Recipe: Potato Peanut Butter Pinwheels
[1]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
[2]For coconut candies: Add 1/4-1/2 cup shredded coconut to 1/4 of the dough. Roll into little white snowballs.
[3]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)