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Irish Potato Candy Saint Patrick's Day Recipe

These little potato look-alikes won't have anyone fooled once they pop one into their mouth. They're sweet, creamy and a cinnamon lover's delight. I never had one of these until I visited the Philadelphia area where they're sold all over prior to St. Patrick's Day. Now I make them every year for my family, and they often disappear before St. Patrick's Day arrives.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 30 candies
Course: Dessert
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 4 ounces regular cream cheese
  • 1 pound powdered sugar, plus extra for coating hands
  • 7 ounces sweetened coconut flakes
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Method
 

  1. With mixer, cream together cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. 
  2. Mix in sugar and vanilla, being careful to add sugar slowly to avoid creating a large sugar cloud(!).
  3. Stir in coconut flakes. Put cinnamon into small bowl.
  4. Coat dry hands with a little powdered sugar and using your hands take small pieces of mixture (about 2 teaspoons apiece) and form into potato shape. 
  5. Drop potatoes into cinnamon and roll to coat. Place on baking sheet. 
  6. When all the potatoes have been formed and dipped in cinnamon, refrigerate for several hours until firm.