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Chocolate Peanut Butter Potato Candy Teddy Bear Pops

Published: Feb 13, 2015 · Recipe by: Beth · This post may contain affiliate links.

Yes, that title does read, Chocolate Peanut Butter Potato Candy Teddy Bear Pops.

These chocolate teddy bear lollipops are filled with sweet potato candy. They are perfect treats for Valentine’s Day or a baby shower.

potato candy chocolate bear lollipops on Valentine's Day lollipop sticks

Have you ever had an old-fashioned peanut butter potato candy pinwheel before?

The traditional potato candy recipe combines mashed potatoes, vanilla, and powdered sugar to make a fudge-like dough. It’s rolled out into a thin rectangle and topped with peanut butter, then rolled up, sliced, and served.

This old-fashioned candy was most likely created because people had an abundance of potatoes and a lack of the more expensive butter. I looked around for the history of the candy, but couldn’t track it down.

Chocolate peanut butter fudge bear pops for Valentine's Day

I do know that the first time I tasted peanut butter potato candy I was shocked.

The candy is sweet with absolutely no taste of mashed potatoes.

When made the traditional way it tastes like vanilla fudge topped with peanut butter.

chocolate-dipped peanut-coated peanut butter potato candy on red and white striped lollipop sticks

Last year when I began developing recipes for Bob Evans using their grocery store products including their mashed potatoes, I added a new twist to the recipe.

I simply blended all the ingredients together, rolled it into balls, dipped it in candy coating, and sprinkled on some peanuts. To make them festive, I turned them into lollipops.

With the ingredients all blended together, the potato candy tasted exactly like peanut butter fudge.

I’ve shared this candy with a lot of people and not a single person has guessed potatoes were listed in the ingredients.

Valentine's Day Peanut Butter Fudge Potato Pops

For Valentine’s Day, the folks at Bob Evans asked me to dress up the lollipops, so I dipped them in white candy coating and added lots of sprinkles.

While working on Valentine’s Day pops, I thought it would be fun to dip them in milk chocolate and make them look like Teddy Bears.

They turned out so cute!

Valentine's Day Chocolate Teddy Bear Lollipops

Chocolate Peanut Butter Potato Candy Teddy Bear Pops 

Ingredients: (makes 16)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Potato Candy –

1/2 cup Bob Evans Original Mashed
Potatoes

2 ¼ – 2 ½ cups confectioners sugar
(powdered sugar)

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup chocolate hazelnut spread

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Decorations-

16 ounces light cocoa candy coating

32 brown candy coated peanut butter
pieces

32 pink or white heart sprinkles

4 caramel candies

16 chocolate chips

 

32 small candy eyesSupplies:
16 paper straws or lollipop sticks
cake pop stand or a rectangle piece of styrofoam

Instructions:

 

  • Press 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes through a fine-mesh sieve, to remove the larger pieces of mashed potatoes.
  • Measure out 1/3 cup mashed potatoes to use in the recipe.

  • Stir together the mashed potatoes, 2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar, peanut butter, chocolate hazelnut
    spread, a pinch of salt, and vanilla extract. If needed, add more confectioners sugar, about a tablespoon at a time, until you can easily roll the candy into balls.
  • Scoop out 16 heaping tablespoonfuls of the candy and roll into balls.
  • Melt the candy coating in the microwave.
  • Heat on high power for 45 seconds.
  • Let sit in the microwave for a minute or two, then stir.
  • Heat for 25 more seconds, let sit for a minute, then stir.
  • If the wafers are not all melted, heat for 10-second increments, stirring after each until melted.
  • Dip one end of each paper straw or lollipop stick into the melted candy coating before inserting it into a candy ball.
  • Allow the candy coating to dry for about 10 minutes.

  • Dip one peanut butter lollipop at a time into the candy coating.
  • Remove the candy ball from the candy coating, and hold the lollipop upside down over the bowl for 30-60 seconds.

 

  • Press a fork into the candy coating then pull the fork away, creating spikes of fur.

  • Continue to do this all over the pop, adding more candy coating as needed, until you have a nice furry-looking ball.

  • By the time you get all the spikes done, the candy coating will be pretty dry.

  • Set the pop in a cake pop stand or in a piece of styrofoam.
  • Repeat coating all 16 mashed potato candy pops.
  • Allow the candy coating to harden.

