Best Irish potato candy recipe (St Patrick's Day)

Irish potato candy (or candy spuds) are the perfect way to end a St Patrick's Day celebration with a little something different.

Best Irish potato candy recipe

Top of the mornin’ to you. 

With a love of all thing green and the maiden name Kelly, it wouldn’t seem right if I didn’t pay a little tribute St Patrick’s Day in the month of March.

Irish potatoes sweets (aka coconut spuds) are one of those recipes that fall under the looks-may-be-deceiving type. 

While they appear to resemble, well you know and I won’t go there, when you take a bite of the sweet treat, all those thoughts will vanish.

They're like a delicious little bake treat without the baking. 

Jump to:

• Best Irish potato candy recipe
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Recipe

Bite through the spicy choc-cinnamon ‘dirt’ and find a sweet and soft coconutty centre resembling the inside of a coconut rough bar. 

Just beware of licking your fingers after you’ve finished. 

Cinnamon on its own has quite a powerful flavour.

I added cocoa to mine to make it more dirt-like like actual potatoes but it also added that bit of extra flavour which actually reminded me of Mexican chocolate snickerdoodles.

Ingredients

To make these coconut truffles you will need: 

• Unsalted butter, softened - pure butter that comes in a block not the type in a tub
• Cream cheese - full fat preferably
• Vanilla extract - here's. how to make your own vanilla extract
• Icing sugar - also called powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar. Here's how to make your own icing sugar. 
• Desiccated coconut - if you can't get desiccated coconut you can get shredded coconut or coconut flakes and blitz it in a food processor until it's fine. 
• Ground cinnamon
• Cocoa powder - or cacao powder

Instructions

To make these easy treats: 

1. Place the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment (or an electric hand mixer) and beat on medium speed until smooth and pale.
2. Add the vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix it in.
3. About half a cup at at time, add the icing sugar until the mixture is thick (I used 3 ½ cups).
4. Scrape the sides of the bowl then add the coconut and mix it in.
5. In a shallow bowl, mix the cinnamon and cocoa together.
6. Shape the mixture into little potato shapes and then roll each of the little balls to give a coating of cinnamon & cocoa.
7. Refrigerate for 30 minutes in a sealed container to set and keep refrigerated until serving.

You can make these up on March 16 and pop the cute little potatoes in the fridge ready to serve with an Irish coffee at your St Patrick’s Day party the next day. 

Any excuse for a party right? 

Your guest may think you’ve gone a little nuts but once they bite into them you’ll be back in the good books. 

A few more St. Patrick’s day recipes:

• Healthy potato salad (made with small potatoes) 
• Chocolate peppermint cupcakes - little bites of deliciousness
• Beef and Guinness pies - the perfect party pie for St Patrick's Day
• Healthy chocolate peppermint brownies - a delicious treat and easy recipe

Enjoy!

What about you? 

Do you have a St. Patrick's Day tradition or use this time of year as an excuse to bake something delicious and satisfy your sweet tooth?

Recipe