To Prep: line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust with powdered sugar. Make sure the pan can fit in the fridge.
Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and peppermint extract with an electric mixer on low speed.
Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until everything is combined and smooth.
Divide the cream cheese mixture equally among three bowls. Tint one bowl green and one bowl red and leave the third bowl white. Cover the bowls and chill for an hour until firm.
Once the dough is firm, portion out into balls that are a heaping teaspoon each. Place them on your prepared baking sheet.
Once all the mints have been portioned into balls, press each of the balls into a disc using the tines of a fork.
Place the sheet pan back in the fridge and allow to harden for an additional 2-4 hours.
Video
Notes
Nutrition information is provided as an estimate only.Prep Tips:
Timing: This is a simple recipe to make, with just a few minutes of prep time. Though it does require a bit of planning because the mints will need time to harden in the fridge. So plan for about 4 hours total time. You can speed up the process a bit by using the freezer instead of the fridge for chilling.
Yield: When we made this recipe we got about 4 dozen bite-size mints. Depending on how big of a spoonful you use for your dough balls, you may end up with slightly more or slightly fewer mints.
Flavors: We used peppermint extract for a cool and minty holiday treat. However, you could use different extracts or flavorings such as almond extract (one of my favorites), sweet mint extract, vanilla extract, etc.
Variations: Try using different colors for different occasions! For example, pastels would be perfect for baby showers, graduation parties, or Easter. You could also make wedding mints with the happy couple's favorite colors.
Molds: We didn't use molds for our mints because it is much easier this way. But if you have Christmas candy molds that you love, they can make your mints look extra festive! I recommend rolling your cream cheese balls in powdered sugar before pressing them into the molds. This will help keep them from sticking to the molds. I also recommend using flexible silicone candy molds because you can pop the candies out easier.