Irish potato candy are no-cook nuggets of sweet and nutty deliciousness.
Cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and coconut are shaped into potatoes and rolled in cinnamon for a unique, St. Patrick’s Day confection.
What is Irish Potato Candy?
Original Irish potato candy hails from Pennsylvania but isn’t Irish and doesn’t contain potatoes, they’re more like mini cinnamon-coated coconut truffles.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Irish potato candy tastes like a creamy coconut macaroon rolled in cinnamon for a sweet treat.
- Difficulty: This no-bake recipe is beginner-friendly. It’s so easy to make, even the kids can help. Just mix and roll.
- Tools: A 1” scoop will make bite-sized bits of Irish potato candy, but they can be shaped into oblongs to look more like cute little potatoes.
What’s in Irish Potato Candy?
Creamy Base: Softened cream cheese and butter will make blending and shaping easier. Use a block of cream cheese instead of whipped and full-fat butter for the best flavor. Powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar gives it it’s sweet flair.
Coconut: Use sweetened or unsweetened finely shredded coconut depending on how sweet you want the ‘potatoes’.
Coating: Ground cinnamon, cocoa powder, or a combination of the two will add an extra layer of flavor to Irish potato candies.
Switch It Up!
- Make potato candies without coconut and use crushed peanuts, pecans, walnuts, or mini chocolate chips instead.
- Swap out the vanilla extract for coconut extract for an extra punch of coconut flavor.
- For a festive, St. Patty’s Day look, add a few drops of green food coloring or gel to the recipe in Step 1.
How to Make Irish Potato Candy
- Blend all ingredients except cinnamon until smooth.
- Shape the coconut mixture into balls and roll in cinnamon.
- Chill before serving (full recipe below).
Storing Irish Potato Candy
Keep Irish potato candy in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
If you’re looking for a sweet coconut treat, you’ll love this easy recipe. They’re great to make ahead of time and these little bites are so hard to resist.
Celebrate St. Patty's Day
Did you enjoy this Irish Potato Candy? Leave a rating and comment below!
Irish Potato Candy
Ingredients
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 ¼ cups coconut flakes
- 1-2 tablespoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Using a mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract.
- Add powdered sugar slowly to the bowl and continue to beat until combined into a thick dough.
- Using a wooden spoon, mix in the coconut.
- Scoop a small amount of dough and roll it into a ball around the size of a marble.
- Place the cinnamon into a small bowl and roll the ball to coat.
- Chill the candies at least 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- These are sweet, they’re candy so they are intended to be sweet. If you’d like to cut down on the sweetness, use unsweetened coconut.
- If the dough is really soft, refrigerate it for a little bit before rolling.
- If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more coconut.
- We shape them into little balls but you can shape them a little bit more oval to resemble a potato if you’d like.
- Keep these in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
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Can I use cream cheese spread product out of a plastic tub or does it have to be actual cream cheese block?
For best results, we recommend using a brick of cream cheese.
there is such a thing as Potato Candy that real potatoes are used in the recipe. it is made by boiling potatoes with the skins on. peel the skins off ans mash the potatoes using butter in the recipe and powdered sugar you will make a dough out of the the potatoes, butter and powdered sugar . roll it out and spread peanut butter on it roll cut and cut into pinwheels dust with powdered sugar and store in airtight container.
they made these during the depression. also I am Irish!
I’m Scot, Irish and German mainly Irish on my Daddy’s side of the family my great grandmother spoke the Gaelic and my grandmama was full blooded Irish, as well I also have Jewish in me, too!
Irish Potato Candy does have potato in in it. this is the way it is made you bake or boil a potato with the skin on it and then you scoop the potato out of the skin, you will be using some butter and powder sugar to make a pliable paste that you will roll out on a powder sugared surface when that is finished you spread it with peanut butter and the roll it into a log . then you will slice it so it will look like pinwheels. you may lightly powder sugar it. it is finished store in an airtight container.
I’ve definitely enjoyed the pinwheel potato candy before as well!
not to sure what i did wrong, but mine are incredibley runny. i put them in refrigerator to see if they will thicken. any idea what to do besides that?? some people said flour??
They will be very soft with the softened butter and room temperature cream cheese. Definitely pop them into the refrigerator for a little bit and they will stiffen up. Because they are not cooked, adding the flour would most likely make them taste off.
Once they are in the refrigerator for a little while, they will reach the correct consistency. They should also be stored in the refrigerator when they are ready!
Freezer also helps