Potato Candy is a no-bake candy made from just four ingredients: a small mashed potato, powdered sugar, vanilla and creamy peanut butter. The warm mashed potato and sugar turn into a smooth, putty-like dough that is rolled thin, spread with peanut butter, rolled up like a jelly roll, chilled and sliced into pinwheels. It is also called peanut butter pinwheels. This recipe makes 24 pieces.
How to make it: Boil and mash a small russet potato until smooth and measure 1/2 cup. Stir in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until a stiff dough forms, then add vanilla. Roll the dough into a thin rectangle on sugared wax paper, spread it with peanut butter, roll it into a log, chill about an hour and slice.
Why You’ll Love It
- Four ingredients: potato, powdered sugar, vanilla and peanut butter.
- No baking: the only cooking is boiling one small potato.
- You can’t taste the potato: it simply makes a soft, sweet dough.
- Pretty pinwheels: the peanut butter swirl shows in every slice, just right for a holiday cookie tray.
What Exactly Is Potato Candy?
Potato candy is a sweet made by working powdered sugar into mashed potato until it becomes a dough, rolling it out about as thin as a pie crust, spreading it with peanut butter and rolling it up. After chilling, the log is sliced into rounds that show a spiral of peanut butter.
The name “Irish potato candy” gets used for two different sweets. One is this potato dough rolled with peanut butter. The other is a candy with no potato in it at all: small balls of cream cheese, powdered sugar and coconut rolled in cinnamon so they look like tiny potatoes. If that is the one you’re after, our no bake coconut cream balls are the closest thing on the site.
Ingredient Notes
Potato: 1 small russet potato, peeled and chopped. You need 1/2 cup once it’s boiled and mashed.
Powdered sugar: 6 to 7 cups, plus more for dusting. The exact amount depends on how moist your potato is, so add it gradually.
Vanilla: 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Peanut butter: 2/3 cup of creamy peanut butter. Almond butter, cookie butter or chocolate hazelnut spread work too.
Ingredients
- 1 small russet potato, peeled and chopped (you need 1/2 cup mashed)
- 6 to 7 cups powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
How to Make Potato Candy
1. Cook the potato. In a small pot of boiling water, cook the potato until tender. Drain and transfer to a bowl, then mash until smooth and lump-free; a ricer is ideal. Measure 1/2 cup. Let it cool slightly, but keep it warm.
2. Mix the base. In an extra large bowl, combine the 1/2 cup mashed potato and 2 cups of the powdered sugar until blended. At this point it will be very loose. Stir in the vanilla.
3. Add the sugar. Keep adding the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until the mixture forms a putty-like dough. Use a handheld electric mixer if stirring with a wooden spoon gets too hard. Shape the dough into a round.
4. Roll it out. Set the dough on an 18×12-inch sheet of wax paper sprinkled with powdered sugar and sprinkle the top with a little more. Roll it with a rolling pin into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick, then trim the edges straight.
5. Spread the peanut butter. Spread an even layer of peanut butter over the whole surface of the candy.
6. Roll and chill. Slowly roll the candy up from one long edge to the other. Wrap it in the wax paper and cut it in half. Put the halves in a resealable plastic bag and chill until firm, about an hour.
7. Slice and serve. Slice the rolled candy into 3/4-inch pieces and serve.
Getting the Dough Right
The dough is the only tricky part. These are the common mistakes and how to avoid them:
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Lumpy dough | Mash the potato completely smooth, ideally with a ricer, before any sugar goes in |
| Adding all the sugar at once | Add it 1 cup at a time and check the dough after each cup |
| Dough too sticky or falling apart | Work in more powdered sugar until you can mold it in your hands and roll it into a ball |
| Dough cracks while you spread | Work quickly: roll it thin and spread the peanut butter before the dough starts to harden |
| Dough too hard after chilling | If it chilled a long time and turned brittle, let it sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes until pliable |
| Sticking to the counter | Dust the wax paper and the top of the dough generously with powdered sugar |
What kind of potato? A small russet, peeled and boiled until tender, is the usual choice. The potato only needs to be plain: no butter, milk or salt mashed into it.
Variations
- Other spreads: almond butter, cookie butter or chocolate hazelnut spread in place of peanut butter.
- A pinch of salt: add a pinch of salt with the vanilla to balance the sweetness.
- Butter in the dough: beat 1/2 cup of softened salted butter into the mashed potato before the sugar for a richer candy, and add sugar until the dough holds a ball.
- Thinner slices: cut the log 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick for more, smaller pieces.
- Chocolate potato candy: beat 1/3 cup of cocoa into the potato and sugar dough, roll it into 1-inch balls, chill, and dip them in melted chocolate.
Storage
Store the sliced candy in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. If the log was chilled a long time before slicing, let it sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes so it slices without cracking.
What to Serve It With
Put potato candy on a holiday candy tray with old-fashioned fudge, no-bake coconut pecan praline and no bake nut squares. For more peanut butter sweets, try chocolate peanut butter balls with crispy rice or peanut butter and chocolate crispy rice treats.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is potato candy?
A no-bake candy made by mixing mashed potato with powdered sugar into a dough, rolling it thin, spreading it with peanut butter, rolling it up and slicing it into pinwheels.
How to make potato candy easy?
Use one small boiled and mashed potato, add powdered sugar a cup at a time until you have a firm dough, roll it out on sugared wax paper, spread with peanut butter, roll, chill and slice.
What is an Irish potato candy?
The name covers two sweets: this potato dough rolled with peanut butter, and a potato-free candy of cream cheese, powdered sugar and coconut rolled in cinnamon.
What kind of potatoes for potato candy?
A small russet potato, peeled, boiled until tender and mashed completely smooth. You only need 1/2 cup.
Final Notes
Keep the mashed potato smooth and warm, add the sugar slowly, and work quickly once the dough is rolled. Then let the log chill and slice. If you make it, tell me in the comments which spread you rolled inside.
Potato Candy
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Ingredients
- 1 small russet potato peeled and chopped; you need 1/2 cup mashed
- 6 to 7 cups powdered sugar plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter almond butter, cookie butter or chocolate hazelnut spread also work
Instructions
- In a small pot of boiling water, cook the potato until tender. Drain and transfer to a bowl, then mash until smooth and lump-free; a ricer is ideal. Measure 1/2 cup. Let it cool slightly, but keep it warm.
- In an extra large bowl, combine the 1/2 cup mashed potato and 2 cups of the powdered sugar until blended. At this point it will be very loose. Stir in the vanilla.
- Keep adding the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until the mixture forms a putty-like dough. Use a handheld electric mixer if stirring with a wooden spoon gets too hard. Shape the dough into a round.
- Set the dough on an 18x12-inch sheet of wax paper sprinkled with powdered sugar and sprinkle the top with a little more. Roll it with a rolling pin into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick, then trim the edges straight.
- Spread an even layer of peanut butter over the whole surface of the candy.
- Slowly roll the candy up from one long edge to the other. Wrap it in the wax paper and cut it in half. Put the halves in a resealable plastic bag and chill until firm, about an hour.
- Slice the rolled candy into 3/4-inch pieces and serve.
