Back in my Thoracic Medicine days as a Pulmonary Nurse Specialist I had the opportunity to work with many clients, mostly elderly. I loved them. I miss them. Many are gone now but some of their recipes remain, to this day, in my recipe box here at home. During that time we were living in NC near Fort Bragg and while Himself was jumping out of planes and playing Army, I was having the time of my life with my patients. I got to know these people very well, we became friends. Foodie Friends.
The patients loved to bring in treats to share with the other clients and staff members. Not only did the ladies bring their favorite recipes and goodies to share but the gentlemen did as well, bringing something delicious from their wives. One patient, I will have to call her Sugar for privacy reasons, used to bring the tastiest little morsels for us to devour. One day she brought these Peanut Butter Candies and right away I had to have the recipe as Himself is a huge fan of peanut butter. One. Two. Three. She spouted off the ingredients and method just like that. It sounded too easy. And it was.
These creamy, soft, and pillowy candies are super sweet and delicious. Perfect for any peanut butter fan. I have brought these to potlucks with great success and have made them for last minute company. These are a candy you do not see too often, I never see it, so it is great for Christmas Cookie Platters for your dessert table. But have the recipe ready to share!
Peanut Butter Candies
one pound box Confectioners sugar
6 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
7 t. milk, I used whole
peanut butter for spreading, I used TJ’s Organic Crunchy PB
Using a stand mixer or very strong hand mixer, mix sugar and butter until blended. Add milk one teaspoon at a time until the mixture pulls from the edge and almost makes a ball. I used 7 t. milk. Too dry and your dough will crack, too wet, it will be sticky. Roll into a ball then roll out into a 9 inch by 14 inch rectangle, between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. It is easier to roll between two sheets of plastic wrap on top of the bottom side of a jelly-roll pan.
Using a sharp knife cut a slit down the center of the dough longways. Spread each side with a thin layer of peanut butter, not to edges. Chill for 15 minutes to help it set a bit.
With the assistance of the plastic wrap, roll the dough into logs starting with the long edges, then seal the seams by lightly pinching and smoothing them. It is a bit tricky and the dough will crack, the peanut butter will ooze and the edges may not seal, but take a deep breath it will all be OK. It is supposed to look a bit rustic!
Using a sharp knife, gently cut the rolls into 1/2 inch pieces. you will get about 24-30 pieces. Place in paper candy papers on a candy dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap (they can dry out quickly) until ready to serve or store, wrapped well, in freezer up to 3 months.
Tomorrow in BRK- How I handle leftover Halloween Candy. It will either make you laugh or make you sick. Stop on in!
Robin Sue
153 Comments
My Sis-in-law used to make this exact recipe! Too sweet? No one at our Christmas dinners thought so!
I wonder if you could mix cocoa into the sugar to make it chocolate/pb?
My mother made these for years (as did others of her generation); my nephew (now 43) took over the task when her shoulders wore out, as she never used a mixer, but blended everything by hand. One of her variants was to dip very small pieces of the PB Candy into a mixture of melted dark chocolate, with a few shavings of paraffin wax to help it set. YUMMY! sometimes she’d also take the fondant (the dough minus the PB), blend in finely chopped pecans, roll tiny balls, then dip those in chocolate.
Chocolate sounds wonderful!
My grandmother made something like this but she used a small boiled potato and powdered sugar with a drop of vanilla We call it potato candy.
My mom still makes this for holidays and special occasions. She uses potato, powered sugar, vanilla and peanut butter. We also call it Potato Candy. You can use crunchy peanut butter and you can add cocoa powder. But how ever much cocoa you use, you reduce the sugar by that much.
my mom’s boyfriend taught me the exact same recipe you are talking about donna, minus the vanilla. so good, so simple and so quick.
My aunt made this for us over 40yrs ago. She is now gone but we still call it Aunt Gail’s potato candy . It is sweet but so good. We only make it or Christmas. We have colored the icing to red or green. But its just as good white.
My dad, who passed away several years ago from alzheimers, used to make these….called them peanut butter twirls. They were a VERY special treat from him and while I had some idea how to make them, I never had a recipe because he didn’t use one. Thank you SO much. I could just cry to have this and can’t wait to try it!
So sorry about your Dad but so happy that you can recreate a fond memory!
