After dinner butter mints

Over the weekend I made some cupcakes, which I neglected to blog about. That will be forthcoming after this holiday week. For now...an onslaught of holiday recipes!

One of my favorite things to eat over Thanksgiving (don't ask me why) are after dinner butter mints. For those of you unfamiliar: you know the pastel colored mints that are delicious and melt in your mouth? That's a butter mint. I always associate them with the holidays...because that's when my family gathers and we have such a thing.

After 7 years away from my parents for Thanksgiving (for various reasons), we decided to take the trip from NYC to Chicago for the holiday. My mom asked what I wanted to eat and what she needed to get - I immediately thought of butter mints. Then I thought...why buy them? I'm sure there is a recipe on the internet!

Thus...I came across this recipe. It's super easy, and you can make them any color you want...not just the pale yellow/pale green/pink variety that you can buy in the store.

Butter Mints:

Yield: Lots of mints
Time: About 30 - 45 minutes active, 24 hours resting before they are ready to share

9 1/2 cups powdered sugar (yes...you read that correctly folks!)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
food coloring (your choice - I made orange & yellow for Thanksgiving. I used gel, but liquid or paste will work)

1. In a large bowl, cut together sugar & butter with 2 knives or a pastry blender until butter is in large chunks. Add corn syrup, salt, peppermint & vanilla.
   
2. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixture begins to come together, then work into a dough with your hands, kneading constantly until dough is smooth and uniform.
3. Divide dough into two parts.
4. Make a well at the center of each and put a small amount of food coloring in the well. Knead each ball of dough until the color is distributed uniformly.
5. On large sheets of waxed paper in an area where you will rest your candy, roll dough between your hands into "snakes" a little larger in diameter than a pencil. Note: I actually did this on a cookie sheet. I don't really have anywhere I can let something sit undisturbed for 24 hours (oh to have the luxury!), and this allowed me to move the mints around to various locations without disturbing them.
6. Once you have all the dough rolled, set a time for 10 minutes.
7. When the timer goes off, begin cutting the snakes into little pillows. Start with the first ones you prepared.
8. Allow them to set for 24 hours.
9. Store in an airtight container or large Ziploc bag. Keep in mind that the mints are semi-soft, so protect them from being crushed.

Enjoy!