Vegan Wedding Mints

For the last several weeks I have been wanting to try something "moldable" with the kids, and, for several weeks, they have been asking to make some sort of candy. Solution: Wedding mints.

Problem: Wedding mints are traditionally made using powdered sugar and cream cheese.

So...we went the way of in class experimentation (which is generally what happens when I try to modify a recipe).

I found a recipe here that calls for butter and Crisco, rather than cream cheese, so we simply replaced both ingredients with equal amounts of coconut oil. It required a little more working and warming than the original recipe (too much working for some of our smaller four-year-old hands), but seemed to work out in the end.

The secret to avoiding the more crumbly status seemed to be extra water and extra handling of the dough (and no sensory issues that make getting your hands in deep seem "yucky"). Of course, extra water means extra drying time, but I doubt that our mints lasted until they were dry either way.

The kids were in charge of their own food coloring, but the mints could be just as easily made paler or even pure white to skip out on some of the extra toxins.

How To: Mix 5 cups powdered sugar with 4 tbsp of coconut oil and 3-4 tbsp of water. Add mint extract to taste.

Get your hands in deep and work the dough. (Be patient. This part takes a while.) Your body heat will be what melts down the coconut oil, so don't try to cheat and use a spoon unless you are looking to create powdered sugar crumbs.

Add food coloring if desired. Form into shapes and let sit until dry (several hours).