I have been looking for this recipe FOREVER and could never find it…thanks for sharing, it brings back many Christmas memories as a child!
My Grandmother used to make this, but hers called for a potato mashed and mixed in. She called it Potato Candy. Still one of my favorite Christmas Treats, ( we make ours with soy butter as I am allergic to peanuts)
My grandma had the same recipe. Just the three ingredients: icing sugar, tiny piece of boiled potato and peanut butter. My grandpa used to LOVE these.
I grew up with this candy! We called it Potato Candy!
Potato, powdered sugar and peanut butter was all we used! Only made this at Christmas. My dad’s only candy growing up and he showed my mom how to make it. Wish I wasn’t allergic to peanuts cuz I miss this candy so much!!
My 95 year old grandmother and my 65 year old mom used always make these when we didn’t have any store bought candy in the house. They loved so sugary snacks. This brings back memories!
My mom called this Depression candy….they made it because they were unable to purchase other things.
I grow up on this candy and we talked it snake candy
We called it peanut butter snake candy. We mix ingredients all together, roll it up and cut in small pieces.
Called it snake candy
So many variations on this…..we made it, called potato fudge, but it had no peanut butter. Just butter, mashed potato, vanilla & maybe butter, but I can’t remember the latter. I think there might have been shredded coconut too. Spread in a pan, then covered with dark chocolate.
This version and the one with egg whites are the two versions I grew up eating in southeast KY. It was when looking for the recipes that I learned you could do a potato version. Thanks for the recipe and childhood flashback! Oh and yes they are very sweet but so delish!
I love this recipe. I also add a few drops of food color (red or green) to add a little color to your holiday table:)
My family has been making these as long as I can remember. They are soooo good! And fun to make. A little messy, but that’s part of the fun. We always make these at Christmas.
In the south we call this Potato Candy. We peel and boil a small potato, mash it, then add a pinch of salt and slowly add confectioners sugar. Don’t let the name fool you, it is really delicious!
The recipe is WRONG! Instead of milk, the wet part of the candy is supposed to be mashed potatoes!!!! It doesn’t take a lot of mashed potatoes to make your “dough” so I would start with about 1/2 cup and see how much confectioner’s sugar you need to make a roll-able dough. After the dough is rolled out, spread it with peanut butter (Mom only used creamy), roll it up like a jelly roll and cut into slices. As they are exposed to air they will harden a bit.
The first time I ever had this candy was at Ft Bragg back in 2001. I never knew what they were called and this is the first time I have found the recipe. Thank you!
That’s where I got this recipe, from an older lady while we were at Bragg!
I make this same recipe every year at Christmas. It was my Grandmother’s recipe, There is a difference although. We call this Potato Candy because the dough is made with a small potato boiled. Then mash the potato and when all the lumps are out start adding powdered sugar. It wil get very soupy, but keep adding the powdered sugar until you get a dough you can roll out and spread with the peanut butter, roll like jelly roll and then slice… See it is the same only using the potato and these are very good!!!
I want to thank you so very much for this recipe…..my grandmother who passed away several years ago used to make these for me and after she passed my mother could not remember how she made them….i am so excited to have this recipe so i can share with my kids! Thanks again!
I hope this works out for you and brings back great memories. enjoy!
Make this every year only my gram used 1 boiled medium potato, powdered sugar and peanut butter. It’s very, very sweet.
This is something like the candy my mom made. Only she used egg whites beaten, then powder sugar, and vanilla.
3 lg. egg whites
Bag of powder sugar
1 Tlbs. Vanilla
Jar peanut butter
Beat egg whites, until fluffy, add vanilla, then add powder sugar untill you have dough that is not sticky.
Roll out dough using powder sugar so not to stick to counter
spread peanut butter on dough, then roll up.
Wrap in saran wrap and chill.
Slice as needed. Keep covered, this will dry out
Sounds delish! Thanks for sharing!
Similar to my mom’s potato candy. She adds mashed potatoes but not the milk. She also uses food coloring according to the holiday or season
I use to make these when i was a kid and would enter them in contest. Always won first place. If you don’t want to pinch them just don’t cut in half and just roll its easier.
My grandmother use to make this but she called it something diffrent. This is something made n my family a lot
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