The humble potato turned into a glorious confection.

Potatoes are one of the most versatile ingredients a kitchen can possess. From scalloped to baked, the potato can do it all. Yes, as the tag suggests, it can also be made into a tasty confection. I know what you might be thinking: potatoes used for candy? Yuck! But in reality, they are not yucky at all. Instead, potato candy is a very sweet and delightful confection reminiscent of marzipan. It sounds strange, but it’s very true. The potatoes combined with the vanilla and sugar definitely create a magical candy that deserves to be a part of your candy-making Christmas traditions.

Sweet and Nutty Tato Candy

½ cup white potato, mashed (about one medium potato)

¼ tsp kosher salt

1 TBSP heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 cups powdered sugar plus more for dusting (about 2lbs.)

½ cup creamy peanut butter

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add your potato and the kosher salt. Beat on  medium speed until the salt is incorporated. Add the heavy cream and vanilla extra, beat until the potatoes look fluffy. 

Turn the speed down to one of the lowest settings, add the powdered sugar into the potato mixture one cup at a time. By the fifth cup the mixture should start to stiffen and by the sixth it should become a workable dough. If it’s not workable yet add an extra ½ cup of powdered sugar, this might be needed if it’s a particularly humid or rainy day. 

Once you have a workable dough, lay a long piece of parchment on the counter and dust thoroughly with more powdered sugar. Place the dough onto the sugar covered parchment and sprinkle a little more powdered sugar onto the dough. Pat the dough down into a rough rectangle with your hands. Dust your rolling pin lightly with, you guessed it, more powdered sugar. Roll the dough out into a long rectangle until it is about ¼ inch thick. Spread the peanut butter out in a thin layer over your rolled out dough. 

Carefully roll the dough up into a tight log starting at the long end of the rectangle. This could be a very tricky part and I sometimes  will even use the parchment that the dough is sitting on to help me roll up the candy. But don’t be discouraged if you don’t get a perfect spiral, I almost never do.

Wrap the log up in parchment and cling film. Place in a gallon storage bag and let sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour or up to 2 hours. You want the candy to be firm enough so that it can be easily sliced. 

Once firm, slice the candy into bite size pieces. The thickness of the candy is all preference so you can make them as thick or thin as you want. 

Place the sliced candy onto a parchment covered baking sheet and freeze for about 2 hours. Store your frozen candy in a freezer gallon storage bag or any airtight freezer container making sure to put layers of parchment in between the layers of the candy if you need to stack them. Keep your candy in the freezer until you're ready to enjoy it. Frozen, the candy will keep for 3-5 months.

*Notes:

For the mashed potato, it’s very important that it’s just a potato that is mashed and not your mashed potatoes from last night’s dinner. You want it to be as plain as possible for the best results. I just microwave a medium potato until it’s fork tender, let it cool and then mash it with my stand mixer. 

It’s very important that you let the potato cool completely before using it for the candy. If the potato is too warm or even hot it will melt the powdered sugar and create a very goopy mess.

You might not think it but your choice of peanut butter matters for this recipe as well. You want to go with a highly processed creamy peanut butter. Natural peanut butter can separate in the candy. This will affect the outer layer of the candy making it too soft and oily.