divided
- ½ teaspoon orange extract
- Orange gel food coloring (optional, but makes them so pretty)
Substitution Notes:
- Cream cheese must be full-fat brick-style for the right texture. I learned the hard way that low-fat or spreadable won’t work here.
- Orange extract can be swapped with lemon extract for lemon mints, or peppermint extract for classic mint flavor.
- Food coloring is totally optional. I’ve left them white for elegant affairs and gone bold with color for kids’ parties.
Instructions
Throw your softened cream cheese and butter in a bowl and beat them with a mixer until smooth. Maybe two minutes tops. See lumps? Keep mixing. Those lumps end up in your mints and biting into straight cream cheese chunks is nasty.
Dump in two cups of powdered sugar. Start slow or you’ll have sugar everywhere, then crank it to medium once it’s mixed in. Gonna be soft and loose like frosting at this point. That’s normal. Building up to the right texture here.
Stir in orange extract and a tiny bit of gel coloring if you’re using it. Tiny means tiny – like a grain of rice. Mix until the color’s even. I go for pale peachy orange like those creamsicle popsicles but I’ve done pale yellow all the way to traffic cone orange depending what the party needed.
Add the rest of your sugar half a cup at a time. Mix between each addition. Dough gets thicker and harder to mix and your mixer starts groaning. When the mixer can’t handle it anymore, use your hands for the last bit. Want it firm enough that rolling a ball doesn’t stick to your fingers at all. Still tacky? More sugar. Used five cups total once when my kitchen was super humid.
Pinch off chunks about a teaspoon and roll them into balls. Try keeping them the same size so they look decent on a plate. Usually get fifty to sixty mints though I eat a few while working. Can’t help it.
Line them up on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Won’t spread so you can put them close. Fit a whole batch on one sheet easy.
Dip fork in powdered sugar then press gently on each mint for that criss-cross pattern. Gotta dip between every single one or the fork sticks and drags your ball into a mess. Kind of boring to do but makes them look store-bought. Also helps them dry even which matters more than you’d think.
Leave them on your counter uncovered minimum three to four hours. I make mine morning and ignore them till after dinner. Surface goes from sticky to dry and smooth. Ready when you can pick one up without it feeling tacky. Takes longer when humid, faster when dry.
Pack in airtight container with parchment between layers if stacking. Stick the whole thing in your fridge. Keep for weeks and taste better after a couple days.
Notes
Keep a small bowl of powdered sugar next to you while rolling. If your hands get sticky, dust them lightly with sugar. This saves so much frustration.
Use a teaspoon measure to scoop the dough for perfectly uniform mints every time. I eyeball it now after making these for years, but when I was starting out, measuring helped me get consistent results.
If you don’t have an electric mixer, a sturdy spoon and some elbow grease will work. Just make sure everything is well-softened first. My grandmother made these by hand for decades.
For an extra-fancy look, lightly brush the mints with a tiny bit of light corn syrup after they’ve set for a glossy finish. I did this for a wedding once, and people thought I’d ordered them from a fancy bakery.
Don’t use liquid food coloring. It adds too much moisture and will make your dough too soft. I made this mistake at two in the morning before a baby shower and had to add probably two extra cups of powdered sugar to fix it. Gel or paste food coloring only.
Make a double batch. These store so well, and you’ll be happy to have extras on hand. I always wish I’d made more because they go so fast.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: Resting Time: 3-4 hours
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No-bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredient List
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened (brick kind only)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar, roughly divided
- ½ teaspoon orange extract
- Orange gel food coloring (your call)
Substitution Notes:
- Gotta be brick cream cheese. Tried the Philadelphia spreadable tub once because I was lazy and the whole batch stayed gummy and gross. Threw it all out.
- Orange extract swaps easy for lemon, peppermint, almond, whatever floats your boat. Just keep it at half a teaspoon.
- Food coloring’s optional. Left them white for my cousin’s fancy wedding, made them neon pink for my daughter’s slumber party. Both looked good.
Why These Ingredients Work
Cream cheese is why these melt instead of crunch. That’s the whole deal with this recipe. Regular hard mints break when you bite them, these dissolve like fancy European butter. Has to be brick style though because the spreadable kind has stabilizers and extra moisture that keeps everything too soft. Made that mistake already, not doing it again.
Butter makes them rich. My sister tried a diet version without butter one time and they tasted like nothing. Just sad and bland. Don’t cheap out on the butter.
