OLD-FASHIONED POTATO CANDY
This Old Fashioned Potato candy is a favorite. The combination of potato, powdered sugar and peanut butter is a family favorite.
If you love this old fashioned candy you will also want to try these wonderful Coconut Pecan Pralines! These are a great addition to any holiday gathering.
❤️WHY WE LOVE THIS RECIPE
This recipe was made popular during the Great Depression era. We love this recipe because the taste is wonderful! It’s hard to leave this candy alone and we love to make it for Christmas. I remember as a kid opening up a tin from the neighbors and this delicious candy would be stacked between wax paper and I would be so excited. It’s that delicious and everyone should try it!
🍴KEY INGREDIENTS
- Potato
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Creamy Peanut Butter
SWAPS
You can use other nut butters in this recipe if you prefer! You could also combine nut butters if you like or add nutella to this recipe too. You can be creative.
🍽️HOW TO MAKE
This recipe takes a little bit of work but once you learn the consistency it will come together really quickly. Full Printable Recipe below.
📖COOKING STEPS
Step 1
Boil potato, peel and put into a large bowl. Mash until lump free. Add two cups of powdered sugar to mixture.
Step 2
Continue to mix until sugar is combined with potato. Add in vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until the mixture reaches a consistency you can mold into a ball.
Step 3
Transfer to a sugared board and sprinkle with more powdered sugar. Roll with a rolling pin. Spread with peanut butter and roll from the long side like a jelly roll. Slice into pieces.
⭐TIPS & NOTES
Do not use granulated sugar, it must be powdered sugar for this recipe to work. The amount of powdered sugar matters and it can vary depending on how much potato you use. This is an old fashioned recipe, so you will need to start with a small potato and just continue to work with the powdered sugar until you get the consistency you need. You don’t want it to crack when you roll it out, you want it to be more clay like. Work quickly the dough will dry out.
If you roll the dough and feel it needs to be chilled before slicing, cut the roll in half and store in the fridge for a bit. Then remove and slice.
OTHER OLD FASHIONED CANDY
STORING & SERVING SIZE
This makes about 20 pieces of candy and we store it in the refrigerator or a cool place.
Old Fashioned Potato Candy
Video
Ingredients
- 1 small russet potato
- 6-7 cups of powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup of creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Instructions
- Boil potato, peel and put into a large bowl. Mash until lump free.
- Add two cups of powdered sugar to mixture. Continue to mix until sugar is combined with potato. Add in vanilla.
- Gradually add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until the mixture reaches a consistency you can mold into a ball.
- Transfer to a sugared board and sprinkle with more powdered sugar. Roll with a rolling pin.
- Spread with peanut butter and roll from the long side like a jelly roll.
- Slice into pieces. Chill for a few hours. Enjoy!
Notes
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Thank you for potatoe candy recipe.
Very good
I know the recipe is all by gosh and by glory, but I did try something a little different last year. I used a Yukon Gold potato for one batch and a red potato for another. Both reacted different than the russet I had always used. I really liked the batch I made with the Yukon gold, and it was much easier to mix and roll. I think the ratio of potato to sugar was better than normal.
My neighbor made these last year after watching me do it, and she used a bag of Ore-Ida russet steamers. You know the kind you make mashed potatoes with, and it worked just fine for her. She made a really, really, big batch!
Isn’t it doughy or mushy?
No because you’re using sugar not flour. It just like melts in your mouth.
My husband makes this every year around Christmas, he uses different food coloring and flavors in small batches. He rolls his on wax paper and puts in the fridge to get chilled to make it easier to slice.
I made this the other day after I saw a jar of the new Hersheys chocolate spread. I put a layer of peanut butter and a layer of the chocolate spread it was fabulous. Have been making potato candy for over 40 rs. one of our favorites.
My mom always made this for Easter. We would shape them like an egg then cover them in chocolate 🙂
P.S. I just LOVE ur recipes. Thx so much
Ive been making this since i was a kid. Lol. My gram used to make it. We just use a tbsp of leftover mashed potatoes. 😉 yum yum.
I make this candy every year for Christmas gifts. My mom always made it. For years I have been looking for an actual recipe. You are right about size of potato, I tried to make a bigger batch once and could never get it to form a dough I just had to get bigger bowls and more sugar. Finally I threw it away. No one got candy that year. ** a quicker way to do, use a food processor , makes it so easy, and a pastry cloth.
** mom also called it “Depression Candy”
I grew up with this! Lol. My kids LUV IT! We just use about a tbsp. of left over mash potatoes and add the powered suger. Same way. LOTS n LOTS of sug, cover rolling pin ect. I’m going to HAVE to make some tomorrow now (having pork sour kraut n mash Heeheehee). Hapoy Turkey Day to all
My grandmother sold these, we did all kinds of flavors, Maple, Walnut, Almond, Fruit and Nut (maraschino cherry and walnut), Cherry, Pineapple, Peanut Butter, and my favorite coconut – For my 16th birthday in 1961, she asked what I wanted for my BD, I said a Giant Chocolate Covered Easter Egg – She did it. It was phenomenal, I froze it and would take it out, cut pieces off of it, and share (sometimes). She used paraffin in the chocolate, come to find out very indigestible and so veg oil is substituted for it. My sweet Granny died that year, and I miss my Minnie Alice Heaton – She was as phenomenal as her Easter Eggs, and loved more and more each year that goes by.
Left over mashed potatoes works as well unless you add some different to you potatoes. the peanut butter mixed with chocolate is good too. Makes a quick after dinner treat
This is soooooo exciting to find. Years ago, my mom searched and searched for this candy’s recipe. She found one and tried it. Even though it was excellent, she said it wasn’t the same as what her grandmother made…too many extras and her search continued. I have only had potato candy once in my life and it was then when my mom made it. I can’t wait to get together with her on a weekend and make this recipe. Another awesome point….I found out this year I’m allergic to what seems like everything….this recipe contains none of my allergens…..whoooo hooooo….I don’t have to tweak to enjoy….and one last note….I love the ‘snow effect’ on you page here…. 🙂 thank you for the recipe!!!
So happy you can use this recipe and thank you for being a part of my site. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
I have been making this for years at Christmas. Somtimes I add red or green food color to the sugar mixture. Makes it very festive.. 🙂
I LOVE potato candy!!! My mom always made this for Christmas when I was growing up thank you for sharing the recipe!!
My grandmother used to make this back when I was a little girl( a long time ago). Love it.
Sounds as though it might be a bit like a doughnut? It looks so easy I just might try it this year.
My mother used to make this for us, but not with the peanut butter. She would roll the potato and sugar mix into balls and dip into unsweetened chocolate which had been melted with a little paraffin and then topped it off with a pecan half. If the chocolate has a good seal, the candy lasts for several days without refrigeration. Pretty and the chocolate offset the sweetness of the candy perfectly!
This is how my husbands grandmother taught me but without the paraffin. She would also divide the “dough” before fully mixed and add different flavorings. Orange was really good, so was the cherry!
We did that too, She also made the candy with a mashed banana instead of the potato… only thing is they don’t last as long. The banana will spoil quickly.
Your candy is something that I have never heard of before…you learn something new everyday on the food blogs…thanks.
I’ve been making Potato Candy for years. It’s so good!