Friends and neighbours would love to receive a package of homemade Christmas Peppermint Rosettes; these make a lovely take-home goodie bag too! Play with the colours – red mints would be super festive too!
Talk about an easy, no-bake recipe!! These Christmas Peppermint Rosettes are just that. All you need to make these (other than a few ingredients) is a hand mixer and a little patience. Okay, it could be a lot of patience depending on who you ask!
I knew I wanted to include at least one or two candy type recipes in this 24 Cookies of Christmas series. I know candies are not cookies, but when we get closer to the big day, we don’t have much time to bake.
Last year, I did the same thing. I included some fudge and some toffee – both of which I would consider to be a candy rather than a cookie. Christmas Peppermint Rosettes are dainty and delicious and your friends are going to love them!
LET’S TALK ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
For this particular recipe, you most certainly should use regular cream cheese – not light or fat free. First of all, Christmas is not the time to think about calories and fat content. No it isn’t!
And, secondly, the regular cream cheese is almost always slightly thicker, which you will need to make this recipe work well. Otherwise, you might need to add another cup or two of the confectioner’s sugar.
There’s really no need to sift the confectioner’s sugar first. When beating it with a hand-held mixer into the cream cheese and peppermint extract mixture, the clumps will break down easily if there are any to begin with.
Speaking of peppermint extract, be really careful when measuring it. You will want to use two teaspoons exactly. Since confectioner’s sugar is basically sugar dust, it will thin out quite easily with just the slightest bit of liquid.
If you add extra extract, even if it’s not on purpose, you will need to add more confectioner’s sugar to get the rosette batter to the right consistency. Just use a measuring spoon and you’ll be fine.
MORE CHRISTMAS COOKIE RECIPES!
Did you know that I’ve been posting a 24 Cookies of Christmas series for a few years now? There are over 100 Christmas cookie recipes that you can find right here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen! To make it easier to find, I have created a page for each series. Just click on the image below and you’ll find the full series for that volume all one page!
FOOD COLOURING FOR THOUGHT
There are two basic forms of food colouring – liquid and gel. Just like the lecture above about the peppermint extract, the liquid food colouring will certainly affect the consistency of these Christmas Peppermint Rosettes.
In all cases – like every single time – I use gel food colouring. I’m not promoting the product, and I’m not being paid to say this, but Wilton has the best gel food colouring I’ve ever used.
You can buy it in any baking supply store, but Amazon stocks it as well. If you’re in the United States, you can get it here. Or, in Canada, you can order it online here.
For the rosettes you see in the photographs, I halved the mixture and left half of it white, and for the other half, I mixed in a little bit of Wilton’s Kelly Green gel food colouring. Mix in as much as you want until you get the colour you prefer.
DRYING AND PACKAGING
Depending on where you live and how warm or cool your home is, it might take longer for your rosettes to dry. Mine were dry to the touch in 3 hours, but I left them overnight to dry out as much as possible. Be sure to keep them where they are not exposed to pets.
I packaged some of them into cellophane bags to show you how I would dress them up as a take-home gift. It’s important to note that you should not tie the bag tightly closed. Allow the rosettes some air; they will need to breathe. Otherwise, they will get soft.
It’s best to keep the rosettes exposed to natural air for as long as possible. Don’t worry, Dear Reader, they will not ever get too dry or too hard. As soon as you place one in your mouth, they slowly turn creamy like the inside of a peppermint patty. So yummy!
MORE CHRISTMAS CONFECTIONS!
In some cases, we want more than a cookie. That’s why I have two more Christmas-themed collections you might want to consider. The first, is my 12 Bundt Cakes of Christmas, and the second is my 12 Biscotti of Christmas. Click on the image below to see each collection all on one page with links to each recipe!
STORING, PACKAGING, AND FREEZING
Christmas Peppermint Rosettes will stay fresh for about 7 days in a loosely covered container and in a cool place. To be honest, I can’t tell you if they last much longer than that, because we always seem to eat them all up within a week. The only sad thing about these is that you cannot freeze them. Well, you can, but when they thaw, the moisture really affects the texture.
Like I said, leave them loosely covered so that they are exposed to air. This will keep them dried out, which is what you want. If you want to give them away to family and friends, make them up a day or two before you gift them. If you’re feeling extra festive, make a double batch! People love to receive homemade Christmas goodies. And it feels so good to do so!
Christmas Peppermint Rosettes
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 5 cups confectioner's sugar
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1 red gel food colouring
- 1 green gel food colouring
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl (use a deep bowl to keep the confectioner's sugar from flying all over your kitchen!) use a hand-held mixer to beat the cream cheese until smooth and lump-free.
- Beat in the peppermint extract.
- Add the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time. (You may need a little more depending the type of cream cheese you're using. Add 1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar at a time until the mixture resembles thick buttercream frosting.)
- Divide the mixture evenly into 3 bowls.
- Add red gel food colouring to one bowl until you have reached the desired red colour, stirring to completely incorporate the gel into the cream cheese mixture.
- Add green gel food colouring to another bowl until you have reached the desired green colour, stirring to completely incorporate the gel into the cream cheese mixture.
- Leave the third bowl as is.
- Add each colour to a separate piping bag fitted with a large star piping tip.
- Pip rosette shapes onto the prepared baking sheet(s), leaving 1/2 inch of space between each rosette.
- Set the baking sheet(s) aside and allow the rosettes to air dry. This will take at least 3 hours. The bigger the rosette, the longer it will take to fully dry.
- When fully dry, store in airtight container or package in cellophane bags for gift giving.
Nutrition
Martha says
For years we have used this recipe for mints at family weddings. We color them to match the bridesmaid dresses. They are rolled in plain sugar and pressed in a mold then out to dry. I have made hundreds of these over the years. I like how you made them into cute rosettes.
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thank you, Martha. 🙂
Shelley Groen says
Are these ok to freeze or would that encourage moisture? How far in advance do you suggest preparing them? I hope my piping skills will do them justice!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Hi Shelley – I would not freeze these. They would not hold up well to being thawed.
Lin says
What tip do you use to make the rosettes ?
Marg says
How many pieces is one serving?
byronethomas@gmail.com says
One piece is a serving.