Mashed Potato Candy Bars

These are soooo good!

And weird.

I blind taste tested them on 30 people.

No one could guess the "secret" ingredient - mashed potatoes.

The bars did disappear really fast though. They were popular!

Some of my testers' comments, "Tastes like an Almond Joy." "Mmmm, that's good." "Do you have anymore?"

Mashed Potato Coconut Chocolate Candy Bars

~

4 cups powdered sugar

4 cups coconut

3/4 cup mashed potato (no butter/milk/salt added - just plain)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs. lime juice

1/4 tsp. ginger

~

Boil 2 med. peeled potatoes until tender. Reserve potato cooking liquid for stock*. Return drained potatoes to burner;mash potatoes and add lime juice and ginger. Measure out 3/4 cup mashed potatoes**.

~

In a mixer combine 3/4 cup mashed potatoes and other remaining ingredients.

Mix until completely combined.

Line a 10 in square baking pan with tin foil; grease tin foil.

Press coconut/potato mixture into the bottom of the baking pan.

~

Freeze for 20 mins. or refrigerate overnight.

Top with chocolate layer - recipe below.

~

*Potato water makes a wonderful addition to soups and stocks. I will be posting a soup recipe tomorrow that uses this reserved potato water.

**After taking out the 3/4 cup mashed potato, do you have extra leftover mashed potatoes?

Yum! You now have lime-ginger mashed potatoes. Add a pat of butter and eat!

Chocolate Layer

1 12 oz bag of milk chocolate chips

2 Tbs cream

2 Tbs corn syrup

Using the microwave, melt chocolate chips, cream and corn syrup in a glass bowl. Stir every 15 seconds. Remove from microwave when smooth.

Spread over coconut layer and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Remove and cut.

Eat!

One of my testers asked what the potato's purpose is in this recipe.

The potatoes are a starch and they bind with the coconut and sugar without making the bars floury, heavy, gummy or overwhelming the coconut flavor.

Instead they are light, not-too-sweet and coconutty.