Powdered sugar sweetens everything but also holds the shape. Start mixing and you’ve got this soupy mess that looks wrong. Keep adding more and boom, suddenly you’ve got actual dough you can work with. Freaked me out the first time because I thought I broke something when it got really stiff, but that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Orange extract brings all the flavor. I get LorAnn brand because my aunt uses it and I’m superstitious about changing things that work. Half teaspoon is perfect. Dumped in a whole teaspoon by accident once and they tasted like cleaning product. Not good.
Gel food coloring doesn’t add liquid that screws up your dough. Liquid coloring definitely will though. Figured that out at midnight before a baby shower when I had to dump in probably two more cups of sugar to salvage the batch after using liquid drops.
Essential Tools and Equipment
- Mixing bowl (medium-sized)
- Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- Fork (for making the classic pressed design)
- Small bowl with extra powdered sugar (for dipping the fork)
- Airtight container for storage
How To Make Orange Cream Cheese Mints
Beat the Cream Cheese and Butter
Throw your softened cream cheese and butter in a bowl and beat them with a mixer until smooth. Maybe two minutes tops. See lumps? Keep mixing. Those lumps end up in your mints and biting into straight cream cheese chunks is nasty.
Add the First Half of Sugar
Dump in two cups of powdered sugar. Start slow or you’ll have sugar everywhere, then crank it to medium once it’s mixed in. Gonna be soft and loose like frosting at this point. That’s normal. Building up to the right texture here.
Add Flavor and Color
Stir in orange extract and a tiny bit of gel coloring if you’re using it. Tiny means tiny – like a grain of rice. Mix until the color’s even. I go for pale peachy orange like those creamsicle popsicles but I’ve done pale yellow all the way to traffic cone orange depending what the party needed.
Add Remaining Sugar
Add the rest of your sugar half a cup at a time. Mix between each addition. Dough gets thicker and harder to mix and your mixer starts groaning. When the mixer can’t handle it anymore, use your hands for the last bit. Want it firm enough that rolling a ball doesn’t stick to your fingers at all. Still tacky? More sugar. Used five cups total once when my kitchen was super humid.
Roll into Balls
Pinch off chunks about a teaspoon and roll them into balls. Try keeping them the same size so they look decent on a plate. Usually get fifty to sixty mints though I eat a few while working. Can’t help it.
Arrange on Baking Sheet
Line them up on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Won’t spread so you can put them close. Fit a whole batch on one sheet easy.
Create the Classic Mint Design
Dip fork in powdered sugar then press gently on each mint for that criss-cross pattern. Gotta dip between every single one or the fork sticks and drags your ball into a mess. Kind of boring to do but makes them look store-bought. Also helps them dry even which matters more than you’d think.
Let Them Rest and Firm Up
Leave them on your counter uncovered minimum three to four hours. I make mine morning and ignore them till after dinner. Surface goes from sticky to dry and smooth. Ready when you can pick one up without it feeling tacky. Takes longer when humid, faster when dry.
Store Properly
Pack in airtight container with parchment between layers if stacking. Stick the whole thing in your fridge. Keep for weeks and taste better after a couple days.
You Must Know
Dough needs to be really stiff. Not kinda firm – actually stiff like playdough or stiffer. Soft or sticky dough makes greasy mints that don’t hold shape. They feel weird and slippery instead of melting nice. Keep adding sugar until squeezing the dough feels hard.
Personal Secret: Leave cream cheese and butter on the counter thirty minutes minimum before starting. Room temp dairy mixes perfectly smooth every time. Cold dairy makes lumps no matter how long you mix. Rushed this maybe ten times and regretted it every single time. Just wait the half hour.
Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks
Keep sugar in a bowl next to you while rolling. Hands get sticky, dust them with sugar instead of washing every two minutes. Lifesaver when making seven batches last December.
Use a measuring spoon to scoop until you get the hang of sizing. After a few batches you can eyeball it but even sizing looks way better. Hate when some mints are huge and others are tiny on the same plate.
No mixer? Spoon and elbow grease work fine. Grandma did these by hand forever. Just make sure cream cheese and butter are really soft first or you’ll be mixing for an hour.
Want them shiny? Brush super lightly with corn syrup after drying. Did this for a wedding and people asked what bakery I went to.
Never use liquid food coloring. Adds water, softens dough, makes you add tons more sugar to fix it, ruins the texture. Gel or paste period. Not negotiable.
Make way more than you think you need. Keep forever in fridge or freezer and they vanish faster than you expect at parties.
