08/23/2026
Deskins Candies - Potato Candy.
It just feels right.
Recently online we had to calm down an upset customer who thought our company had succumbed to shrinkflation. Where we put less in the retail package but keep charging the same amount for less product. As we explained to them that our product is handmade and makes each final product unique in piece count in a container, it also made me think of all of the customers who do anything but complain when they see one of our most popular items at a food show or at a sales meeting. That product being the Peanut Butter Pinwheel, aka. Potato Candy.
We sell fudge, and easter eggs, no bakes and peanut butter balls, as well as other seasonal items, but our most popular item overall is the Peanut Butter Pinwheel. And when folks see it that get nothing short of emotional on occasion, as they often know it as the name their grandmother made it as. Which here in West Virginia and across Appalachia it is known as Potato Candy. Athough ours contains no potatoes in it these days, the story behind this family heirloom and how it got its name is one we thought was worth sharing.
During the Great Depression families had to stretch everything, especially food, and try to figure out how to make something from nearly nothing. Potatoes really fit that need well, and many folks here in Appalachia figured out you could take left over mash potatoes, confection sugar, and peanut butter – all lower cost and abundant items to rural families during that time and form them into an inexpensive treat. It required no oven, no thermometer, and most importantly no expensive chocolate. During that time, it would make a regular appearance at Christmas, church gatherings, and other special occasion events.
When researching it, the exact birthplace remains unknown and cannot be attributed to one specific community or Appalachian immigrant group. But what is certain is it can be found in almost every family’s collection of recipes passed down over the years on note cards organized in tins, or on random pieces of paper all tucked into one place for reference, guarded and shared from one generation to the next.
The most interesting fact we found is how no two heirloom recipes are ever alike. One may call for a pinch of this, while another makes sure to remind you to add a dash of that. And the hardest step, the learning how to get it all to form the correct texture for the dough.
Well…. you just keep mixing “until it feels right”.
