Who says cream cheese mints are only for weddings?
I came across the recipe for Barrington Mints as I was paging through my copy of The Rocky Mountain Sweet Shoppe Cookbook a few weeks ago. I’ve only ever sampled cream cheese mints on Midwestern wedding dessert tables, but they seemed easy and festive enough to fit the Christmas bill. Despite a mild misadventure (I’ll tell you after the recipe!) and an extreme piping strength requirement, I was pretty pleased with the results.
Barrington Mints
Makes 150 mints
Ingredients:
8 ounces soft cream cheese (I used Philadelphia regular)
6 tablespoons soft butter (I used unsalted)
3/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract (NOT mint extract)
2 pounds sifted powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 drops red food coloring (Mine is pretty strong, so I used only one)
Method:
Melt the cream cheese with the butter in a heavy 3-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Turn off the heat, leaving the pan on the burner, and stir in about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, food coloring, and vanilla. (My note: Add peppermint here as well.) Stir in the rest of the sugar until well blended.
Line a large baking sheet with wax paper. Push mint mixture into a pastry bag, icing syringe or squeeze bottle with a decorative tip. Create desired shapes for mints. Let set 1 hour.
Store between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month, or in the freezer up to 4 months. Do not store at room temperature.
Aren’t they pretty? They taste just like other cream cheese mints I’ve tried: sweet, minty, and melt-in-your-mouth creamy. Despite Dr. O’s raging sweet tooth, we are never going to get through this many mints; thankfully, we have a few dinner guests coming later this month who might be willing to help.
As for the misadventure, I had piped 20 or 30 mints when I realized that I hadn’t added the peppermint extract. I just realized (as I was typing this post), that what seemed like a spacey mistake was probably actually the result of the fact that they don’t specifically mention adding the peppermint in the recipe instructions. Whoops. Anyway, I just tossed my mixture back in the pot, turned the heat on medium-low, added the peppermint extract, and then stirred the mixture for a minute or two until I was confident that it was pretty evenly incorporated. Problem solved.
It’s also worth noting that I had to let these set in the refrigerator (not on the counter) so they would firm up enough to hold their shape when I pulled them off of the wax paper. Since they get softer the longer they sit at room temperature, I would probably put a plate of these out when I serve dessert rather than have them sit on a buffet for hours.
Sweet and Saucy 
First time in your blog, definitely fell in love with these, I want to try them too…, they are so beautiful
You are the coolest and have such a divine ability to do desserts and treats! I am going to make these for my aunt for Christmas. I have tried other recipes but i can tell just by reading this one that this is the one I was looking for!! god bless you in all your dessert works and thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks for the kind words and the visit, Kriss! 🙂 I’m sure your aunt will love the mints. Have fun making them!
I just had to stop back in to tell you how great these mints turned out 🙂 Not only did I get some muscles I have never seen before in my arms lol, but my Aunt truly loved them at Christmas ( and shes a hard one to please). For the fall I think I will be putting some orange drops in them, placing them in the freezer for a bit, and than dipping them in a dark chocolate coating. mmmm. Cheers to you and your blog once again!
I found your post on Pinterest and I was SO excited! I love these mints but I never knew what they were until now. I do believe I’ll be making some this weekend!
My grandma used to make these for weddings. She pressed her “dough” into tiny metal molds instead of piping them. Might be easier on the arms….
I made these for a wedding today. Knowing that between 100 and 150 people would be at the wedding, I tripled the recipe to allow for 3–4 mints each. I don’t know if mine ended up a lot smaller than yours or what, but I ended up with at least 1000. I also struggled to make the perfect point on my “stars,” ending up with a sort of squiggly blossom thingy that looked okay instead. They do taste delicious!
These mints are so delicious! I did have a problem with them being really soft and not setting. Any suggestions?….also what size tip did you use for the ones piped in the picture? Very elegant!
Hi, Brenda! Thanks so much for your comment. My mints didn’t set properly until I put them in the refrigerator… Did you refrigerate them? If you did and it didn’t work for you, you could add more powdered sugar to stiffen the mixture.
I’m pretty darn sure I used an Ateco #32 tip for these (it’s been so long!).
Having made many of these, for my own Midwestern wedding 20 yrs ago and helping my mom for many weddings before, I can say these are the best part of a reception! I miss them…even here they don’t do it anymore it seems. I agree the molds are easier and more ‘fun’…depends on the wedding I guess. Shapes galore. We made them for graduations, confirmation, etc. Any party! The molds are coated in sugar..and I think that helps them keep shape as well. A friend suggested on my Pinterest pin of this recipe that you pipe them onto sugar pan and sprinkle with sugar too. 🙂
I love to bake and cook.i work at blue bell so i dont have a whole lot of time to make cute things to out on cakes and cupcakes and this i can make a head of time.thank you so much for the idea.if you have anything else please!! Send
I’m totally going to make them over Christmas! visit my blog. http://groovyglue.wordpress.com
I gotta ask about the powdered sugar… Is it 2 lbs of sifted powdered sugar or 2 lbs of powdered sugar (and then sift)?
