Money was tight. Sweet tooths were still alive and well. Potatoes were plentiful. The answer was potato candy.
Depression Era Potato Candy
- 1 large russet potato
- A small pot-o-water
- 2 pound bag of powdered sugar
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- Yellow food coloring (optional)
Peel and cut potato. Boil until soft enough to poke a fork through very easily. Strain water and mush potato well. Add enough powdered sugar to make a clay-like candy you can form into, well, potatoes. Coat each one with a light dusting of cocoa powder or cinnamon. Cut a few almost all the way in half. Color a small amount of dough with yellow food coloring and make it into tiny butter cubes. Place inside cut “potatoes”. Super-fun for kids.
If you like coconut, you can also add coconut to this dough and then dip formed balls into melted chocolate for a homemade Mound’s candy bar treat.
Hi, I am the Educational Coordinator for a historic museum in Ga. In June we will be having Kid’s Kitchen which will be focusing on Depression Era foods. This recipe will be PERFECT. I know the kids will love it! Thank you so much
How fun! Thank you for sharing. This made my day!
This recipe is passed down by generations. Thank you for opening up people’s eyes to the wonderous treat that is potato candy.
I made this when I was in school to bring in for snacks on movie days. We put a spin on it and add food flavoring to spice it up a bit and a drop or two of food coloring to make it distinguishable between batches once they were coated in chocolate.