Best Grandmother Shaneys Pulled Mints Recipes

GRANDMOTHER SHANEY'S PULLED MINTS

Steps:

• Combine sugar, butter and water and cream of tartar in sauce pan. Stir over medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Cook without stirring over high heat until temperature reaches 260 or when a little dropped in cold water becomes brittle. Keep sugar crystals wiped down from sides of pan. Pour on greased marble slab or greased large platter. With greased hands turn edges in until it gets cool enough to handle. Sprinkle on color and flavoring and pull until it is almost cold. Stretch to long rope and cut with scissors into short lengths. Store in wax paper lined containers such as a 1 pound coffee can. Some times it takes a little while for them to cream.

MINT CHUTNEY

Steps:

• Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed, scraping the bowl occasionally, until smooth and thick enough to hold at the lip of a spoon without any liquid running. The chunky bits should not separate from the liquid. The consistency of the chutney will probably depend on the strength of the blender, and a chunky chutney made with a lower powered blender tastes just as good as a very smooth one. The chutney can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 day.

BUTTER MINTS

Steps:

• Combine butter and 2 cups sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until sugar is moistened, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until well combined. Return mixer to low speed, add remaining 2 cups sugar, and mix until well combined, 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until light and fluffy, 6 minutes more. Add peppermint extract, milk, and salt; beat until smooth.
• Lightly dust a clean work surface with confectioners' sugar and turn out "dough" onto it. Divide into 5 pieces; tint as desired with food coloring, leaving one piece white. (Keep covered with plastic wrap while working to prevent drying.)
• Roll "dough" into 1/2-inch-thick ropes, then cut into pieces slightly over 1/2 inch long with a paring knife or bench scraper. Transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Let dry, uncovered, at least 12 hours. Mints can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.

HOMEMADE MINTS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and mint extract until smooth. Gradually beat in as much confectioners' sugar as possible; knead in remaining confectioners' sugar. , Divide mixture into four portions. Tint one pink, one green and one yellow, leaving one portion white. For each color, shape into 1/2-in. balls. Dip one side of each ball into sugar. Press sugared side into small candy molds; unmold and place on waxed paper. Let stand 1 hour or until dry before storing in airtight containers; refrigerate. May be stored for up to 1 week before serving.

CREAM CHEESE MINTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and confectioner's sugar. Mix in peppermint oil. Color as desired with food coloring paste, or leave white.
• Roll mixture into small balls, and place on waxed paper. Flatten with a fork dipped in confectioners' sugar. Let dry for about 2 hours on waxed paper, then freeze or refrigerate.

OLD-FASHIONED HOMEMADE HARD CANDY

Steps:

• In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved; then cook without stirring, lowering the heat and cooking more slowly during the last few minutes, to the hard crack stage (300 degrees F), If sugar crystals form on sides of pan, wipe them off with a damp brush.
• Remove from heat, add oil flavoring and enough food coloring to color; stir only to mix. Pour into 2 well buttered 9 inch pans. Set one pan of candy over a sauce pan containing hot water (unless you have a helper to help cut the candy). As soon as the other pan of candy is cool enough to handle, cut it with scissors into 1-inch strips. Then snip the strips into pieces. Work fast. Drop the pieces onto a buttered baking sheet. If the candy cools too quickly, set it on a saucepan over hot water to soften it, but if it gets sticky, return at once to the work counter.
• Toss in a small amount of powdered sugar to keep from sticking together. Repeat with the second pan of candy.