Breathmints. Or, suck it Starbucks, Altoids, etc.

It all started in high school...my obsession with breathmints and chapstick. I'm not sure what the root cause, was, but I was hooked.  At the time it was Carmex and Starbucks mints.

Starbucks and I had a good relationship for a long time, but in 2009 they phased out my beloved mints and replaced them with a tin of mints that cost the same, but had 1/10th as many mints.  Well played Starbucks, well played.

I floundered for awhile looking for a good replacement.  Some time in 2011, I found Altoids minis "Simply Mint".  They were super hard to find, and I could only buy them at Albertsons.  Sadly, last month, Albertsons discontinued selling them.

Balls.

I did some searching online, and came across this recipe.  Tried it out, and not only is it easy, but it's cheap and the perfect replacement for my Altoids.  I used to spend about $1-2 a week on Altoids,  This recipe made A TON of mints for $5.44.  Shall we get started?

Breathmints
1 little bottle of flavoring of your choice.  I think this size is called a dram.  It was $1.69.
2 cups of dry gum paste (found it at Joann's in the cake section.  Used a 50% off coupon and got it for $3.45.
3 tblsp water (recipe calls for 2, but I needed 3)

1) Mix the gum paste with the flavoring, and water until it forms a very thick paste.

Yes, I do have dirty gardener hands.  So?

2) Put parchment paper on a baking sheet, and dust with powdered sugar.

3) Put the "dough" on the parchment, and dust with a bit more powdered sugar.  I pressed it as thin as I could with the heel of my hand.

4) Now at this point, you could make little balls, or use a tiny mold to make these cute shapes.  If you have time for that, please come to my house and clean it.  I just dusted a pizza cutter with powdered sugar, and cut them in to strips and pieces.

5) I filled a lidded container with the pieces, and sprinkled a bit more powdered sugar in there.  I shook it a few times to make sure that all the pieces were coated enough to not stick to each other.

6) Spread the pieces back on the baking sheet with the parchment, and let dry at room temperature for at least 3 days.  Your house will smell awesome, but please watch out for kiddos and pets.

7) After they were "done", I put them in another container with a washcloth and shook for a minute or so to try to get as much excess powdered sugar off of them.  I filled up my old Altoid tins, and put all the extra in a tupperware container.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  Yep, I'm currently looking for chocolate flavoring to make chocolate mint ones for the holiday gifts!  YUM!