Old Fashioned Potato Candy
Updated
Updated
This old fashioned Potato Candy is a classic sweet treat made with only 4 ingredients and doesn’t require any baking. It’s a must at holiday time!
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Old Fashioned Potato Candy Recipe
I was at a friend’s house last week and she set out some leftover Potato Candy she had made for a baby shower she hosted. There were only a few pieces remaining…and I coveted them all.
This confection is made up of powdered sugar, mashed potatoes, and nut butter. Mashed potatoes mixed with powdered sugar? Like…what? I know it sounds weird, but you can’t taste the potato at all; it’s used more as a binder here.
Potato Candy is such a sweet and rich nostalgic treat. If this is your first year trying some, it won’t be your last. It makes a great addition to any holiday dessert tray!
What is Potato Candy?
Rumor has it that this potato candy recipe originated in Germany and then brought to the United States. There’s also debate over it being Irish, Russian, and Pennsylvania Dutch.
What we do know is that it became popular during the Great Depression, when people needed to be frugal, making use of ingredients that were widely available and really inexpensive. Makes sense now that I think about it – they used potatoes in everything. Why not put it to use in a dessert, too. Depressed people need sweets more than anyone!
Even though the Depression era was temporary (thank goodness), this recipe lives on for eternity, because it’s sweet, easy to make, and irresistible!
How To Make Potato Candy
Here’s a quick overview of how to make potato candy.
(Scroll down to the recipe card below for more detailed instructions and don’t miss the video below.)
- Cook the potatoes. Cook the potato until tender, drain and transfer to a bowl; mash until smooth and lump-free (a ricer is ideal for this!) You’ll need a 1/2 cup mashed. Allow to cool slightly, but still warm.
- Combine with powdered sugar and vanilla. In a extra large bowl, combine cooked potato and 2 cups of the powdered sugar until blended (at this point it will be very loose.) Stir in the vanilla. Continue to add 1 cup of the powdered sugar at a time until the mixture forms a putty-like dough. (Use a handheld electric mixer if stirring with a wooden spoon gets too difficult.)
- Shape the dough. Shape the dough into a mound, then transfer onto an 18×12 sheet of wax paper sprinkled with powdered sugar; sprinkle the top with a little powdered sugar. Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangular shape, about 1/4-inch thick; trim to form straight edges.
- Spread with nut butter. Spread an even layer of nut butter over the surface of the candy. Slowly roll the candy from one long edge to another. Wrap with the wax paper, cut in half.
- Chill and slice. Place in a resealable plastic bag and chill until firm, about an hour. Slice rolled potato candy into 3/4-inch thick pieces and enjoy!
Recipe Variations
You want to stay true to the powdered sugar and potatoes, but as far as the filling, there are many options! You can use…
- Any nut butter (peanut butter, sunflower butter, almond butter, etc.)
- Cookie butter (my kids favorite!)
- Nutella
Tips for Success
- It’s very sweet! This treat is super sweet and rich, so a little goes a long way.
- Do no use granulated sugar. This candy must be made with powdered sugar for the right consistency and texture.
- The amount of powdered sugar matters. This recipe is incredibly easy, but it requires you to pay attention to how much powdered sugar you are adding. 6 cups might be enough, or you might need 7. Just stop adding it once a putty-like texture is achieved. You don’t want it so stiff that it cracks as you roll into a log, but you don’t want it sticky.
- Work quickly. This dough does dry fairly fast, so work quickly.
- Don’t waste the excess dough you trim off! Roll back into a ball (before it dries out) and pinch off small amounts; form into balls and coat with cocoa powder.
Video: Potato Candy
Proper Storage
Leftover potato candy can be stored up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
More Holiday Candies:
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Old Fashioned Potato Candy
Ingredients
- 1 small russet potato, , peeled and chopped
- 6-7 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter, , almond butter, cookie butter, or nutella
Instructions
- In a small pot of boiling water, cook the potato until tender. Drain and transfer to a bowl; mash until smooth and lump-free (a ricer is ideal for this!) You’ll need a 1/2 cup mashed. Allow to cool slightly, but still warm.
- In a extra large bowl, combine cooked potato and 2 cups of the powdered sugar until blended (at this point it will be very loose.) Stir in the vanilla.
- Continue to add 1 cup of the powdered sugar at a time until the mixture forms a putty-like dough. (Use a handheld electric mixer if stirring with a wooden spoon gets too difficult.) Shape into a round.
- Transfer the dough onto an 18×12 sheet of wax paper sprinkled with powdered sugar; sprinkle the top with a little powdered sugar. Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangular shape, about 1/4-inch thick; trim to form straight edges.
