There are a few recipes that instantly take me back to childhood, and these easy cream cheese mints are one of them. They’re sweet, creamy, and just a little minty—the kind of treat that melts in your mouth and feels so nostalgic.

The best part? You only need five ingredients and a few minutes to make them!

I remember my grandma making these (we called them “party mints” back then) and man, I loved when the ladies at church brought them to potlucks!! They are perfect for weddings, baby showers, and Christmas, and I can still remember sneaking one (or five!) off the tray when grandma wasn’t looking.

I tried making old fashioned cream cheese mints on my own for the first time in college and then totally forgot about them. They need to be posted here! They are the perfect holiday treat! The best no bake mint candy recipe!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Cream Cheese: The base of the recipe. It provides creaminess, a slight tang, and moisture to bind the powdered sugar into a smooth dough. It also keeps the mints tender instead of dry or crumbly.
• Butter: Adds richness and a silky texture, helping the mints melt in your mouth. It also balances the tang of the cream cheese and makes the mixture easier to work with.
• Peppermint Extract: Gives the mints their classic cool, refreshing flavor. Just a little goes a long way in creating that signature taste.
• Vanilla Extract: Softens and rounds out the peppermint flavor so it isn’t too sharp, adding warmth and depth to the overall sweetness.
• Powdered Sugar: The bulk of the recipe. It sweetens the mints, thickens the mixture into a pliable dough, and creates that melt-in-your-mouth texture because of its fine consistency.
• Gel Food Coloring: Optional, but perfect for making pastel or seasonal shades. Gel is preferred over liquid so the color is vibrant without thinning the dough.

How to Make Cream Cheese Mints

1. Beat: Add the cream cheese and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamy with the paddle attachment.
2. Combine: Add the peppermint and vanilla extracts to the cream cheese mixture and mix until combined and then lower the speed of the mixer and gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until combined.
3. Add Coloring: If you want to add multiple colors to the mints, separate the dough into different bowls and add gel coloring for your desired colors. Mix thoroughly until the gel coloring is fully incorporated.
4. Form: Use a small scoop, scoop the dough into small balls and roll between your palms. Place the balls on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Dip a fork into powdered sugar and gently press down on each mint.
5. Dry: Let the mints dry at room temperature for several hours. Once they are completely dry, store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container until ready to serve.

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In this roundup, you’ll find the very best Christmas cookies and treats, from classic sugar cookies and peppermint shortbread to peanut butter balls, homemade caramels, and more. Whether you’re baking for a cookie exchange, gifting homemade treats, or just making memories in the kitchen, this list has something everyone will love.

Growing up, baking Christmas cookies was how we kicked off the holiday season — rolling dough, stealing tastes, decorating cookies, and sharing trays with neighbors and friends. Today I still love carrying on that tradition with recipes that are simple, delicious, and always a hit.

Classic Christmas Cookies

These are the cookies that feel like home — soft sugar cookies, classic gingerbread, and nostalgic favorites that every holiday baking list needs. Perfect for cookie plates, decorating traditions, and sharing with neighbors and friends.

Peppermint & Chocolate Favorites

Rich chocolate meets cool peppermint for the ultimate Christmas flavor combo. These cookies look festive, taste decadent, and always feel like the holidays in every bite.

These Viral Candied Cranberries are a holiday hit! Sugared cranberries or Candied Cranberries are easily one of the most beautiful treats, made with only 3 ingredients! They are a sweet-tart snack that you’ll be popping into your mouth all throughout the party!

Last winter we went on a night hike to a Christmas star that’s lit up on a mountainside in Davis County, Utah. It was so much fun and the perfect way to bring a little magic to a mundane week. Afterwards we enjoyed a little birthday cake with a friend that was delicately decorated by their teenage daughter with candied cranberries!

Instantly I realized that I’d never shared our own recipe for the Viral Candied Cranberries!

Ingredients for Candied Cranberries

• Fresh Cranberries: These are the star of the recipe. Their natural tartness balances the sweet coating, and their firm skin helps them hold their shape during the candying process.
• Sprite: The soda acts as a sweet, citrusy soaking liquid that lightly infuses the cranberries with flavor and helps the sugar adhere. Its sugars also contribute to the sticky coating that allows the powdered sugar to cling.
  • NOTE: Any lemon lime soda works great — 7 Up, Starry, Fresca, even Mtn Dew would work. Just don’t use diet soda!
• Powdered Sugar: This provides the delicate, frosty coating. Its fine texture clings easily to the cranberries, creating that pretty snowy finish while adding a sweet counterpoint to the tart berries.

How to Make Sugared Cranberries

1. Prep: Preheat oven to 200℉ and the cranberries and remove any shriveled ones.
2. Soak in Sprite: Place in a bowl and cover with sprite. Allow to sit for 20 minutes and drain in a colander then pour back in a large bowl.
3. Coat in Sugar: Add the powdered sugar. Shake vigorously to evenly coat all berries evenly without clumps.
   • NOTE: If they look slimy, add more powdered sugar. They should look dry.
4. Bake: Using a slotted spoon, scoop the cranberries onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 200℉ for 3-5 minutes.

