Peppermint Extract substitute

Best substitute

Crushed candy canes, starlight mints or Andes mints

Use 1 tbsp finely crushed candy for every ½ tsp extract

Best for peppermint bark

Different texture

Peppermint extract's only job is aroma, that cool sharp candy-cane smell, and it adds no sugar, no fat and no structure, so leaving it out will not wreck a recipe, it will just taste plain. The best swap is crushed candy canes or starlight mints, about 1 tablespoon of fine powder per 1/2 teaspoon of extract, stirred into the wet ingredients so they dissolve. Next best is peppermint oil, but it is roughly three to four times stronger, so use 1/8 teaspoon where the recipe wants 1/2 teaspoon and start even lower than that. Creme de menthe works at about 1 tablespoon per 1/2 teaspoon of extract if you accept the extra liquid and a green tint. Plain mint extract is a fine stand-in one for one, though it leans a touch sweeter and more herbal than the icy peppermint note.

Other peppermint extract substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Peppermint oil, food grade
Close match
Use ⅛ tsp oil for every ½ tsp extract, and start with half of that
The same flavour compound at far higher concentration.
What changes
Extract is mostly alcohol with a little flavour in it; oil is close to pure flavour, so the swap is about restraint rather than technique.
Best for
chocolate work and ganache, hard candy and mints, peppermint bark, any recipe where extra liquid would seize the chocolate
Prep. Add it with a toothpick dipped into the bottle rather than a measuring spoon, stir it fully through, then taste before adding a second dip.
Strength varies by brand, so treat three to four times as a range, not a rule. Overshoot it and the bake genuinely tastes of toothpaste, and there is no fixing it. Use only a bottle labelled for food or candy flavouring; aromatherapy essential oils are not sold to food standards and should not go in your baking. The one place oil beats extract outright is in melted chocolate, because extract is water-based enough to make chocolate seize while oil blends in smoothly.
3Creme de menthe or peppermint schnapps
Close match
Use 1 tbsp liqueur for every ½ tsp extract
A sweet mint liqueur, so you get the aroma plus sugar plus alcohol plus, in the green versions, colour.
What changes
Best for
grasshopper pie, frosting and mousse, chocolate mint cake, hot drinks and adult desserts
Reduce the recipe's other liquid by the tablespoon you are adding, or the batter will be slack and the frosting will loosen. Green creme de menthe will tint anything pale a mint green, which is fine for grasshopper pie and wrong for a white peppermint buttercream, so buy the clear white version if colour matters. The alcohol mostly bakes off in a cake but not in an unbaked frosting or mousse, so leave this one out if that matters to you.
4Fresh peppermint or spearmint leaves, steeped
Different taste
Use ½ cup packed leaves steeped into the recipe's dairy, for every ½ tsp extract
Real mint infused into a liquid the recipe already contains.
What changes
It gives a soft, green, garden-fresh mint rather than the sharp icy blast of extract.
Best for
ice cream and panna cotta, custards and pastry cream, chocolate ganache, whipped cream, syrups and drinks
Prep. Bruise the leaves, warm them in the milk, cream or melted butter the recipe already calls for until it just steams, take it off the heat and leave it 20 to 30 minutes, then strain and press the leaves to get everything out.
Be honest about what this does and does not do. Steeped mint is delicious but it is a different flavour, more herbal and rounded, with none of the cooling candy-cane hit, so a mint chocolate chip ice cream made this way tastes grown-up and grassy rather than nostalgic. It also only works where there is a fat or liquid to infuse; you cannot steep mint into a dry cookie dough. Never chop raw leaves into a batter instead, because they turn black and taste of nothing.
5Peppermint tea bags, opened or steeped
Taste and texture differ
Use Contents of 2 tea bags, ground fine, for every ½ tsp extract
A pantry fallback that works because peppermint tea is nothing but dried peppermint leaf, already chopped small.
What changes
Best for
hot chocolate and lattes, syrups and glazes, cake soaks, shortbread and simple cookies
Prep. For a wet recipe, steep 2 bags in 1/4 cup of very hot water for 10 minutes, squeeze them out and use that liquid in place of some of the recipe's liquid. For a dry recipe, tear the bags open and grind the leaf to dust in a spice grinder.
Weaker and more tannic than extract, so expect a gentle mintiness with a faint bitter tea edge rather than a clean sweep of peppermint. Some blends include liquorice root or spearmint, which changes the flavour again, so check the ingredients on the box. Ground leaf leaves visible dark flecks in a pale dough.
6Nothing at all, plus a small change elsewhere
Different taste
Omit, and add ½ tsp vanilla extract in its place
The honest option.
What changes
Peppermint extract contributes aroma and effectively nothing else, so a recipe without it still bakes, sets and rises exactly as written.
Best for
brownies, cookies, cakes and cupcakes, frosting
What you lose is the entire identity of a peppermint recipe, so this is a fine choice for a chocolate cake with a whisper of mint in it and a poor one for peppermint patties, where mint is the whole point. Swapping in vanilla keeps the bake from tasting flat and underseasoned. If mint is genuinely essential and you have no candy, no oil and no fresh leaves, it is worth waiting rather than making a version nobody will recognise.

