Recipe(tried): Potato Candy

I'm rather confused by your potato candy recipe, there is no potato listed in your ingredients. There really is such a thing, it's a traditional holiday treat in Maryland. Kids love to make it because there's all kinds of cool chemistry going on, and it has peanut butter, what's not to love about that?

POTATO CANDY

1 small boiled potato
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 lb confectioner's sugar

You peel and boil a small potato. Cut it up, mash it, put it in a bowl. This is where it gets interesting. Break out a pound of powdered sugar, and start adding it to the potato, just a little, to see the effect. The whole thing turns to liquid, one of the weird parts of the recipe that makes it interesting to children. Add 1/2 t. of Vanilla. Continue adding sugar, blend it in, add some more, blend it in, keep adding until you start to have a dough, knead in a bit more sugar, until it's firm enough. The dough has to be firm enough that you can roll it with a rolling pin. The recipe isn't precise, because how much sugar you need depends on the size of your potato, and how much you need to add to get the right consistency. Knead it in, turn it out on a piece of waxed paper dusted lightly with a bit more confectioner's sugar.

Roll the dough out about 1/4" thick or so, maybe a wee bit thinner. Spread peanut butter on the top of the dough, and roll it up like a jelly roll, then slice the candies off in slices from the end, that peanut butter pinwheel inside is another feature that makes it attractive to the kiddies, and it helps cut the sweetness.

I used to gobble that stuff like it was going out of style when I was a kid, don't eat it these days because it seems too sweet to my adult palette, but I sure did love it back in the day. You can always tell when someone is from Maryland, or knows someone from Maryland if they know how to make this stuff....