Irish Potato Candy

Irish potato candies with a cinnamon dusting look like potatoes just out of the ground.

A couple of years ago, I was looking for something fun to do with my granddaughters Ev and Caitlyn when they were coming for a visit. Somewhere I cam across a recipe for Irish potato candies. These treats have a history in Philadelphia in the early 1900s when Irish immigrants used local ingredients to make the treat -- especially for St. Patrick's Day.

Given that the girls live in the Philly region, these seemed a perfect fun thing to do since you make and shape the dough-like inside it look like a little potato and then dust them in coco powder. I figured it would be like playing with Play-doh that we could eat when we were done creating.

What I found odd was that there was no potato in any recipe I could find. Me being me, I needed to have mashed potato in something that I'm calling potato candy so I started playing until I found just the right mixture. Ultimately, the recipe that I landed on is very close to the traditional Needham recipe that I'll share in another post. The primary difference is the use of coconut oil in the potato candy instead of the butter in my Needham recipe. In addition to enhancing the coconut flavor, it yields a dairy and gluten free treat.

THE RECIPE:

3/4c plain finely mashed potatoes warm or at least at room temperature

1/2c coconut oil

1t vanilla extract

2lb powdered sugar

2c firmly packed sweetened shredded coconut

1/2c of each cinnamon and cocoa powder for dusting

With a hand or stand mixer, combine the potatoes, coconut oil, and vanilla until completely combined and creamy smooth.

Gradually add the sugar until it's all incorporated.

Add the shredded coconut and either work with your hands or switch to a dough hook on your mixer.

Once the coconut is all mixed in, you'll have a soft dough-like substance.

Now here's the fun part for the kids....

Pinch bits of 'dough' about 1/2 teaspoon worth and shape into a small potato and set on a large cookie sheet or cutting board.

Once all the all the dough is used up (you should get about 90 little potatoes from this recipe), roll each potato in either the cocoa powder or the cinnamon and store in an airtight container. I keep the cinnamon ones in a separate container from the cocoa coated ones.

These are ridiculously easy and ALWAYS at the top of everyone's favorite cookie list.