Cream Cheese Mints (4 Ingredients!)

No-Bake Holiday Candy

These cream cheese mints often called cream cheese wedding mints or baby shower mints, are the kind of nostalgic treat you’d expect to find in grandma’s candy dish! 

Creamy mints are one of my favorite no-bake candy recipes that uses just a handful of ingredients, and 10 minutes of prep time, and the rest is just waiting for them to set. They’re sweet, buttery, and just melt in your mouth, so it’s hard to stop at just one! 

They’re a traditional candy popular at weddings and baby showers so you’ll often see them in pastel colors. The coloring is optional, and flexible based on the occasion!

You can also flavor cream cheese mints however you like and since this year I’m adding them to my Christmas dessert board, I think mint is just perfect for the holidays. You could also try substituting with an almond extract.

Why This Recipe Works

• Addicting. This cream cheese mint recipe produces the kind of treat that never gets left behind. They’re sugary and solid on the outside, but once you bite into them, the center is creamy and melts in your mouth!
• Super easy. This is a fun activity the whole family can get involved in. There’s no turning on the oven, or using any heat source, so it’s safe for even the youngest kids!
• For every occasion. These are great desserts for all kinds of parties. Birthday parties, graduations, anniversaries, showers, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and of course Christmas. They travel well, so when wrapped up in a little decorative packaging, they make the perfect neighbor Christmas gift!

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.

• Cream cheese: Here are tips on how to soften cream cheese if you forgot to take it out earlier. Having it soft is key! Use the full fat brick-style not the spreadable kind from a tub, which contains too much water.
• Butter: You’ll be creaming the butter too, so it also needs to be taken out of the fridge to soften ahead of time.
• Powdered sugar: Also known as confectioner’s sugar, this is what adds the yummy, sweet element and it also helps to preserve and solidify the candy (kind of the way it does for cream cheese frosting). 
• Peppermint extract: Can usually be found where you’d find vanilla extract, almond extract, or orange extract (hint: you can actually swap any of these flavors for peppermint extract!). You can use it more or less depending on how minty you like it.
• Food coloring: Have fun with it. If you choose to use food coloring for added flare, you can use one, two, or a few. Gel food coloring is more concentrated than liquid food coloring, so you’ll need less of it to make them vibrant.

• Combine butter and cream cheese. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat them both until creamy and smooth. 
• Add the powdered sugar. Turn the mixer on low and gradually add 1 cup of powdered sugar as you mix. Add in the extract and the rest of the powdered sugar. It should be the consistency of play-dough. 
• Mix in food coloring. If you plan on adding some color, divide the dough equally into the number of colors you plan to use. Drop the food coloring into each bowl and mix until the desired color has been reached. Cover each bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 
• Form the mints! Scoop out 1 teaspoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Place it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Dip a fork into powdered sugar and gently press it into the ball to flatten it. Repeat with all remaining dough. Allow them to dry for 2 hours at room temperature.

Expert Tips

• If your dough mixture is sticky, add more powdered sugar until it feels like play dough. 
• To avoid the ridges from the fork prongs, you can use the bottom of a glass to flatten it instead.
• Cream cheese butter mints are meant to be firm, so give them the time they need to set. They won’t make great gifts if they’re all melted into one lump!
• Peppermint extract is not mint extract! Mint is usually reserved for savory pairings, whereas peppermint is perfect in sweets.