This Old-Fashioned Cheese Mints recipe is perfect for many occasions and easy to make! A simple mixture of cream cheese, powdered sugar, and flavoring - they're popular for weddings, baby showers, holidays, and other special occasions.
Originally posted November 2013, updated December 2024
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Cream Cheese Mints
I was a little girl or maybe young teenager the first time I had cream cheese mints and I . I didn't get the recipe then but it wasn't the last time I came across them.
Fast forward to 1997 and my husband was in the Air Force and we we were living in Idaho. I went to a baby shower on base where someone had made these delicious little homemade mints and I flashed back to my youth.
Actually, I was young in both of those stories, but I digress.
I knew as soon as I tasted one that I just had to have the recipe. So I asked around and eventually snagged it from one of the other wives.
Homemade mints cannot be compared with any store-bought mints. These are hands down, the best melt-in-your-mouth cream cheese mints ever!
Wedding Mints
I'm pretty sure the first time I had these mints were at a wedding. And they were called "Old-Fashioned Cream Cheese Mints." It seems the recipe has been around for ages. But let me say this - these are not only for weddings.
Personally, I'd like these easy cream cheese mints to be Christmas Cream Cheese Mints because I'd have an excuse to make them at least once a year (I do not go to weddings every year).
Here are just a few celebrations where you could make Homemade Cream Cheese Mints:
- Baby Shower Mints
- Graduation Parties
- Bridal Showers
- Christmas Parties
- Easter Celebrations
If you decide to make them for a bridal shower, baby shower, or Easter celebration, you may want to make your mints in pastel colors.
Why You'll Love Cream Cheese Mints
- They are a make ahead treat that doesn't take much time to make!
- It's one of the easiest candy recipes but also one of the most oohed and aaahed over.
- They are delicious - with a creamy mouth texture that everybody loves!
- This classic candy is perfect for parties, gifting, simple celebrations or fancy weddings.
- No special equipment is needed for this - the easiest holiday candy!
Tools Needed
- Hand Mixer
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Mixing Bowl
- Wax Paper or Parchment
- Baking Sheet or Tray
- Small Candy Molds, optional
Ingredients
You only need three simple ingredients for these delicious cream cheese mints. And you can absolutely double or triple the recipe with no problems!
- Softened Cream Cheese (at room temperature)
- Peppermint Extract
- Powdered Sugar
- Gel Food Coloring, optional. You could use no coloring at all for white mints, or even use liquid food coloring (be cautious and only add a tiny drop at at time). I prefer Americolor Gel colors.
Find the complete recipe with ingredients measurements in the recipe card below.
Substitutions
This recipe for cream cheese mints is so simple, there's really only thing that can be substituted - the flavoring!
Peppermint Extract - Sweet peppermint flavor is my favorite flavor, but you could use Mint Extract (aka Spearmint) if you prefer that more minty flavor.
You could also make cream cheese butter mints by adding a little butter flavoring. This Butter Vanilla Emulsion is the BEST butter flavor!! Other flavors you might try are vanilla extract, orange extract, almond extract, lemon extract, etc.
How to Make Cream Cheese Mints
Anyone can follow this simple recipe and make these delicious homemade mints with cream cheese.
- Use an electric hand mixer combine cream cheese and peppermint extract and mix until smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and cream again until light and fluffy.
- Begin adding about half of the powdered sugar. Scrape down the sides of mixing bowl as needed and gradually add more sugar. Once all of the remaining powdered sugar is added and well combined
- If you want to color your mints, knead it into the dough. For more than one color divide then knead different colors it into each section. Your dough should have the consistency of play-dough and be pretty easy to color.
- Pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into teaspoon-sized small balls.
- Place in a single layer onto a prepared cookie sheet or tray.
- Use the tines of a fork to flatten.
- Let the mints dry for 12 hours, then turn the mints over to let the bottom side dry.
- Store in the refrigerator after drying until ready to serve. They are fine at room temperature for a few hours during serving but should be kept refrigerated or frozen for more extended times.
Variations
This easy cream cheese mints recipe is so versatile and you can use it to make mints for any special occasion. Here are some ideas:
Christmas Mints - divide the dough into two or three balls and color one red, one green and leave one white.
Baby Shower Mints - divide the dough and do pastel colors, or only pink and white for a baby girl or blue for a baby boy, etc.
Cream Cheese Wedding Mints - Unless there's a perfect color to coordinate with the wedding decor, I'd leave them white but maybe make them fancier but putting them into a heart mold.
Valentine's Mints - make red and pink mints in heart molds. Or make them in small flower molds and add some small green leaves (use these leaf molds) to give your sweetheart "a bouquet" of mints.
How to Shape Cream Cheese Mints
Pressing your mints down with fork tines is the easiest and fastest way to make these mints. But there are other options.
Candy Molds - I go into more detail below, but you can press these mints into molds for all different kinds of shapes.
Cubes (ish): You can roll the dough (it has the texture of cookie dough) into a long rope shape and cut it into small cube-like shapes. Sort of like classic butter mints!
Flat - if you want really simple mints, you can press the mint balls flat with the bottom of a glass.
Cookie Press - I have seen many others mention using a cookie press to make beautifully shaped mints. I did not have any luck with this method. But my hands are weak after my arm surgery so maybe I'm just not tough enough 😉
How to Make Cream Cheese Mints in Molds
The Cream Cheese Mints recipe for molds is no different than the recipe I've shared except you'll need some granulated sugar.
To make the mints in molds, roll out long snakes of the "dough", about ½" in diameter, then cut it into ½" lengths.