  • Create the decorations to add to your teddy bear pops.
  • Snout: Place all of the caramels in the microwave and heat on defrost power for about 10-15 seconds, to soften them.
  • Cut each caramel into 4 even pieces. Knead each piece, then roll into balls, flatten and shape into an oval shape.
  • Nose: Cut the tips off the chocolate chips and insert one chip near the top edge of each piece of caramel.
  • Mouth: Use a toothpick to poke a hole in the caramel opposite the chocolate chip nose. Press the toothpick to create an indentation from the nose to the mouth.
  • Ears: Use a small dab of candy coating to attach one white or a pink heart sprinkle to each brown peanut butter candy.

  • Use the remaining candy coating, re-heating if needed, to attach one caramel snout & nose, two
    candy ears, and two candy eyes to each teddy bear pop.
  • These pops will keep at room temperature for about a week.

Items used to make this project that are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales)

More Chocolate Bear Treats

Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Bears

Chocolate Strawberry Bears

Warm up on a cold winter's day by making some of these incredibly cute Polar Bear Cupcakes made with White Reese's Cups. Watch the video tutorial to see just how easy they are to make.

Polar Bear Cupcakes

Chocolate Teddy Bear Cupcakes are so adorably sweet and are the perfect treat for Valentine's Day.

Teddy Bear Cupcakes

 

About the Author, Beth Jackson Klosterboer

Beth is a professional chocolatier, recipe developer, event planner, and cookbook author who loves to make fun food.

Read More about Beth...

Previous Post: « Valentine’s Day Cupcake Dogs
Next Post: Academy Award Cookies – Oscars, Clapboards, Movie Reels, and Stars »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cindy deRosier

    February 23, 2015 at 7:29 pm

    I made mashed potato candy for the first time last year. It was part of the dessert course for an Iron Chef "Battle Potato" themed dinner party I hosted. 🙂

    http://www.cindyderosier.com/2014/01/iron-chef-derosier-style.html

    Reply
    • beth

      February 24, 2015 at 2:18 am

      Sounds like so much fun!

      Reply
  2. Kathryn

    February 20, 2015 at 7:00 pm

    Aww these are so cute, and such a good idea, thanks for sharing : ) I saw you on Tidy Mom's

    Kathryn
    nimblenote.blogspot.com

    Reply
    • beth

      February 20, 2015 at 9:57 pm

      Thanks so much for stopping by Kathryn:)

      Reply
  3. Lisa @ Fun Money Finds

    February 14, 2015 at 1:29 am

    Those teddy bear pops are so stinkin' cute!!! I'm not sure that mine will look as good as yours but I'm definitely going to give it a try! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • beth

      February 14, 2015 at 2:34 pm

      Thanks, Lisa. I do hope you try them and have fun making them. The fur is really fun to make. Enjoy!

      Reply
  4. Sue

    February 13, 2015 at 5:44 pm

    Potato candy, who knew? Your teddy bear pops are so cute! I love their expressions and all the details, like the hearts on the ears. 🙂

    Reply
    • beth

      February 14, 2015 at 2:35 pm

      Thanks, Sue. I was surprised when I first heard about potato candy, that's for sure, but have made it several times now, and everyone really likes it!

      Reply
  5. Janine Eshelbrenner

    February 13, 2015 at 4:43 pm

    These are adorable, Beth! I love the texture you created for the look of fur. And I have to say, I am intrigued by the mashed potatoes. I gotta try it!

    Reply
    • beth

      February 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm

      Thanks, Janine. It is an unusual ingredient to add to a candy, but it's amazing who well it works. I highly recommend trying it. Of course, this same teddy bear design could work well with cake pops too and I know you are great at making those:)

      Reply
  6. Sweet Lucy

    February 13, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    I have not heard of the potato candy as you speak of it, but I have an old recipe for truffle-type-candy being made with mashed potatoes. I haven't used it in years and I cannot recall where it came from. But, I do remember that it uses mashed potatoes and cocoa powder for the center. Once I learned how to temper chocolate, I never used the recipe again. But I still have it.

    Reply
    • beth

      February 13, 2015 at 4:07 pm

      How interesting. I'll have to search on-line to see if I can find a similar recipe. I've been amazed what I can do with mashed potatoes. They really make a pretty good substitute for butter. Thanks for sharing your story!

      Reply

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