Hi, Toni! Measured by weight, it doesn’t matter. The powdered sugar will weigh the same whether it’s sifted or not. I use a 2-lb. bag of powdered sugar for this recipe.
I want to make these for my daughters graduation party, I was wondering if after they are set up would they be able to be put into a ziplock bag and kept in an ice chest only putting out a a plate full at a time, would they hold thier shape….her party is at a park so might be warm.
Hi, Brenda! If the mints go straight from the refrigerator (to set up) to the ice chest, and you only put out one plate at a time, I think you’ll be fine. They will get soft at room temperature, though, and they’ll get soft even faster at a warm outdoor event. If I were you, I would think about making a small batch (quarter recipe, maybe?) and testing it out before your event.
Hi there! I tried making these mints last night and I think something went awry. Here is how I did it: melted the cream cheese and butter over a 1 or 2 heat setting on my electric glass top stove. Turned the heat off and started adding the sugar in 1.5-2 cup increments. Towards the end of mixing the sugar in, it became extremely hard to mix (even over the burner) with both my husband and I working at it! I was sort of happy to see that ours had gotten relatively stiff after reading your note about em not holding their shape. Then, after mixing all the ingredients, I took the pot off the burner and divvied the mixture between 4 bowls (I wanted to try 4 different colors). Then basically my husband and I would switch off piping the mints and mixing the food coloring in. The mixture was tough to get out of the piping bag – we ended up with a lot of misshapen shaky spiderweb-looking blobs! Now, I do know that we are not master pipers by any means! However, I find it hard to believe that our mixture was the same consistency.
I’m wondering if perhaps it should be over a higher heat or leave the heat on while mixing. Maybe even lessen how much sugar goes into it. I’m eager and excited to figure it out (the mixture tastes awesome and they look adorable) but I can’t figure out what went wrong. Any advice?
Hi, Katie! Sorry things didn’t go so well for you last night. I can think of two things that might have gone wrong (and you mentioned them both). First, I find that electric burners (coils or glass top) don’t tend be be quite as hot as gas burners on low heat. So maybe medium-low heat would have worked better. You want the cream cheese and butter to be totally melted and loose before you start adding anything to it.
In terms of the thickness of your mixture, it does take quite a bit of elbow grease to pipe when it’s at the proper consistency. Did you use a 2-pound bag of powdered sugar, or did you use more? If you used the 2-pound bag, I’d recommend cutting one or two cups next time to see if you get a more manageable consistency (but one that still holds its shape!). If you try again, pretty please let me know how it goes.
Awesome – thanks for getting back to me! I’m glad to know that I wasn’t completely off in my thinking. 🙂 I used the full 2 lbs of powdered sugar. I did not sift it – would that have made a huge difference?
Sifting the powdered sugar probably would have made it easier to incorporate (less work on the stove), but it shouldn’t have a huge effect on the finished product. I’d recommend sifting if you give it another try to test the theory! 🙂
These sound so good. I am going to make them for thanksgiving. They would be good in other flavors as well. And you could change color to match a party or what not.
Thank you for this recipe! I made them today and they’re fantastic. Mine set perfect, I placed the pan in a bedroom we keep the heat off in during the winter. My mom made these for years and I never asked her the recipe.
I didn’t melt anything, I just let all my ingredients sit out for a couple days. When I put the cream cheese and butter in the mixer I just beat the crap outta it for a couple minutes.
So glad you enjoyed them, Mary! Thanks for letting me know (and for providing an alternative way to incorporate the ingredients).
I made these with mint instead of peppermint and they were so good! I tinted half of it green, put both colors in a piping bag so when I piped them they came out I with both colors.
These look amazing and seem easy
Can this new pressed into molds also?
Hi, Tricia. I haven’t tried pressing the mixture into molds myself, but I think it would work. If you try it, will you report back, please?
What kind of mint extract did you use?:)
do you have a recipe for just butter mints without the mint flavoring?
I made these for the first time today for Thanksgiving tomorrow…did everything right they taste AMAZING!! But! The mixture was so stiff I couldn’t push through the piping bag. Is it supposed to be that stiff? Like soft dough…
But they are Delicious!!
Hey, Erika! Yes, piping the mixture is quite a workout. I had the same experience! Glad you enjoyed the flavor of the mints, though.