Peanut Butter and Jelly Potato Candy

More About This Recipe

• I remember visiting my grandmother’s house as a child; she would occasionally have out a plate of strangely soft and slightly sweet candies. “What are these?” I would ask. “They are special candies.” My grandmother would reply. After a few years, I learned that what my grandmother meant by “special” was “made from leftover potatoes.” They were very tasty though, so I could’ve cared less what they were made from! Now that I’m grown up, I fully appreciate being able to make a fun candy out of a few ounces of potatoes and a other basic ingredients. I jazzed up my peanut butter and jelly potato candy recipe from the original; that was just the dough cut out into pieces. Ideally, you’ll have some leftover potatoes that you could use to make these, but you can also start from scratch. Just peel a large Russet potato and cube it into one-inch cubes.
• The most important part of this recipe is to weigh your potatoes. You want about six ounces of cooked potatoes. If you skip this step or eyeball it, that’s fine, but your amounts for the sugar and flour will almost certainly be off and you’ll have to wing it. You might think that the sugar would cause the potatoes to thicken, but it actually does the opposite. The sugar will pull out moisture from the potatoes and turn it into a soupy mess. Your final dough should be really stiff and not sticky at all. If it’s sticky, add in more flour by the tablespoon until it’s nice and dry. When you want to serve some candy, just take a roll out of the fridge and slice off a few ½ inch slices. This candy has a really unique texture, almost like nougat. It’s sweet, but not overly so, and the peanut butter and jelly add a nice touch. If you have kids and ever had this as a kid like me, now you can make it for yours! Candy, Candy, Candy, I Can't Let You Go Treat your sweet tooth to some sweet treats!