Buttermints! The Candy I USED TO Hate

I admit, I have never been in love with buttermints. I tend to find them as shower favors, tied up in netting with ribbon and well... I usually take them home and throw them out.  Usually they are chalky, chewy and cardboard like and well... nasty, so they NEVER get eaten.  (Sorry to whoever manufacturers them or whoever has given them to me but really...!)

Anyway a few months ago I came across a web site called Knuckle Salad where there was a recipe for Butter-Mint Buttons.  The author insisted that these were GOOD buttermints, and as usual, sucker that I am, I just had to try them out. 

First I had to make a mold, and luckily I had some Amazing Mold Putty at home (another reason I decided to try the project, it wasn't going to cost me much!) Luckily I always save those extra buttons in a button tin (thank you for that habit Mom!) so I had plenty of choices of size and shapes.  Since I was a newbie mint maker I went plain and simple, a combination of two hole and four hole buttons in a variety of sizes.  Just follow the directions Kristina gives you and you'll be in great shape! The lady writes a mean tutorial!

My one idiot mistake? Deciding to make too many different colors! Could I just stick with the usual pastels? No, I had to make red.  Let me warn you--YOU DO NOT WANT RED MINTS! Actually you don't want mints in any dark color.  Just think, you suck on the mints... your teeth...yeah, you get the picture.  Not pretty! Kind of like eating red icing on a bakery cake. 

But I have to agree with Kristina, her recipe rocks the mint world! These aren't like any buttermints you've ever had before.  So give Kristina's recipe a try and let me know what you think.  And take the time to visit her site, she has lots of great ideas.  Her mints would be a fun project you could make ahead of time and put on your sweet table or just on each table at your reception.

Funny factoid you probably don't want or need to know? My button tin is an old buttermint tin! I'd forgotten until I went to pick out the buttons...just my own personal chuckle for this project.  OK, vite, get to it, make your own mints!!