This Old Fashioned Easter Egg Candy is a generations-old family recipe. We make it every year for Easter and it never lasts long. Don’t be alarmed by the mashed potatoes that the recipe calls for, they are a critical ingredient that I was skeptical of at first, but you’ll never be able to even tell that they’re mixed in the filling!
This old fashioned Easter egg candy is a generations-old recipe that has been in my family for a long time. It’s amazing, highly coveted by family friends, and it also includes a critical secret ingredient that you might have not seen coming.
Potatoes.
Believe it or not, the filling for these Easter Egg Candies is made partly of mashed potatoes.
I’ll be the first to admit that I had was severely skeptical the first time my mom showed me how to make this candy. When she started to peel the potatoes I thought she was joking, and I also thought there was no chance I would ever eat a candy that had anything to do with potatoes.
I was wrong.
The potatoes mostly serve for binding together the otherwise very sweet, sugary filling for these Easter Egg Candies. It’s untraceable in the finished product, and I encourage you to see if your guests can figure out what the “secret ingredient” actually is.
Tips for Making Old Fashioned Easter Egg Candy
- To make the potatoes, peel them, dice them into even-sized cubes, and boil them until tender when pierced with a fork, then drain and allow them to cool completely before mashing. You must make fresh mashed potatoes specifically for this recipe, don’t use leftover, seasoned mashed potatoes that may have other ingredients (milk, pepper, garlic, etc.) mixed in.
- Let the potatoes cool completely. Don’t refrigerate them, just leave them at room temperature once you’ve drained them until they are completely cooled, and then mash them until no lumps remain.
- Add more sugar as needed. The dough will need to chill before you can roll it into eggs and it will be too tacky when first mixed up, but it should be somewhat shapeable. If it’s too runny, add more sugar, up to 2 cups more.
- Dust your hands with powdered sugar when rolling the eggs — the dough won’t stick to your hands and you’ll get nice smooth easter eggs that way.
- My grandmother’s recipe used unsweetened chocolate for the coating, as the filling can be very sweet and the unsweetened chocolate helps temper the sweetness. My family found the unsweetened chocolate to be much too bitter, and so I recommend using semisweet chips instead.
- I thin my chocolate a bit with a teaspoon of shortening, it helps the chocolate cover the eggs more neatly, but is optional (my grandmother’s recipe used paraffin wax.
Enjoy!
Old Fashioned Easter Egg Candy
Ingredients
- ½ cup plain mashed potatoes, completely cooled see note (115g)
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened (113g)
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 5 cups powdered sugar plus additional as needed (625g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 12 oz chocolate bars coarsely chopped (I like to use Ghirardelli 65% dark chocolate, see note if using chocolate chips) (340g)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Using an electric mixer or stand mixer (with paddle attachment), stir together mashed potatoes, butter, salt and 1 cup (125g) powdered sugar until completely combined.
- With mixer on low-speed, add in remaining sugar, 1 cup (125g) at a time.
- Stir in vanilla extract and check the consistency of the batter. It should be cohesive and will be sticky at this point but should not be runny/separating. If it is runny, add additional powdered sugar as needed.
- Cover and refrigerate filling for at least 1 hour.
- Once chilled, scoop dough by 1 ½ Tablespoon and roll between your hands into egg shape. Place eggs on wax-paper lined cookie tray. If dough is still sticky, chill for longer or dust your hands with powdered sugar before rolling. Return eggs to the refrigerator while you prepare the chocolate coating
- Place chopped chocolate in a double boiler (see note to microwave instead) over simmering water and stir constantly until melted.
- Remove eggs from the refrigerator. Dip a fork in chocolte then place the egg on the tines of the fork. Use a spoon to drizzle chocolate all over the egg until coated, then slide back onto the baking sheet to allow the chocolate to harden before enjoying.
- Return eggs to the refrigerator and refrigerate until chocolate coating has hardened.
Notes
Notes on potatoes
Use russet potatoes for best results. I recommend piercing the potato all over with a fork and baking in the microwave for approximately 4 minutes on each side until potato is tender when pierced with a fork. No salt/pepper or any other flavoring should be added. Potatoes that have been peeled, boiled and mashed will also work but periodically they retain too much moisture and the batter will be too runny to manage. Allow potatoes to cool completely before adding sugar. Otherwise they will melt the sugar and you will end up with a very runny mess. I recommend allowing them to cool at room temperature rather than the fridge, as sometimes the condensation from the fridge can also make the mixture runny.Chocolate Notes
Dark chocolate is best as this candy is very sweet and the dark chocolate keeps it from being too sweet. My grandmother's original recipe uses unsweetened chocolate, which I sometimes use, too! Dark or semisweet chocolate chips will work in a pinch, though the chocolate doesn't melt as nicely. I will usually add a teaspoon of vegetable shortening or coconut oil in with the chocolate to thin it a bit, making it easier to pour and coat the eggs.Microwave instead of double boiler
If using the microwave to melt the chocolate, simply place in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 20 second increments, stirring in between, until completely melted.Potato Candy Variations
Another variation of this candy can be made by rolling the filling into cigar shapes and rolling in 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon for Cinnamon Cigar Candy or you can roll into a sheet, spread with peanut butter, and roll into a log and slice for peanut butter pinwheel potato candy.Storing
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Eggs will keep for at least one week.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Recipe originally published April 19, 2014. Photos and some text updated March 19, 2018.
tricia
Is it alright to use other types of potatoes?
Sam
Hi Tricia! I have not tried it with another type but I think it could work. 🙂
Cindy
My mother used to make a large chocolate-covered egg at Easter with a recipe like this, although I believe hers had shredded coconut in it, too. We would keep it on the sideboard in the dining room for weeks and nibble on it each time we passed by. I don’t ever remember it being in the refrigerator. It was a large egg, perhaps seven or 8 inches in length. Yum.