- Spread an even layer of nut butter over the surface of the candy. Slowly roll the candy from one long edge to another. Wrap with the wax paper, cut in half. Place in a resealable plastic bag and chill until firm, about an hour.
- Slice rolled potato candy into 3/4-inch thick pieces and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!
Sorry if this is a duplicate question.
Can you use instant potatoes?
I’ve never tried this with instant potatoes and would need to do further testing before I could vouch for results. My concern is they would be too thin/soft and change the overall texture.
I have made this many times and it is wonderful! Everyone always wants me to bring it. My Mom used to make it too. It is so easy to make just make sure you let the potato cool. Everyone should try this recipe you want be disappointed.
I was wondering if substituting 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 cup of coco would still work well. Do you think peanut powder you can purchase to make peanut butter would work to replace some of the powdered sugar? I am not fond of very sweet candy thought one of these exchanges might make it less so.
I been making this candy for over 60 years, passed down from my grandmother and mother. We also use color dye for candy to add different colors to it
Has anyone tried to make this with canned potato?
Loved this!
This is just like my Nonna used to make – such great memories. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I made this with my Grandmother when I was small. I have never had the recipe so thank you for this! It is the best candy!
My grandmother taught me to make this but there wasn’t a potato just a box of powdered sugar, a stick of butter and tsp of vanilla. Adding a teaspoon of water at a time if it was too hard to mix. Sometimes I add cocoa to the mix before rolling it out and spreading the peanut butter. If I’m in a hurry I just add the peanut butter to the bowl, stir it and make balls before refrigerating. This is a nice simple recipe to alter with nuts, colors, flavorings etc for every holiday. No matter how much o make, it never has lasted more than two days.
WOW! Brought back a lot of memories! I was taught to make this using leftover mashed potatoes (so they already had milk & butter & S/P in them) But everyting else is the same. I remember an older lady at our church showed my mom & I how to make this candy-I was pretty young 3rd or 4th grade, maybe,!
My family has been making this candy for as long
As I can remember. I always thought my great grandma invented this lol. I ad evaporated milk when I mash the potato. I taught one of my daughters to make this thinking it was unique to our family.
A co-worker that I had the pleasure of working with in the 70s made this and brought it to work to share. I loved it then and she was kind enough to give me recipe. It wasn’t that difficult to make . Years later I made it again and it brought back such fond memories of my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
For all those people not using potato in the recipe then guess what? IT’S NOT POTATO CANDY!
LOL. How else would you make it?
I use to make something like this for Holi, for many years, only I made peppermint patties.. lost the recipe. Now I can use this, was pleased to see it..
How do you make peppermint patties?
Mom made these for years. She rolled the dough into a ball and dipped them in chocolate. she added chopped maraschino cherries in them. coconut, peanut butter or mint flavoring instead of the dough. let them chill and dip them in chocalate> SO yummy
I make something similar, but not with potatoes. I use 1 stick of softened butter, 2 pounds of powdered sugar, and either 1/3 cup of canned milk or 1 can of Eagle Brand milk.
I make 3 batches. One batch I roll into balls around marachino cherries, freeze, then dip in almond bark.
One batch I mix in nuts and coconut, form into small logs, freeze and dip.
The third batch I tint with green food coloring, add peppermint flavoring, roll to about 1/4 inch, cut into 1 1/2 – 2 inch circles, freeze and dip.
Mom made these for years and passed the recipe on to us kids.
Make this with peanut butter. We love it.
A pure treasure from growing up with my Gran. Thanks for sharing!
Totally different dessert!!
I read all the comments, and was surprised that I did not see ONE recipe like my mother ‘s “Potato” candy.
I don’t know WHY she did not use potatoes, or if she did, WHY she quit. Instead of the mashed potatoes, she slowly added Evaporated Milk to the Powered Sugar, until it reached the desired consistency. She did not use Vanilla Flavoring. Maybe the alterations she made were because she did not have the mentioned ingredients on hand at the time, and she liked her version better. She experienced the Great Depression also.
We learned to make this as kids.I always called it poor kids candy. It is very sweet.I have made it for my children and grandchildren, Think I am going to try rolling it in some salted nuts and see how tat works.
I have made this for many years… my grandma taught me when I was 7ish..Much the same but always put just a VERY small pinch of salt in the dough. Try it…
Do you have to have vanilla???
You can leave it out if you want.
My grandma and mom use to make this, she taught us kids and it’s not an American dish. It came from Russia ??/ Scottish backgrounds and this recipe is not exactly how we were taught but with the same outcome. It’s delicious but you have to limit how much you eat at a time
In my family we used jelly as the filling since my cousin was allergic to chocolate, honey, all forms of nuts! The most requested flavors were mint or raspberry.