No need to roll these into balls, just dip them into granulated sugar, then press them into the candy mold. They'll easily lift out (mine stick to the end of my finger). If you have trouble getting them out, you can pop them into the freezer for a minute. If using silicone molds, you can usually pop them out without freezing.
Spread them out on wax paper and allow them to dry overnight. After drying, store in an airtight container.
For reference, you can usually find mint molds at Hobby Lobby (or another hobby store) or on Amazon. I have both these little rose molds and these small heart bolds.
Many, many years ago (circa 2015), my daughter decided to make some Cream Cheese Mints for Christmas... cream cheese mints in the shape of stars with this mold.
Serving Suggestions
Serve these mints in small bowls, on a pretty platter, or add a few onto cookie trays as a filler. They also make great party favors if you want to make small bags of them or place them in small containers with a bow.
They're great for holiday parties, showers, and just a minty treat for no reason at all (my personal favorite).
FAQ
Yes, you can make cream cheese mints with low-fat or light cream cheese, but the results might be slightly softer and may require a bit more powdered sugar to achieve the right consistency for firm mints. Low-fat cream cheese contains less fat, which helps bind the mixture together, so for best results, I recommend full-fat cream cheese to get the best texture and flavor in cream cheese mints.
Yes. Let these little mints sit out for a few hours to dry, then move them to the refrigerator in an airtight container. They can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 6 months.
Yes, place the dried mints in an airtight container, with sheets of wax paper or parchment paper between each layer, and freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw frozen mints at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
For Christmas or the holidays, you can divide the dough into 3 sections and do some green, some red and leave some white. For a baby shower, do pink or blue and white. Or all pastel colors if the gender is not known. For New Years, add a little gold color. For weddings or wedding showers, I'd leave the mints white unless there's a color that goes with the theme that you could incorporate.
More Christmas Candy Recipes
Have you ever made homemade mints? I'd love to learn to make butter mints next!
PrintRecipe
Cream Cheese Mints
- Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 50-70 mints 1x
Description
This Old-Fashioned Cheese Mints recipe is perfect for many occasions and easy to make! A simple mixture of cream cheese, powdered sugar, and flavoring - they're popular for weddings, baby showers, holidays, and other special occasions.
Ingredients
- 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 3 cups of powdered sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, only needed if using molds
- Food coloring, optional
Instructions
- Use an electric hand mixer combine cream cheese and peppermint extract and mix until smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and cream again until light and fluffy.
- Begin adding about half of the powdered sugar. Scrape down the sides of mixing bowl as needed and gradually add more sugar. Once all of the remaining powdered sugar is added and well combined.
- If you want to color your mints, knead it into the dough. For more than one color divide then knead different colors it into each section. Your dough should have the consistency of play-dough and be pretty easy to color.
- Pinch off pieces of dough into roll into teaspoon sized small balls.
- Place in a single layer onto a prepared cookie sheet or tray.
- Use the tines of a fork to flatten.
- Let the mints dry for 12 hours, then turn the mints over to let the bottom side dry.
- Store in the refrigerator after drying until ready to serve. They are fine at room temperature for a few hours during serving but should be kept refrigerated or frozen for more extended times.
Notes
- Prep time varies depending on how big or small you make your mints, whether you use molds, whether you need to freeze them, etc.
- Prep Time: 30
- Dry Time: 3 hours
- Category: Dessert
Lisa Flores
Oh this is going on my goodie trays for Christmas! Simple and few ingredients....perfect! I'm thinking red and green Christmas colors maybe in a wreath mold? Hmm possibilities are endless for any holidays. Thanks for sharing once again your recipes for yummies!
Jessica G.
I used to love these ages ago! It's been so long, I'd forgotten they existed. Thank you for the recipe and I look forward to making them soon. (Is *right now* too soon?)
Rose
I hope you enjoy them again very soon 🙂
Debbie
Can you freeze these?
Rose
Yes!
Marvelle
How long can mints be frozen before your event?
Rose
I've kept them for at least a week but I imagine they'd be fine for much longer than that - probably a month!
Joyce from Live Laugh Love Post
Yummy! My teen son loves the mints! I'm thinking about making this for his 17th Birthday next two months. I've pinned this 🙂 In the meantime, I found yours from Marilyn's Treats: Wonderful Wednesday.
Emily
These sound so good! Can't wait to try them. Thanks for linking up with Merry Monday.
Laura | Food Fun Family
I love to eat these, but I've never made them before. They look so easy (and so cute!). I'm definitely trying them soon!! Thanks for sharing at Delicious Dishes recipe party! Pinned it!
carol
what am i doing wrong once they come to room temperature they are soft
Susan
Hi Carol, thanks for stopping by the blog. I had the same thing happen to me, and when I asked Rose about it, she said that she leaves them out at room temperature and they crust over. The sugar in the mints keeps the cream cheese preserved for a few days.
Renee Anderson
What is the best type of coloring to use for mints.
Rose
I use gel colors like these: http://amzn.to/1fkGfXN
kathy
Theres a lady locally that makes the soft mints in a cheesecake and pina colada flavor. Can you tell me how to make the different flavors of mints? Thanks
Rose
I can't say for sure, but I imagine she adds a different extract or flavoring - maybe this Pina Colada flavoring from Lorann's: https://amzn.to/2IIRzEr (Lorann oils are AMAZING!!).
Esme Slabbert
Thank you for sharing and participating at SSPS 341. See you at #342, Jan 6. Merry Christmas/Happy Festive Season.
Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook
These little mints look so refreshing! Perfect for after dinner or as a sweet gift. Thanks for sharing and for joining Fiesta Friday party!