Don a
After making can these be frozen until ready to use?
Donna
Sam
Hi Donna! I haven’t tried it myself, but I think that will work just fine. 🙂
Rachael
Would it be weird to add orange extract? I’m craving citrus but want to try out this recipe!
Sam
Nothing wrong with that! It’s totally a matter of personal preference 🙂
Je'Anna Roeper
Good idea – Nothing wrong with a little twist and experimentation on a classic recipie !!
Rae Taylor
Can you make peanut butter eggs with mashed potatoes? A neighbor of mine thirty yrs ago made them, while sweet, not overly sweet. She had no recipe, just feel. She would peel 10 lbs of potatoes. I really want to make them, can you help
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Rae! I have a potato candy recipe that you can use as a reference. It uses potatoes and you can then dip it into chocolate if you wish. I hope that helps! 🙂
Suzanne Kotomski
I use 1 cup mashed potatoes, 3 lbs conf sugar, 1 lb peanut butter and 1 stick butter~
Tanya Blanchard
I just found your wonderful website. I love Potato Candy/Doughnut recipes. I have yet to make these and or the Potato Candy Pinwheels. I am so looking forward to it. My family will make them all disappear real quick. Thank you for sharing your Ancestors delightful goodies with all who are lucky enough to find your wealth of wisdom in the confectionary delights.
Hug your family for passing down their recipes to another generation.
Side Note:
Do you have a Potato Doughnut Recipe?
When I was a little girl, my immediate family would travel back to where we were originally from, Louisiana. My Grandmother would take us to Winchels for Doughnuts. They by far were not the yeast doughnuts most Doughnut businesses make. I learned over the years that they were made with Mashed Potatoes. I have yet to find an Authentic recipe.
I jumped at the chance to make Potato Candy and found a delightful site that feels a lot like my own Grandmother’s home sweet home.
Sam
I am so happy you are enjoying the website and the recipes, Tanya! I do not have a potato doughnut recipem, at least not yet. Do you know if the ones you are referring to are the same thing as “fastnachts”, which are popular around Shrove Tuesday?
Alex
This was something that my grandmother used to make at Easter but I never saw a written recipe for it, so I was glad to find this! I have adapted it for the Christmas season by adding peppermint oil (~ 3t, but it is to taste) and shaping the candy into discs instead of eggs using a small (~1 in) biscuit cutter. I like to melt paraffin with the chocolate to give the finished candies a nice shiny appearance, and I usually put a small mint or crushed candy cane pieces on top. To help the filling hold its shape while being dipped in chocolate I add an extra cooling step between cutting the shapes and dipping them – at least an hour or two. Thanks again for posting this!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the candy, Alex, and that you were able to adapt to the Christmas season. I hope that everyone enjoys it! 🙂
Susan
Hi my adopted grandmother made these she also put peanut butter in them can that work with your recipe and how much thanks
Sam
Hi Susan, I actually have a version that uses peanut butter, you might want to check that one out 🙂
Karen
How long will these eggs stay fresh and not spoil? Trying to start a fund raiser for our Church.
Sugar Spun Run
Hello Karen, the old fashioned Easter Egg Candies will last about 1 week in the fridge if stored in an airtight container. I hope that this helps! Let me know if I can provide any additional recipe recommendations for your fundraiser event. Best wishes! 🙂
Joseph Reeder
Actually, they can last several weeks in the refrigerator, several days at room temperature. There is a Luthern Church in Pennsylvania that makes several thousand of these eggs over a 2 week period to sell.
Mary
Another winner. You’re four for four! I made these for my husband’s birthday. He loved them and, let’s face it, how could he not?
I live in a very rural area and a trip to the store is never easy, so I opted to cobble together some ingredients. In particular, the chocolates. I didn’t have Dutch processed cocoa, so I used regular. I had 2 oz of unsweetened baking chocolate and some chocolate chips at the bottom of the bag, which together totaled close to 4 oz. I will use the correct ingredients next time, but I really can’t imagine a better outcome.
These were not difficult at all and about a thousand times better than boxed.
Mary
So sorry, I wrote this on the wrong page. I made your Best Ever brownies, not this recnipe (yet). And I DID use Dutch cocoa, which was on the very fine print of the label. I apologize for the confusion. Feel free to delete these two comments entirely.
Best wishes in your new home. Hope you are settling in nicely.
Sam
That’s ok, Mary! I am glad you took the time to leave a comment. Thank you. 🙂
Sam
Thank you so much, Mary! I am so glad you enjoyed the brownies. 🙂
Nancy. L. Sparks
Looking forward to trying these out..
Sam
I hope you love it, Nancy! 🙂
Arika
I made these for Easter – they were a big hit! I did not see the note to wait until the potatoes were completely cool, but it still worked fine. After chilling the filling, I shaped the eggs and froze them. This helped them not melt when dipped in the chocolate.
Sam
I’m so happy to hear that they were such a hit! Thank you for commenting, Arika!
Tarre
These sound simple and delicious! Do see any problem with using coconut oil rather than crisco? When I think of shortening / crisco I feel my arteries closing ….
Sam
Hi Tarre! I think that would be fine. Enjoy!
Giovanna Jones
I’ve always loved candy eggs and marzipan eggs and I can’t wait to put a new twist on a classic
Sam
I hope you love it, Giovanna! 🙂
Kim
We always add chopped cherries and walnuts
Sam
That sounds delicious, Kim! 🙂
Giovanna
I can’t wait to make these! I’ve always loved marzipan Easter eggs and I am so excited to put a new twist on a classic candy!