Old-Fashioned Butter Mints
1/4 c butter, softened
1/4 t salt
3 1/4 c powdered sugar plus 1/4 cup if needed
1/3 c sweetened condensed milk
1/2 t peppermint extract
food coloring, optional
Combine butter and salt and beat for 1 minute on medium-high speed. Add the 3 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, milk, peppermint, and beat on medium-low speed until a dough forms. If the dough seems wet, add additional confectioners’ sugar until dough combines. The dough will be crumbly but will come together when pinched and squeezed into a ball.
Taste test. If you want a more intense mint flavor, add additional mint extract, to taste. Only add by drops as it's easy to quickly overwhelm with too much.
If you want different colored mints, divide the dough into separate balls and add food coloring of your choice.
If you don't want to use molds, just roll dough into long thin cylinders about 1 centimeter wide. Place cylinders on countertop and with a pizza cutter slice cylinders into bite-sized pieces, approximately 1 centimeter long. To use molds, pinch off a small bit, press into a mold and then unmold carefully, laying the mint on foil or parchment.
Store mints in an airtight container in the refrigerator where they will keep for many weeks.
