Homemade Green Mint Candy a.k.a Homemade Altoids!

There has been a point in all of our lives we’ve reached into our purse and grabbed a mint. But the cost of the mints can get extremely expensive if you eat them on a daily basis – you can easily make those “curiously strong” mints at home, and even better control the flavors and colors!

Since we’re working on Green Recipes I thought I’d make some Green Mints. As you can see in the picture I also made red/pink ones in cinnamon flavor and you can catch a bit of the blue ones too – butterscotch! I know, you thought I was going to say Blueberry – and really I had that flavor in my oils, but something about the Butterscotch was calling to me!

Really all you need to get started is four simple things – powdered sugar, gum paste, food coloring and peppermint extract. You should be able to find most of the ingredients at your local grocery store. I did have a problem finding Gum Paste, but check at you local cake supply store, or craft store like Michael’s or Joann Etc.

A tip for the gum paste – you will need 1 lb if you’re going to make a full batch, this will run you $10-$15 depending on where you get it. Some stores sell the mix for half of the pre-made price. All you have to add is 1/4 cup water, a little powdered sugar and some elbow grease. You will have to knead it for five minutes but it gives a lot less resistance than bread – and that is worth the price savings in my opinion!

Ingredients

• 1 lb gum paste
• Powdered Sugar
• Peppermint Extract (or flavor of your choice)
• Green Food Coloring (or color of your choice)

Directions

1. Take your prepared gum paste and knead it gently in your hands to soften it.
2. If you are making different flavors and colors separate your gum paste into smaller sections.
3. Using your thumb push an indentation into your gum paste. Drop in 3-4 drops of your peppermint extract and about the same of your food coloring. If you want it a deeper color or stronger flavor feel free to add more.
4. Fold your gum paste over itself and the indentation. This will put the color and extract inside. Knead the gum paste until your color is spread evenly through out. *If you do not like getting food coloring on your hands or are worried about it staining, feel free to use some kitchen gloves for this stage!
5. On your cutting board put a large pile of powdered sugar. Consider the amount of flour you’d normally use to roll out bread and put a bit more. Put down more than your instincts tell you to – this will help later!
6. Set your colored and flavored gum paste down in the powdered sugar and put a bit more powdered sugar on top. Roll out the gum paste with your rolling pin to between 1/8th -1/4th inch thickness.
7. Cut your candies! You can use a straw to get traditional round mints – I found they tend to get stuck inside doing that, and it takes too long.  Or you can use a pizza cutter and cut them into strips or squares.
8. That extra powdered sugar will help you easily pick up your freshly cut candies. Toss the candies in the extra powdered sugar and put them on a plate to dry.
9. Allow the candies to to dry for about 48 hours. They will dry out and get crunchy as they do!

The fun part about this recipe – you can make them whatever flavor, color or shape you want. The cost to make a giant batch of them is a lot less than buying them at the store. Have fun with it and let me know what type of mints or candies you make!

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This recipe is part of the Food Challenge with five other bloggers. You can check out the recipes below for this challenge! Each month we’ll be doing another challenge – let us know if you try any of the recipes!