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Fun with food, that’s what these tasty candies are!
No one would ever guess these old-fashioned spiral candies have mashed potato in them. Not in a million years or with a million guesses.
The potato acts as a binder to keep the sugar in line and create a dough, which is then spread with peanut butter and rolled up.
Another way to enjoy the perfect potato!
Recipe: Potato Peanut Butter Pinwheels
Summary: An old-fashioned candy with a surprising ingredient, these Potato Peanut Butter Pinwheels are a charming dessert.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup mashed potato (from 1 potato)
- 2 tablespoons half and half (or you can use milk)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Dash salt
- 4-6 cups confectioner’s sugar (1 1-pound box plus 2 additional cups)
- Peanut butter
Instructions
- Boil or microwave potato until it is soft. Remove and discard skin, mash (do not add anything) and cool completely. When cool, measure potato and add to a mixing bowl.
- Add half and half, vanilla, dash of salt, and 2 cups confectioner’s sugar. Mix well using an electric mixer on low speed. Add 2 more cups confectioner’s sugar, mixing well. It should resemble dough. Add more sugar by tablespoonfuls if dough seems too wet or sticky. (I ended up using 1 pound plus ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar in mine. Your mileage may vary slightly, depending on humidity or moisture in potato.)
- Split dough into quarters, so it is easier to work with.
- Dust a board with confectioner’s sugar and roll out a piece of potato-sugar dough until it is roughly square or rectangular, and about ¼-inch thick. Spread one side with peanut butter. Roll up dough like a jelly roll. Repeat with others, or make flavor variations as described below.
- Refrigerate rolls, tightly covered, for about 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator and slice roll into pinwheels.
- Serve immediately, or return slices to refrigerator until you are ready to serve them. If you are stacking them, use a piece of waxed paper between layers so the candies won’t stick together. Cover tightly because they can dry out.
Quick notes
Use a real potato, not instant mashed potatoes, which won’t work as well.
Variations
For coconut candies: Add 1/4-1/2 cup shredded coconut to 1/4 of the dough. Roll into little white snowballs.
For chocolate candies: Add 1-2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder to 1/4 of the dough. Roll into little brown balls.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour
Culinary tradition: USA (General)
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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
This is the recipe I will try next.
I have been making this candy for years without the potatoes. It tastes just as good, just a little harder to roll into a log. If you are not careful it can get too sticky to roll. But it still tastes just as good without the potatoes.
Angel,
Interesting! I will have to try that.
Hi Angel. I make the dough with 1 stick of butter and 1 box of confectioners sugar mashed together. I use the sugar to “flour” my wax paper and rolling pin. After spreading the layer of thin peanut butter I use the wax paper to carefully roll it up. Takes 1/3 the time and taste wonderful. We’ve been doing it like this for years now. Try it sometime when you’re pressed for time. You’ll be pleased.
I was so excited to see your old fashioned recipe. My mother in law used to make these ever Christmas.
Rebecca,
They’re a historic favorite!
I’ve been cooking a lot since retiring and I ran across this recipe the other day. It brought back some memories of my childhood that had been locked away for many decades. I can still remember my mom making these for me and my brothers, waiting by the fridge waiting for them to cool down enough to cut. I made them for some of my kids today, the ones that are still home that is. I hope the memories carry on into their later years. Who would have thought potatoe pin wheels, as mom called them, could mean so much to a disabled, retired old man. Thank you so much, it really has meant so much.
Jeff,
You just made my who day, my week, my month and my year!
Hi there! My name is Jessica, and I run a food blog called Floptimism. Every week, I write a Weekend Wrap-Up where I share some of my favorite blog posts, recipes, and articles from the past week. I absolutely fell in love with these pinwheels and wanted to let you know that I featured them this week. If you’re interested, I’ve left the link below. Thank you for such a creative post, and I hope you have a great rest of your weekend!
http://www.floptimism.com/2013/09/weekend-wrap-up-pb-chocolate.html
Thanks Jessica! Those little tater candies are addictive!
Dorothy, My sister and I made, what we called just, peanut butter roll. We did not use potatoes in them. My sister is not longer with us and she had the recipe. I only know we only used carnation evaporated milk, powdered sugar, and peanut butter. Would it be possible to use this recipe without the mashed potatoes? I hope so because my son would love to have these when he is home for Christmas this year and so would my grandkids.
Lee,
Try it and let me know if it works!
I have tried them that way, not so good. You do not taste the mashed potato’s. we have made these for years, oh so good.
Mona,
You mean you have tried them the way Lee is suggesting? Interesting!
Dorothy, we are doing these at my Holiday Cookie Class next Saturday. Can you estimate how much peanut butter I will need for your recipe. Also, approximately how manypieces will each recipe make? We’ll probably be tripling the recipe. P
Patricia,
I’m sorry, I didn’t do my usual measuring/counting job on this recipe. I just made it and spread some peanut butter on without measuring. I can tell you that it won’t take too much…it has to be spread thinly or it will be too hard to roll up. If you have 1 jar on hand it will probably be more than enough (but I am of the mind to have 2 jars, and you probably won’t open the 2nd one). I am going to guess that each recipe makes 30-40 slices, because you slice the rolls thinly. Again, sorry I didn’t do my usual meticulous counting on this one. Have fun with it!
These are a traditional Christmas treat here in Quebec, called bonbons à patates (literally potato candies). Never heard of them anywhere else!
This is the first time that I’ve ever heard them called that, I’m actually surprised that this candy is known about outside of my area! We call it “flitch” here.
Dorothy, I’ve always wondered about potato candy and the peanut-butter combination sounds incredible! Featuring your post on my Facebook page today!
Jenn,
Thanks! It’s a really fun little oddity candy. You would never know what’s in it.
These were so delicious and unique. I’m putting them in consideration for my December Cookie Baking Class. Thanks for sharing.
I love the colour combination & what an innovative recipe. Shockingly Delicious !
Yum! Could you replace the mashed potato with mashed sweet potato?
Anna
Anna,
I suppose you could, if you like. You wouldn’t need to for sweetness, since there is plenty of sugar in here. However, you wouldn’t get as good a color contrast between the white dough and the brown filling, I think. If you try it that way, send me a photo. I’d love to see what it looks like!
these look interesting — and they’re so cute! yum!
ok, now that i tested these last night, i know that they are in fact “shockingly delicious!”
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