And to keep it more frugal, I break them into teeny pieces after they harden! ;-)
You can make larger batches but a small one like this will yield about 1 to 1.5 cups of mints.
1/2 cup Xylitol
1/4 cup water
peppermint extract
Bring water to a boil and stir in xylitol
Boil for approx. 12 minutes until hard crack stage on candy thermometer.
(I don' t have one for candy so I drip it into a cup of cold water. You want it past the stage of a soft chewy ball. You want it to be hardened quickly in the cold water.)
Remove from heat and add several drops of peppermint extract. Approx. 1/8 to 1/4 t.
You can see in the pics below that I simply used a spoon to drip onto brown paper. (It will make more than this.;)
And hopefully you can see in the second picture, that the candy will begin to change color as it cools. It will turn from a murky clear to white.
And once it hardens, it turns a pretty and crunchy white!
They will be messy and sticky until they harden. They will come off the brown paper once they harden but they may LOOK set up and white,but still be liquid underneath so allow a couple of hours to dry well.
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*Mommies, be careful, this is reallllllly hot!
7 comments:
OH, the dentist told my DH to get the xylitol mints they sell... but they are super spendy... SOOo, where do you get xylitol??? I am just wondering! THANKS so much... I just love your blog!
Denai,
I buy xylitol from a health food store--it's not cheap but still better than buying the pre-packaged mints and gum.
You can just use a pinch of the xylitol sugar instead of the mints and stuff. I keep it in an old Parmesan shaker and sprinkle a pinch in the kids' hands after they eat.
They think it's so cool to get "sugar" after they eat!
Also, you could check at Wal-Mart or whereve you shop, my oldest DS buys Trident or somethig like that with the xylitol in it.(Still cheaper than purchasing through the dentist.)
Thanks so much for your answer! I will look into that for my DH!
I've tried this recipe twice, but neither time did the xylitol drops on the paper form nice white hard crystals in two hours. I even tried putting one paper of drops overnight in the freezer, with no luck. Both batches of blobs were either still semi-soft, or partially crystallized after a day or so.
I believe I followed the recipe carefully, letting the water and xylitol mixture boil for 8 minutes. I'm at sea level here, so I think the temperature was definitely very hot. I used an immersion thermometer and it said the temperature was well over 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Do you think the mixture got too hot? When I dropped a bit into cold water, it didn't form a ball or seem to harden at all. Any suggestions about what I can do to get this recipe to work?
I used 1/4 tsp of peppermint flavor from a health food store for flavoring. It's list of ingredients says: Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Peppermint Oil. Was it the oil in the flavoring that prevented the crystallization?
Anonymous,
I'm so sorry this recipe hasn't worked for you this far. I know xylitol isn't cheap!
I have used it several times and have no trouble with it, I am in TN in a slightly higher elevation.
I boil the mix for 12 minutes, not 8 as you said that you were doing. Those extra four minutes COULD solve the problem.
You may even need to go up to 15 but if you drop it in water and it doesn't harden quickly, its not ready. :-)
The oil in your peppermint might have affected it, but I couldn't say for sure.
I use a kind bought at your average supermarket and those typically have only peppermint oil and/or alcohol.
If you can't get that kind, I would consider not using any just to see if it could be some of the problem.
Also, you could try halving my recipe until you determine what the problem could be BUT just be sure that you
are using twice as much xylitol as water. My recipe is 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup xylitol- this is most important!
Proper ratio!!!
It shouldn't take overnight to set up, however it could take more than a couple of hours but I would say no more than 4 to 6, if the inside of your home is 72 or below.
I really think the problem could be that you need to boil it a little longer. Try going the extra 4 minutes (for the 12 that the recipe calls for:) or until it hardens when dripped in cold water.
I think and hope that will fix it!!!
-it might be the oil, but I really think its the boiling time and/or an improper sugar to water ratio.
Please let me know if that works for you!!! I sincerely hope the next batch is perfect!
Thanks so much for the help! I boiled it for 12 minutes instead of 8 minutes, and the crystals came out fine. I guess the digital thermometer I used was getting confused by the bubbles boiling up, and was telling me the water/xylitol solution was hotter than it really was. I was careful to get the water/xylitol ratio correct.
I tried dropping the hot solution onto a cookie pan, and after they dried they were very easy to scrape off and into a jar. I will use 12 minutes from now on, and also try using supermarket flavors, which use alcohol instead of sunflower oil in the ingredients. The xylitol crystals are yummmy!
Again, thanks so much for your prompt reply. We'll save a lot of money over the cost of store-bought xylitol mints.
Anonymous,
Ah! So glad that worked for you!!!!!
Thanks for letting me know!
Another thing that I'm doing with my older kids is giving them an empty Tic-Tac box so they can have a little shake of xylitol or a mint of xylitol- no matter where they are! :-) I'm trying to get them to take just a "pinch" after they eat anything- snacks, meals, etc
I also keep it in am empty Parmesan shaker on the table for after meals.
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