Irish Potato Candies

Forget the corned beef and cabbage. This is how to celebrate St. Paddy's Day.

I'm assuming that if you're not from Philly or Central PA, you've probably never heard of Irish Potatoes. Or maybe you have (sorry for assuming, you well-informed-blog-reader, you!) Either way, you're in for a Philadelphia-style treat.

 

 As a Pennsylvania native, I can fondly recall little boxes of Oh Ryan's Irish Potatoes popping up in convenience stores in early March.  For a long time, I just dismissed them because frankly, who wants to eat something that looks like it's covered in dirt? Then I discovered it was cinnamon and never looked back. I have fond memories of my college roommate Fisher rushing to the 7-11 near our workplace to scoop them up for us before they sold out. So good.

This recipe doesn't actually contain potato as an ingredient, although Wikipedia tells us that the original candies did include some cooked potato. The main ingredients here are cream cheese, sugar, coconut and cinnamon and they're a breeze to put together.

If you're making these for the first time, I would suggest halving the recipe like I did. I got about 16 candies and that is plenty for our house. They are pretty sweet little bites- you usually only need one (or half of one) to satisfy your sweet tooth.

This recipe is making me miss Philly and it's St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Shout out to my favorite Irish things in Philadelphia- the Malloys, the Irish Pub and my girl Fisher! I wish I could share these with you over a Guinness.

Happy St. Paddy's everyone- and be safe!

Irish Potato Candies
via Baked Bree

Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick of butter softened
• 1/2 brick of cream cheese softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 1/2 cups sweetened coconut
• 2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Beat together butter and cream cheese. Slowly add the confectioners sugar.
2. Add the vanilla.
3. Add the coconut and mix until combined.
4. You may want to chill the coconut mixture a little before you roll them. I like to use a small ice cream scoop. These are really rich, so you want them to be small.
5. Roll the coconut mixture into a ball.
6. Roll the coconut mixture into the cinnamon and put on a parchment lined baking sheet.
7. Keep the Irish Potatoes in the fridge.