Potato Candy!

I had a potato candy revelation this year. In the past, I’ve made plain candy, mint, cherry, chocolate, coconut, and nut. Why I never thought about peanut butter, I’ll never know. So, this year, I went with peanut butter candy. Andy usually does the chocolate dipping because it frustrates me when the candies don’t look perfect. But, we just dipped the bottoms this time and then drizzled more chocolate on the top. I think they look super pretty and taste even better. The new and improved method/recipe is below!

Ingredients:

• Medium potato (about the size of an adult’s fist)
• 2 pounds powdered sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• Chocolate (I used a combination of semisweet, milk, and baking, just to use up some ends of packages)

Method:

• Peel the potato and chop it into large chunks, as if making mashed potatoes. Cover chopped potato with water and boil until tender. Drain and dump potatoes back into your pot to make sure any remaining water evaporates.
• Mash potato and peanut butter together. If you happen to have a fancy stand mixer, feel free to do this part in there and save your arm muscles.
• Slowly mix in the first pound of powdered sugar. You’ll notice the potato sort of liquefies when you start mixing. That’s supposed to happen, so don’t freak out. Begin mixing in the second pound of powdered sugar, a cup or so at a time. You might not need the whole two pounds for your candy, but it was rainy the day I made mine, so I ended up needing it. The candy should just hold together when you try to scoop it, but not be sticky at all.
• Scoop the candy using a small cookie scoop (or bigger if you want). Line the scooped candy up on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet that will fit in your freezer. Freeze for a few hours until firm and dry.
• Dip candy in melted chocolate. If the candy becomes too soft to easily dip, put the tray back in the freezer for awhile. Drizzle additional chocolate on top in a “Z” pattern.