Potato Candy with Salted Caramel and Chocolate Filling

Potato Candy with Salted Caramel and Chocolate?  Sign me up.

Who’s ready to get their leprechaun on?

Strange, isn’t it?  The way we jump on holidays from other countries, like Ireland, Mexico, China.  I think we just love a good holiday, and a reason to eat and drink crazy concoctions.  On St. Patrick’s Day, you’ll see green beer, Irish Car Bombs, Irish Crème will ooze from your pores.  It will be an invasion of shamrocks and potatoes.

Speaking of potatoes – let’s talk potato candy.

My aunts all make the peanut butter version at Christmas.  We call them Peanut Butter Pinwheels.  But alas, no potatoes appear in their recipes.  They use cream cheese!  It’s all good to me, though! (It IS candy, after all!)

For this particular twist (ha ha!) on the classic peanut butter candy, I changed mine up with chocolate and salted caramel.  You could make everything from scratch if you like, including the caramel, but let’s be honest here – no one needs to reinvent the wheel.  We just want to EAT! So, grab some caramel sundae topping from the ice cream section of the grocery store, and get to twirling.  It’s every bit as good.

Hopefully you’ll find yourself in a field of four-leaf clovers and rainbows.  If not, you’ll at least have some incredible candy to munch on until all of the green beer is gone.

Potato Candy with Salted Caramel and Chocolate

• Makes 36 small pinwheels
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

• · ¼ cup cooked potatoes, mashed
• · 3 tablespoons milk
• · 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• · Pinch of salt
• · 1 pound Confectioner’s Sugar
• · ¼ cup Chocolate Ganache (recipe below)
• · 3 tablespoons caramel ice cream topping
• · Pinch sea salt flake

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine mashed potatoes, milk, vanilla extract and salt. Stir until uniform.

2. Slowly add confectioners’ sugar into potato mixture until a doughy consistency Cover and place in refrigerator to chill, at least one hour.

3. Roll dough into a large rectangular on a piece of wax or parchment paper.

4. Carefully spread chocolate ganache evenly over the rectangle of dough. Drizzle caramel topping over the chocolate, then sprinkle with sea salt flakes.

5. Roll dough into the shape of a jelly roll and refrigerate, covered, for 1 hour. Slice the dough into pinwheels to serve. Keep chilled.

To make Chocolate Ganache:  Bring ¼ cup heavy cream to a simmer over low heat. Remove from heat; add ¼ cup chocolate chips (any flavor – dark, milk, or semi-sweet). Allow to melt for 30 seconds, then stir until smooth. Allow to cool before using. Refrigerate any leftovers for later use.