French Mints (Microwave Two ingredients!)

French Mints! Creamy, minty deliciousness! This recipe is so super quick an easy but looks sensational on a cookie plate or in a gift tin during any holiday or special occasion. I like to make these to give to my friends and family during the holiday season (I also like to make these at Valentine's day and Easter too!). They are a treat you can whip up really quick and they look elegant for any occasion. The French Mints are a creme de menthe flavor of mint....similar to an Andes mint rather than peppermint.

I love this recipe because you can make them weeks in advance and do it all in the microwave. I like to make several batches and keep them during the busy holiday season. These are elegant enough for a wedding, anniversary party, bridal shower or any other fancy affair! You can use this as a filling layer in your brownies instead of making it into individual mints. This will really dress up the brownies for the holidays!

If for any reason you can't find the mint flavored chips in your baking aisle (or if you want a different color than green for a special occasion....you can use white vanilla baking chips and add creme de menthe flavored oil that you can purchase at Hobby Lobby, Michael's or Joann Fabric or online from Amazon. I have used the Loraine brand oils and they work great. You can also add a different color. They sell specialty food colors also right next to the flavors. For this recipe today, I kept it simple and just used the Guittard green mint chips (which are gluten free) along with the can of of sweetened condensed milk. Yep, that's it. You melt them together in microwave for 1-2 minutes and stir every 30 seconds until smooth. If you want to be really fancy....you can dip them in green colored vanilla coating or chocolate coating which gives them a shiny elegant coating! Yep, I did that to kick it up a notch today!

I find that with each passing year, I am just as busy as the year before and I want to cut back on baking and gift shopping so I can spend quality time with people that are important to me. I don't want to spend hours and hours in the kitchen or have a messy kitchen the ENTIRE month of December. I want to do fun things with friends and family. Life is short and I want to enjoy it. However, I also want to have homemade treats to share. This is one of the recipes that allows me to compromise and have both!

French Mints (Creme de menthe candies)

• 2 cups of Guittard green mint chips (You can substitute 2 cups of vanilla chips + 1-2 vials of Loraine creme de menthe oil found in candy department of most craft stores or pharmacies during the holidays). 
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

Mix together in a glass bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals (stir every 30 seconds) until smooth. Pour into a waxed lined 8x8 pan. Refrigerate until set. Cut into squares. At this point you can dip into melted chocolates for an elegant finish if desired but they are good just like this too!

These are the green mint chips I used. I found them at my local Winco grocery store in the baking aisle. 

Stirring every 30 seconds until smooth

Just removed from 8x8 square pan and getting ready to cut into squares

Cut into squares. Ready to eat or you can dip them into chocolate for a more elegant presentation

I decided to melt white and green candy coating for a mint green color to dip the chocolates.
You can use plain white or dark chocolate coating to dip them. Or do a combination of colors.

Just dipped into the green coating. Waiting for them to dry on the waxed paper

I decided to finish them off with a dark chocolate drizzle since I had some left from another holiday treat. 

Packaged and ready to give my friend

I wonder if she will notice if there is one missing?!  ;)

I hope you enjoyed this super easy, delicious and elegant treat that you can use for any celebration. Actually, I enjoy these while reading a book on the couch. No special occasion needed! Please post your pictures, comments, questions or substitutions that worked (or didn't work) below. We all learn from each other!

Enjoy each moment of the holiday season. I know it can be a hectic and stressful time of year filled with chaos but try to do 3 kind things each day. Not only will you make someone else's day more pleasant but it will make you feel better about yourself.

Love, Peace & Happiness! <3
Tanja
Gluten Free Casually