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