What is Peppermint Extract?

Peppermint Extract is Peppermint extract is a small bottle of peppermint flavour dissolved in alcohol, made by steeping peppermint leaves or blending peppermint oil into a spirit base, and it is used a quarter teaspoon at a time to make a bake taste of candy cane.

Cooking tips

Peppermint is one of the few flavourings that is easier to ruin by adding too much than too little. Half a teaspoon flavours a whole tray of brownies. A full tablespoon tastes medicinal. Start at the bottom of the range, taste the raw batter or frosting, and add more in 1/8 teaspoon steps.
Extract and oil are not interchangeable spoon for spoon, and this is the mistake that ruins the most Christmas baking. Peppermint oil runs roughly three to four times stronger than extract, so 1/2 teaspoon of extract becomes about 1/8 teaspoon of oil. Measure oil off a toothpick, not a spoon.
For melted chocolate, use oil rather than extract or candy. Any water-based flavouring, including extract, can make chocolate seize into a grainy paste. If extract is all you have, stir it into the butter or cream in the recipe first and never straight into bare melted chocolate.
Peppermint and spearmint are not the same plant and taste noticeably different. Peppermint reads cool and sharp because it is high in menthol, spearmint reads sweet and softly herbal. A bottle labelled only mint extract is usually closer to peppermint and is a fair 1:1 swap, but spearmint in a candy cane bake will taste like chewing gum.
Add extract off the heat and late. Its aroma compounds are volatile and boil away, so stir it into a hot syrup or custard after you pull the pan off the burner, not while it simmers, or you will lose most of what you paid for.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best substitute for peppermint extract?

Finely crushed peppermint candy, about 1 tablespoon per 1/2 teaspoon of extract, stirred into the wet ingredients so it dissolves. It is the same flavour from the same source and you probably already have candy canes or starlight mints if you are baking something peppermint. Reduce the recipe's sugar by about 2 teaspoons per tablespoon of candy to keep the balance right.

Can I use peppermint oil instead of peppermint extract?

Yes, but it is roughly three to four times stronger, so use about 1/8 teaspoon of oil where the recipe asks for 1/2 teaspoon of extract, and add it with a dipped toothpick so you cannot overpour. Only use oil sold as a food or candy flavouring. Oil is actually the better choice in melted chocolate, because extract can make chocolate seize.

Can I just leave peppermint extract out?

Yes. It adds only aroma, no sugar, fat, liquid or structure, so the recipe will bake and set exactly the same. The result simply will not taste of peppermint. Adding 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla in its place stops the bake tasting flat. In something like peppermint patties or peppermint bark, where mint is the entire identity of the dish, omitting it is not really an option.

Is mint extract the same as peppermint extract?

Close but not identical. Bottles labelled mint extract are usually peppermint or a peppermint and spearmint blend, and swap in one for one without anyone noticing. Pure spearmint extract is different, sweeter and more herbal with far less of the cool menthol hit, so a candy cane cookie made with it tastes more like chewing gum than Christmas.

Can I use fresh mint instead of peppermint extract?

Only where there is a liquid or fat to infuse, such as ice cream, custard, ganache or whipped cream. Warm about half a cup of packed bruised leaves in the recipe's cream or milk, steep 20 to 30 minutes off the heat, then strain. The result is a soft garden-mint flavour, not the sharp cooling one, and it will not work in a dry cookie dough. Do not chop raw mint into batter, as it blackens and loses its flavour.

Related substitutes

More flavorings substitutes

Peppermint Extract substitute

Other peppermint extract substitutes

2Peppermint oil, food grade

3Creme de menthe or peppermint schnapps

4Fresh peppermint or spearmint leaves, steeped

5Peppermint tea bags, opened or steeped

6Nothing at all, plus a small change elsewhere