So technically I’m half-Irish, which means I love any excuse to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. When I think of Irish food, I actually think of my grandmother’s Lamb Stew or Corned Beef and Cabbage… but I don’t eat beef or lamb so that rules out making anything meaty. In recent years, I’ve made Irish Potatoes (candy) – they are fun and easy to make and it’s a good one that they kids can get involved in.
Try it out! They are very sweet so they definitely last a long time – I can generally only eat one at a time.
Irish Potatoes Recipe – Ingredients & Directions:
- 5 oz cream cheese – regular, not reduced fat
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 stick of softened butter
- 16 oz of confectioners sugar
- 2 cups of shredded coconut
- 5-6 tbsp of cinnamon or however much you need to roll and cover all the balls
First thing you’re going to do is whip the cream cheese and butter together. I recommend letting both sit out a bit before you try and whip them together:
Next, add the vanilla extract or have your 5 year old helper do it like mine is here:
Add the 16 ounces of powdered sugar:
Next, add the coconut. I noticed that lots of recipes call for more than 2 cups. I only use 2 – I can’t handle the sweetness of anything more but if you like your Irish Potatoes really sweet you can add a bit more to taste:
Get rolling. I used a shallow pasta dish this time that is probably the best bowl I’ve ever used for this process. It needs to be something shallow that you can easily roll a ball around in. This dish worked great. Also, you’ll notice I called for 5-6 tablespoons of cinnamon. It’s basically how many times I had to pour a little spoonful into the bowl. This can definitely vary depending on how much cinnamon you want and how well you can roll your balls!
Line them out on a cookie sheet on your counter for an hour or more. It just gives them time to harden a tiny bit and retain their ball shape.
Voila! I actually put mine onto the plate for the photo but they are now in the fridge until St. Patrick’s Day. Enjoy!
I’ve never made these. Wonder if my kids would like them. I fear the coconut.
Jo-Lynne, why? You don’t like coconut? It’s definitely pretty sweet – I use less coconut than the “normal” Irish Potatoes recipe calls for just to try and make it a bit less sweet
oooh . do they look delish!! I must try- slainte!
THEY LOOK WONDERFUL. WILL TRY. HAVE YOU MADE DARINA ALLEN’S GUINESS BEEF STEW?
SOOOOOO DELICIOUS. TOOK IT TO A DINNER PARTY ONCE AND EVERYONE HAD SECONDS. THEY CLEANED THEIR BOWLS SO COMPLETELY, THEY LOOKED LIKE THEY HAD BEEN THROUGH THE DISHWASHER. A MUST TRY.
you mentioned “not reduced fat” cream cheese — why?
Sharon – it says that in every recipe for Irish Potatoes! I actually don’t know why – I’ve never tried it but my guess is that it won’t whip/cream up as well if it’s the reduced fat. It has that weirder consistency with reduced fat that regular doesn’t have.
Yum! These are so good, but, yeah, you can’t really pop the whole thing in your mouth! Too much good sweetness needs to be nibbled. I bet Dore’s lamb stew would be good without the lamb. Just a bunch of veg. Do you think mom has the recipe? Or did Dore even have a recipe or did she just know what to do? It was so good. Remember that huge pot she would make it in? I also remember her eating a lot of neapolitan ice cream. But I think she picked up that habit in Italy! Yay paddy’s day!
Abbie – I don’t know but I don’t think the Lamb Stew would be the same w/o the Lamb. I’ve thought of trying to do it with pork? But honestly the meat and potatoes in the stew was what made it so hearty. Can’t imagine it would be the same with chunks of tofu and you know I love me some tofu! Just not for that.
And yes, totally remember of course! I remember being little and watching her stick her bare hands in to shred the lamb as it cooked and being really grossed out LOL