Grandmama pampas' old-fashion pull mints

"These mints are so good! They're the soft, melt-in-your mouth kind that remind you of trips to your grandparents' house. Yum! This is best done on a marble slab, but can be done on a very clean baking sheet, although it may affect the temperature of the candy. Original recipe yield: 1 pound of candy."
Recipe by: roselinia

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Preparation Time:

20 Min

Serves:

Difficulty:

Easy

Cost:

Main Ingredients:

3 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup boiling water

1 tablespoon butter
3 drops peppermint oil
food coloring (optional)

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

Place sugar and 3 tablespoons butter into a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Pour the boiling water over, and stir to dissolve. Allow the mixture to come to a rolling boil. It will boil up in the pot as if it is going to boil over, but it will settle down. Use some of the remaining butter to butter a marble slab.
When the sugar mixture reaches the soft crack stage of 270 to 280 degrees F (132 to 140 degrees C), remove from the heat immediately. Pour onto the buttered marble slab. Add peppermint oil and food coloring if desired. Butter your hands, and start pulling up pieces of the sugar blob. Keep stretching so that it will not set up. Continue to stretch until it has lost it's shine and is stringier.
Pull the candy out into one long string, and cut into 1 inch segments using scissors. Store candies in an airtight tin.

Note:If it turns back into sugar while being pulled, put it back in the pot with another cup of boiling water and start again at step 2.