Fixin' Leaks and Leeks

The oven’s reached hot-flash mode, and I’m not far behind. The Heat Miser’s throwing flames and singing songs about melting things in his clutch. When this happens, it means the Christmas cookie countdown is coming in hot—and needs to cool down with festive mints.

So, when the ovens are a fury of toe-tapping Heat Miser beats, make something that does not require an oven at all: Merry Minty Mint Mints. I’m not sure what else to call these. They’re what my grammy would make when she’d visit for Christmas—and she’d make them while all the other cookies were in the oven because making good use of your time is what adults do—even on Christmas break.

They’re super easy to make, too. I found her recipe while I was digging through some cards and letters my mother had gathered and sent to me a while back. And this one came with hysterical measurements like “one box of…” Seriously, the first ingredient on the list is one box of 4x sugar. I had no idea what that was, but AI did because when I searched the internet, it came up with a picture of a box of powdered sugar and a modern-day measurement: about four cups. Mystery measurement solved!

Merry Minty Mint Mints

1 box of 4x sugar (4 cups of powdered sugar)

4 tablespoons of water (or just ¼ cup of water)

5-6 drops of oil of peppermint—or peppermint extract. I had neither one. I just had pure mint extract and hoped it would not taste like toothpaste.

Food color: red, green, blue

Granulated sugar for sprinkling/decorating later.

Mix the powdered sugar and the water together in one bowl. Add the extract. Then, divide the sugar mixture into four separate bowls. Color each one a different color (lightly), but you can leave the fourth one white—or pale yellow looks pretty too.

Grammy’s recipe says that you’re supposed to form the sugar “dough” into balls, flatten them, and place them on waxed paper. And I remember doing this as a little girl, but the recipe I made above was a little thinner. I probably should have added more powdered sugar, but I didn’t. (That’s why mine look a little sloppy and misshapen on the plate for the feature image for this blog.) I just dropped the mixture from spoons onto aluminum foil (also a bad idea—they will probably stick) and let them flatten out on their own. Then, I sprinkled them with a little granulated sugar.

Here’s the big catch: You’re supposed to let them stiffen up overnight. That’s right. You just leave them out there for the Heat Miser to melt, so it’s best to keep them away from hot things like your oven. Or, sometimes Grammy would just place them in a clean cardboard gift box/shirt box.

Then, the next morning, you can flip them over (if you used waxed paper like the original recipe says, instead of aluminum foil, which is what I did) and sprinkle them with more granulated sugar. HOWEVER, the next morning, mine had not stiffened up, but maybe it’s because of all the rain we’ve been having in western Washington? Yeah, I’m just going to blame the rain. That’s why we have to scrape them off the aluminum foil with a spoon. Still good, though!

Results: These mints do not taste like toothpaste, like I suspected mine would. They’re just as creamy and minty and light as I remembered them. Love the pastel colors, too! And the granulated sugar on top adds a fun texture. I do remember eating too many as a kid, but for now: just one or two, and I’m super happy.

Serve these with:

• All the cookies Santa will eat because Mrs. Claus will appreciate his minty breath
• A giant fan running on full blast
• Buckets of ice water—also for throwing at the Heat Miser
• Icicles formed from the salt-free tears of joy from fairy snow leopard seals wearing tutus
• 3-4 boxes of pink champagne
• Sparkly napkins that are four hands wide and one cubit long
• A fathom of silver sprinkles and a noggin of eggnog

Your Turn: What are your favorite no-bake treats?