How to Make Lemon and Mint Sugar

This is a delightful addition to iced tea, but you can use it with anything you like. Try it on top of cupcakes or sprinkle a little on vanilla ice cream. Use your imagination. Any way you use this, you'll love its refreshing sweet taste and simplicity.

Things You'll Need

• 1 cup sugar
• 5 or 6 small to medium leaves of mint
• 1 tbsp. grated lemon peel

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

2. Get a shallow pan--a cookie sheet with a lip on it is great but so is a lasagna pan or small square cake pan. It doesn't matter if it's glass or metal.

3. Mix the sugar, mint and lemon peel in a small bowl. Make sure it's thoroughly mixed. Spread the mixture in the bottom of the pan and bake it for 25 minutes. The mint leaves have to be nice and crunchy. Stir it four or five times while it cooks. Let it cool down.

4. Put the sugar mixture into a blender. Turn it on low and blend until the mint, lemon and sugar are mixed well and ground fine.

5. Store the sugar in a container with a tightly fitting lid. It will keep for as long as 6 months if it's sealed properly.

Tips & Warnings

• Try this recipe with ginger or anise instead of the lemon peel. It's a nice variation.

• Don't undercook the mix--leaves must be very dry and crunchy or it will not come out right.