About xylitol: 1 cup of xylitol, a sugar alcohol, has 228g carbs, but as humans we don’t have the enzymes to process any of the nutrients from xylitol, so it passes through our system. Studies show that blood sugars and ketone levels are not affected by this in humans, but it can cause digestive upset if you are sensitive to sugar alcohols. If you aren’t sure how you will react to xylitol, use in moderation. I recommend trying one piece 2-3 times a day, preferably after eating.
I have a favorite peppermint breath mint that’s made from xylitol, but hate paying the price. It’s around $6 for a small tin. I knew right after buying them I could probably duplicate them at home for a fraction of the cost. I mean, they were just fragmented pieces (name hint) and the ingredients were simply xylitol and peppermint essential oil. I finally got around to trying this last night and the result was exactly as I’d hoped. I knew that xylitol could be melted, as I’d done it many times when making chocolate ice cream (recipe coming soon). You just have to be careful not to let it burn.
Please make note: xylitol is extremely toxic to dogs, so be sure to keep it out of reach. Xylitol can cause dangerously low blood sugar and even liver failure if a dog ingests enough of it.
makes 228 pieces
The Preparation
- 1 cup xylitol
- 4 drops peppermint extract, or quality, food-grade essential oil
The Execution
1. Put xylitol in small, stainless steel saucepan.
2. Over low heat, melt xylitol. This takes approximately 5 minutes, depending on exact heat setting, being careful not to burn. If you have a candy thermometer, it should read above 300 (mine was at 350).
3. While xylitol is melting, line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Remove xylitol from heat and let cool about 10 minutes or until the thermometer reads 275 or less. Add peppermint extract and stir to mix. (Adding peppermint extract to the xylitol at higher temps could cause it to spatter) Pour out into center of parchment and spread out as best you can. Please use caution, as this liquid is extremely hot.
4. Let dry. This will take up to 24 hours. As it dries, it forms these cool looking star shapes.
5. I let mine dry overnight, then turned it in the morning. The bottom was still wet in the center. As it dries, break apart to help further drying. When dry it will be opaque white and be covered with the star design.
6. When completely dry, break into serving sized (1 gram) pieces.
This makes a total of 4 servings of Peppermint Frost Breath Mints. Each serving comes out to be 17 calories, 0g fats, 5.2g net carbs, and 0g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 1 cup xylitol | 64 | 0 | 20.8 | 0 | 20.8 | 0 |
| 4 drop peppermint extract | 12 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Totals | 76 | 0 | 21.3 | 0 | 21.3 | 0 |
| Per Serving (/4) | 19 | 0 | 5.3 | 0 | 5.3 | 0 |
Peppermint Frost Breath Mints
Ingredients
- 1 cup xylitol
- 4 drop peppermint extract or quality, food-grade essential oil
Instructions
- Put xylitol in small, stainless steel saucepan.
- Over low heat, melt xylitol. This takes approximately 5 minutes, depending on the exact heat setting, being careful not to burn. If you have a candy thermometer, it should read above 300F (mine was at 350F).
- While xylitol is melting, line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Remove xylitol from heat and let cool about 10 minutes or until the thermometer reads 275F or less. Add peppermint extract and stir to mix. (Adding peppermint extract to the xylitol at higher temps could cause it to spatter) Pour out into the center of parchment and spread out as best you can. Please use caution, as this liquid is extremely hot.
- Let dry. This will take up to 24 hours. As it dries, it forms these cool looking star shapes.
- I let mine dry overnight, then turned it in the morning. The bottom was still wet in the center. As it dries, break apart to help further drying. When dry it will be opaque white and be covered with the star design. When completely dry, break into serving sized (1 gram) pieces.
Wow – I am so happy to see this post. I have one question, how do I store this recipe after broken into serving pieces.
Thanks,
Laura,
No refrigeration needed. You can store them in practically any container…if you have an old altoids mint tin you can put them in there 🙂
This is great! I really miss instant blasts of fresh minty breath doing keto… I don’t have any xylitol on hand, would erythritol be an acceptable substitute?
Thanks for the recipe!
Unfortunately erythritol re-crystallizes different than xylitol does, so it wouldn’t be an appropriate substitute in this recipe. Sorry!
Craig, thanks for all of these great recipes! I just bought your cookbooks from your site, and I noticed that for some deserts you have Erythritol and some have Xylitol. I have dogs in the house so I won’t keep Xylitol. It’s just easier than worrying about what OTHER thing they’ve just eaten off the floor that could possibly kill them. You said that in this recipe, Erythritol wouldn’t be a good substitute, but are they generally able to be switched out in recipes?
I looked for more info about sweeteners elsewhere on the site, but I found recommended ones and not so much this info.
Hey Meg – sorry for the late reply. Erythritol re-crystalizes after it’s been cooked, so even if you melted it down well it’d just be powderish again once it cooled. It won’t be able to give you a solid mint if you used it.
Wow, carb-free candy. Love it, thanks for sharing!
Just made this and these are good! Still drying but have been breaking off chunks from the edge that are already dry to try them. Additional thoughts:
1. Just melt until it’s completely clear. As long as you’re doing it at low heat, it’ll be cool enough to go ahead and add peppermint extract after you take it off of the heat.
2. Need way more than 4 drops of peppermint extract! Of course, I like my mints strong. I actually added 6 drops to my first batch and will probably go with 12-20 the next time.
3. Good stuff and SOOOOO much cheaper than buying mints at the store!!
Thank you for the tips!
As mentioned in the article, Xylitol is poisonous to animals. But FYI to others making this, it’s not just dogs! Cats and other common pets are among those who you should keep this stuff away from! We’re a cat house, so this was a very important consideration!
For me, this meant letting the mints dry somewhere safe and not just on the countertop. Since we hadn’t used it that day, I just stuck them in the oven for ~24 hours. Of course I was checking on them every hour or two when I was awake, but the oven was a good place for them to be safe for the cats, not to mention safe from the random floating cat hair that would inevitably land on the top of it and be encased in the mints.
And just so you don’t forget, cats are ESPECIALLY attracted to mint smells. So even after you’re done making these, keep the mints somewhere safe and not just in a baggie somewhere. if they’re not in a protective tin (old mint tins that I’ve kept around are what I’m using), keep them in a drawer or cabinet where your pets can’t get them! I can’t stress these things strongly enough!
Is it possible to use another sweetener like monkfruit?
For this specific recipe, it’s not really feasible. The xylitol cools and crystalizes differently than most other sweeteners.
I just put a parchment lined cookie sheet in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. I did a batch with 2 cup xylitol. Used Cinnamon cassia, cinnamon bark and clove essential oils. I also like them strong so used way more than 4 drops per cup.
Thanks for the feedback, Debbie. Sounds amazing — I need to try this myself!
Erythritol might be another good option. Some studies show it’s even more beneficial to oral health than Xylitol.
I haven’t tried this myself, but this is a great idea as well. The only downside is that it’ll probably take a bit longer to melt since erythritol has a higher melting point.
How in the world do you clean the pan afterwards? lol Hot water??
Yes, hot water typically does the trick. I’ve found the easiest way to clean the pan is to fill it with water and bring it to a boil so that the xylitol remelts and dissolves into the water. Then, you can just dump it down the drain.
I hope this helps. Sorry for the delayed reply!
Hello Tyler, thank you I did do the boiling water trick. My breath mints did not come out though. Not minty enough
It’s possible depending on the peppermint extract you used that it wasn’t strong enough compared to the one I have. You can add more peppermint extract as needed if you’d like. If you make it again, I’d recommend having a quick taste of the mixture before cooling it to see if any additional extract needs to be added.