Mints - Altoid Style - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb gum paste (from candy section of craft store)
15 -20 drops essential oils, peppermint (food grade)
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring (or sub paste or gel food coloring)
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preparation

Open bag of gum paste & add the peppermint (or other flavor of your choosing).
Close bag & knead until well incorporated.
Remove 1/2 of gum paste (cover & set aside).
Add food coloring to paste left in bag & knead to incorporate.
- From this point, you may want to wear some kitchen gloves (you know - thin, food handling type, so you don't end up with red hands. You may also want to work on parchment or a cutting board to keep your counter from possibly staining :) -.
Remove red paste from bag, finish kneading color in, if necessary.
Working fairly quickly, to avoid the candy drying out (you can use the powdered sugar to dust the surface you're working on).
Split red & white pastes in half & roll in to 4 long, thin ropes.
Place 4 ropes together & roll into one rope approximately 1/2 inch in diameter.
With a very sharp knife cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
If they squish a little, due to cutting, just press back in to round.
Toss in a 9 x 13 baking pan and air dry for 48 hours.
Package in little cellophane bags or little tins (washed), etc, from the craft store.
NOTE - Cooking time is drying time.
From Cheeky Kitchen 2011.