What to Do With Candied Cranberries (Besides Just Snacking!)

I love to put a bowl of these out during the holidays for the family or friends to snack on but they can be used for many things. They make a great topping for oatmeal or yogurt, and they add a delicious tart bite to a salad.

I’ve seen them used as a decorative garnish for holiday cakes or cupcakes as well just the one we had for my friend’s birthday. The

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls [+Video]

Indulge in these delicious, easy-to-make chocolate peanut butter balls that are perfect for any occasion. With just 4 ingredients, you can satisfy your sweet tooth in no time!

Creamy peanut butter filling coated with rich chocolate creates a simple but immensely flavorful treat. You probably already have everything that you need for these truffles in your pantry. I like to think that these little bites of chocolate and peanut butter are a more elegant and refined version of the classic chocolate peanut butter cup. They are loaded with peanut butter flavor and are a beautiful and impressive little treat!

I know that we have a lot of chocolate and peanut butter fans around here so I’m giving you one more thing to love. Truffles are a delectable treat to enjoy no matter what the season, but I especially love to make them around the holidays. They are the perfect treat to bring to a dinner party or even package up and give as a Christmas gift for neighbors. These little truffles are so irresistible that you won’t be able to stop eating them.

Make a batch for yourself or a few for your friends and family. Everyone will love these creamy chocolate covered peanut butter truffles!

Ingredients for Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

Remember how I said you probably have all the ingredients for best peanut butter balls recipe in your pantry already? Well, you only need 4 ingredients and here they are:

• Powdered Sugar
• Creamy Peanut Butter
• Butter
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, or any chocolate chip or melting chocolate

The measurements and details for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Chocolate Dipped Truffles

A recipe that only uses 4 ingredients has to be super simple, and this one is! The steps are easy, but just takes some time to let different steps set up. Extra bonus…no candy thermometer needed! Here is what you will do:

1. Combine: Add the sugar, peanut butter, and butter (or cream cheese) to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix together with the paddle attachment until combine.
   • NOTE: The consistency should be that the dough holds together when you squeeze it in your hand. If it’s too wet, add a little more powdered sugar. If it’s too dry and crumbly, add a little more peanut butter. Keeping the dough chilled and cold and trying not to handle it too much will help a lot!
2. Scoop: Using a small cookie scoop and your hands, shape the peanut butter mixture into 1/2-3/4 inch balls and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
3. Chill: Cover loosely and place in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.
4. Melt: Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set over a pot of simmering water (or use a double-boiler) and heat until completely melted and smooth.
5. Read more

Chocolate Covered Coconut Balls {6 Ingredients!!}

Chocolate covered coconut balls are a recipe from my childhood. My mom would make them every year for Christmas to take around to our friends and neighbors. I didn’t like them at all. Haha! Oh how things change!

Is there an age you reach that you start looking backward instead of forward or is this just a me thing? I’ve been very nostalgic lately and it seems to grow more and more so as the years move on.

Yes, I still hope and dream. I still am loving life and where it’s taking me, but I’ve found this fondness for time and our stories. As a little girl I had no idea that the past little moments would one day be big ones to me. Coconut chocolate balls were absolutely not on my radar as ever mattering. In fact, I hated them, but there’s a reason they are here.

Home was a Safe Haven

I grew up on a very small private road in Vancouver, Washington. Our street was shaped like the letter T. You entered at what would be the bottom of the T and drove down until you had to go left or right. I was off to the right and I can still see our big rhododendron bushes lining our yard and the way the fog hung in the air as we walked to school each morning.

Every Christmas, lights would appear on houses and Christmas trees in windows and as I wandered home from school careful to not walk too close on the right where the huge mean poodles lived, and quick to walk past a field on the left where occasionally the rottweilers got out of their fence and would chase us barking and nipping at our buns (it was horrifying to say the least) I would picture all of the goodies Mom would be standing at the kitchen island making.

As a kid you don’t really think about other kids and their homes. I just assumed all families were doing what we were. All kids were safe and happy. All moms were full time at home cleaning house and preparing wonderful meals and goodies. I know better now. I grew up in a safe haven. A place of love and peace. I find myself looking back as the mother of children now and understanding what I am to create and who I am to be because of these memories of my family.

Connecting in the Kitchen

Peanut butter balls were my favorite. All dipped in chocolate like a Reese’s peanut butter cup. But every year Mom made a batch of the dreaded coconut balls too. GAG!! Ugh, all those stringy strands of pungent coconut like you’re eating a hairball from our little Tabby cat.

But remember, I’m nostalgic, and looking back all while I’m circling my arms around my little ones so one day I found myself wanting to connect with our teenager and realized, she adores coconut and I have just the recipe to make with her. A grandmother’s love entered that kitchen as we rolled ball after ball of coconut. I was able to weave generations and hearts together and suddenly the hated coconut balls weren’t hated at all, but instead they became a treasure between a mother and a daughter.

What Ingredients Do I Need for Chocolate Covered Coconut Balls?

Sometimes all you need is a few simple ingredients