Frango Mints

Frango Mints are the Chicago candy counter classic that put Marshall Field’s on the map, and this copycat skips every fussy step a candy shop would put you through. No tempering, no thermometer, no double boiler dance. Six ingredients in a bowl, an eight-inch square pan, and a few hours in the fridge.

The technique is straight creaming-method, like making cookie dough. Twelve ounces of melted chocolate cools while you cream margarine with powdered sugar and two eggs to a fluffy base. The cooled chocolate folds in along with the mint extract, then the whole thing packs into a square pan and chills until firm enough to slice.

Mint extract is mighty stuff. Start with two or three drops, taste, and add more carefully. Peppermint dominates fast, and adding too much turns the candy into toothpaste territory. Vanilla anchors the chocolate so the mint reads as a bright top note rather than the only flavor in the room.

These cut into clean little squares once fully chilled, perfect for holiday cookie tins or wrapped individually as gifts. They keep two weeks in the fridge.

Pro Tips

• Cool the melted chocolate to barely warm before mixing in. Hot chocolate scrambles the eggs and breaks the candy.
• Line the pan with parchment with overhang on two sides for easy lift-out and clean cuts.
• Cut with a hot knife wiped between slices for sharp edges.
• Store the chilled candy between layers of parchment so squares don’t stick.

Variations

• Swap mint extract for orange extract for a Frango orange version Field’s also sold.
• Roll squares in cocoa powder for a truffle-style finish.
• Use bittersweet chocolate instead of semisweet for a deeper, less sugary candy.