Flavor Variations / Suggestions
Orange is classic but you can switch it up however.
Lemon Cream Cheese Mints: Lemon extract, yellow color. Did these for Easter, perfect.
Peppermint Mints: Peppermint extract, white or pink. My Christmas default now.
Lime Mints: Lime extract, green color. Made a batch for Cinco de Mayo with margaritas, everyone loved them.
Vanilla Almond: Quarter teaspoon almond and quarter teaspoon vanilla. Fancy tasting. Book club requests these specifically now.
Rainbow Party Mints: Split dough into bowls, color each different. Kid’s birthday, children lost their minds. Takes forever though rolling each color separately.
Add zest: Half teaspoon grated orange zest for natural flavor instead of extract taste. Better for adult parties where extract might taste fake to some people.
Make-Ahead Options
Why everyone makes these for parties – do them way ahead and forget.
Make two to three weeks early. Fridge storage in airtight container with parchment layers. Actually taste better after sitting few days. Something about flavors blending.
Freeze up to three months. Do this all the time. Freeze spread out first so they don’t stick together then pack in container. Thaw in fridge overnight. Always have some frozen.
Take out fifteen to twenty minutes before serving. Best when cool not cold. Texture gets softer and creamier at cool room temp.
Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips
Resting time’s important. Sitting uncovered dries the surface and makes them smooth looking. Used to pack them right away when I was younger and they stayed tacky. Gross.
Humid weather slows drying. Live somewhere humid or it’s raining, stick them in fridge to speed things up. Cousin in Florida always does this because her kitchen’s a swamp.
Dip fork every time. Already said it but people skip. Don’t. Fork sticks, drags mint, ruins it. Wrecked probably a hundred mints getting lazy about dipping.
Sweeter than store mints. That’s what makes them special. Little goes a long way. Eat one or two and I’m done.
Right texture is firm enough to hold shape but soft enough to bite easy. Rock hard is too much sugar. Soft and greasy is not enough sugar or drying time. Figure it out after one batch.
Serving Suggestions
Wedding candy tables are perfect. Glass dishes with other sweets looks expensive. Cost almost nothing but people think you dropped money.
Baby showers work great. Match color to theme. Done pink, blue, yellow, mint green, lavender – whatever.
Holiday trays need these. Red and green Christmas, pastels Easter, orange and black Halloween. Any holiday works.
Afternoon tea with cookies and cakes. Mother-in-law does this Sundays. These go first always.
Pack in tin with ribbon for hostess gifts. Did this for neighbors last year, huge hit. Some asked where I bought them.
Mini cupcake liners make them extra fancy or pile on tiered stand with flowers. Goes from homemade to catered looking.
These become your party staple. Easiest impressive thing I make. Ten years now. Find excuses to make them without events even.
How to Store Your Orange Cream Cheese Mints
Room temp’s okay four to six hours during party but I keep chilled. Better shape, more refreshing cold.
Fridge is best. Airtight container, parchment layers, three weeks easy. Never last that long because we eat them but tested it.
Freezer three months. Container with parchment. Thaw fridge overnight before event. Keep stash always.
Don’t reheat. Never. Serve cold or cool room temp.
Allergy Information
Has dairy from cream cheese and butter.
Naturally gluten-free for people who can’t have gluten.
Dairy-free might work with dairy-free cream cheese and vegan butter. Haven’t tried but lactose intolerant friend says okay. Get brick-style not spreadable.
No nuts so nut allergy safe.
Questions I Get Asked A Lot
Can I use spreadable cream cheese instead of brick-style?
Nope. Tried twice, both times stayed soft and greasy. Added extra sugar, didn’t help. Spreadable has different stuff. Buy brick kind.
My dough is too sticky, what do I do?
More powdered sugar. Keep going half cup at a time till not sticky. Used five cups once when humid. Has to be stiff enough to roll without sticking.
How far in advance can I make these?
Two to three weeks ahead fine in fridge. Usually make week before parties so not stressed day of. Taste better after sitting anyway.
Can I use liquid food coloring?
No. Gel or paste only. Liquid adds moisture, softens dough. Found out two AM before shower, fixed with tons extra sugar, texture got weird. Buy gel.
Why do my mints taste too sweet?
They’re mints, supposed to be sweet. Too much though, add tiny pinch salt. Or serve with tart lemonade or champagne. Sweet-tart combo’s really good.
Tried this recipe? Leave a comment and rating below! Tell me what you made. Orange or something else?
