• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Eat Like No One Else logo

  • 🏠 Home
  • ℹ️ About
    • How to Eat Like No One Else
  • 🎄 Christmas
    • Christmas Breakfast
    • Christmas Cookies
    • Shopping for Christmas Dinner
  • 🎁 Shop for Gifts
  • ✍️ Sign Up for Virtual Events
  • 🚫 Reduce Food Waste
  • 🔨 Work With Us
  • 📝 Privacy Policy
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
menu icon
go to homepage
  • ℹ️ About Us
  • 🎙️ Podcast
  • 🚫 Reduce Food Waste
  • 🧂 Upgrade Your Salt
  • 🍎 Apples Reviews
  • 🔨 Work With Us
  • 📝 Privacy Policy
    • Instagram
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • ℹ️ About Us
    • 🎙️ Podcast
    • 🚫 Reduce Food Waste
    • 🧂 Upgrade Your Salt
    • 🍎 Apples Reviews
    • 🔨 Work With Us
    • 📝 Privacy Policy
    • Instagram
  • ×

    Home » Christmas » Why is Mint (Peppermint) Associated with Christmas?

    Why is Mint (Peppermint) Associated with Christmas?

    Published: Dec 14, 2011 · Modified: Aug 3, 2023 by Eric Samuelson

    Have you ever wondered why mint is a flavor of the Christmas season? We look into that in that blog post. Stay to the end as I share my favorite mint recipes.

    Why Mint at Christmas Time Peppermint

    Who said time machines have not been invented? I know kind of a weird way to start a post on a food blog. But really, your tongues are sort of like a time machine. One taste of something can instantaneously take us to a certain time of the year. A hot dog right off the grill makes us think of summer days. A glass of apple cider and a donut will take us right to all our memories of autumn.

    And Christmas time. Well mint does the trick for me. This time of year you can visit any candy aisle in any store across this country and your going to find mint, particularly peppermint. You can find it all. Candy canes. Peppermint Bark. Holiday Mint M&M's. Tis the season for everything minty. Have you ever pondered why is that? Surely you have because your Google search probably brought you here!

    Jump to:
    • 🎄 How did Pepper(mint) Become Associated with Christmas?
    • 🌿 Mint Recipes
    Holliday Mint M&M's are a stable each year. Although you can now get mint M&M's year around.

    🎄 How did Pepper(mint) Become Associated with Christmas?

    So why is mint associated with the Christmas season? I searched all over online to try to find an exact answer, but I could not find one. So I thought thinking what is the first thing that people think of when they mint at Christmas time? The candy cane. This peppermint flavored treat was first made to be a part of the Christmas experience. It is believed that in 1670, a choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral handed this candy out to children at their living Nativity, to keep the kids occupied. The candy was shaped to look like a shepherd's staff. The peppermint flavor probably wasn't introduced for another 200 years. They became popular to hang on Christmas trees in the United States. So I think this is how mint became associated with Christmas. Starting with the candy cane, other mint flavored candies were introduced over the years until mint became of one of the flavors of Christmas.

    The candy cane is where mint got it's Christmas start.

    Two other things that may have played a role in mint becoming a Christmas stable is that mint is a green leaf. Red and green are the colors of Christmas (figuring out why that is a whole another story). So anything green would sell well at Christmas. I also think that the flavor of mint leaves a coolness in your mouth. That goes along with how we associate Christmas with the cold and snow when in places that won't see a single snowflake this year.

    I love mint flavored things, so I don't mind indulging at Christmas on all sorts of mint flavored goodies. Below you will find some of my favorite mint recipes.

    Mini Chocolate Peppermint Donuts

    🌿 Mint Recipes

    Here are my favorite recipes from the blog using mint. I would definitely start with the Mini Peppermint Chocolate Donuts. They are tender and so delicious straight out of the oven. While not a mint recipe, I do also have a mini pumpkin donut recipe you can try out.

    • Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
    • Nestle Dark Chocolate & Mint Chip Cookies
    • Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream

    On St. Patrick's Day I love to make Mint Buttercream for cookies. I shared on Instagram a waffle recipe that include a mint butter syrup on top. I never turn down anything with mint in it, no matter what time of year it is.

    « Slow Cooker Giblet Stock for Gravy
    What is Farmers Cheese? »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. sheny

      December 21, 2014 at 2:44 am

      Awesome.

    2. Margaret Riche

      December 01, 2018 at 7:06 pm

      brilliant

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Nice to Meet You,

    Hi! I'm Eric : Father of 4, living just south of Ann Arbor, MI. I'm a reformed picky eater finding a new way to not conform. Eating what's in season is my jam (I also make it!)

    Categories

    Top Posts & Pages

    10 Unique Steak Cuts Perfect for Your Next Cookout
    Creamy Chicken with Asparagus in Cast Iron
    Alton Brown's Quick Homemade Cottage Cheese
    Air Fryer Fried Shrimp Tacos with Slaw & Sauce

    Recent Posts

    • 10 Unique Steak Cuts Perfect for Your Next Cookout
    • Creamy Chicken with Asparagus in Cast Iron
    • Alton Brown's Quick Homemade Cottage Cheese
    • Air Fryer Fried Shrimp Tacos with Slaw & Sauce
    • How to Simply Grill Asparagus

    Reduce Food Waste in Your House

    Copyright © 2025 Eat Like No One Else on the Foodie Pro Theme