A little retro and a whole lot of fun, cream cheese mints are the perfect way to keep little hands busy during Easter dinner preparations.
Make up the dough, then let the kids play around with different flavours and colours (or not, if you're trying to avoid pink and green hands). They also can form the mints in a variety of shapes. Consider making lemon mints, classic peppermints, or orange cream mints. You even could do mocha mints with coffee and chocolate extracts.
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RETRO CREAM CHEESE MINTS
Start to finish: 30 minutes, plus drying
Makes 7 dozen
8-ounce block cream cheese
2 pounds powdered sugar
Flavourings or extracts of your choice
Gel food coloring (optional)
Superfine sugar
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and about a quarter of the powdered sugar. Using the dough hook, begin mixing. As the mixture comes together, add the remaining powdered sugar, a quarter at a time, mixing well between each addition. The dough also can be mixed by hand; treat it as though you are kneading bread dough. The mixture with be quite stiff.
Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of the flavouring or extract of your choice. Alternatively, you can divide the dough and make multiple batches, each with a different flavour. Once the flavouring is mixed in, add food coloring, mixing until evenly colored. As with the flavouring, the mixture can be divided and different colours can be used for each batch.
Pinch off pieces of the dough and roll into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the superfine sugar. Press the pieces into candy moulds or press with a fork or the bottom of a glass to make a decorative impression on the tops. Place on waxed paper and allow to dry, uncovered, overnight. If keeping longer than a few days, place in an airtight container between sheets of waxed paper and freeze for up to 1 month.
Nutrition information per mint: 50 calories; 10 calories from fat (20 per cent of total calories); 1 g fat (0.5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 5 mg cholesterol; 11 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 11 g sugar; 0 g protein; 10 mg sodium.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Alison Ladman is a recipe developer for the AP. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CrustAndCrumbCo
