Needhams Candy Recipe
Potatoes are the Maine ingredient in needhams candy — an old-fashioned favorite in a state still known for its potato production.
By Yankee Magazine|Jun 20 2022|
The dark-chocolate-covered coconut-cream treat known as needhams.
Photo Credit: Melissa DiPalmaPotatoes are the Maine ingredient in needhams candy — a dark–chocolate–covered coconut-cream treat and an old-fashioned favorite. For the best homemade needhams, be sure to start with warm (not hot) mashed potatoes (we’re partial to Maine potatoes) for a smooth filling, and don’t be afraid to return the chocolate to the heat for a moment or two if it starts to cool and thicken while you’re still dipping the squares.
See More:
The Need for Needhams | Recipe With a History
How to Make Needhams Potato Candy | Step-by-Step
75 Classic New England Foods
Yield:
60 pieces
Total Time:
2 hours 45 minutes minutesHands-on Time:
45 minutes minutes
Ingredients
1 2-pound bag confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup plain (unseasoned, meaning with no butter, milk, etc.) mashed potato, warm
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
1 14-ounce bag sweetened flaked coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 12-ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
Instructions
Butter a rimmed 15½x10 ½-inch baking pan (we use a jellyroll pan) and set aside. (A 9×13-inch pan will also do, but the needhams will be thicker.)
In a large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, add the sugar, potato, melted butter, coconut, vanilla, and salt. Mix on low speed (mixture will be very dry at first) until a thick paste forms; then increase the speed for 30 seconds, or until all of the sugar is completely incorporated.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, and press down evenly. Let the mixture set and firm up at room temperature, about 1 hour. Then cut into small, even squares.
Melt the chocolate and the chips in a double boiler until smooth; then remove from the heat and add the shortening, stirring vigorously until shiny. Now place one coconut/potato square onto the tines of a fork and lower into the chocolate until coated; lift it and let the excess chocolate drip back into the pot.
Transfer the square to a sheet of parchment to harden, about 1 hour. Repeat with the remaining squares.
Store in an airtight container for up to two days for best flavor and appearance. After then the chocolate may begin to discolor.
Plain mashed potato is a little vague. Is this just potato, boiled then mashed, with no other ingredients added? Or is this plain mashed potatoes as in potatoes boiled then mashed with butter and cream?
Hi Drew. In this case, when we say plain we mean unseasoned. We’ll update the recipe text to avoid any future confusion. Thanks!
So the mashed potato already has butter and cream in it, and the stick of butter in this recipe is above and beyond that?
Wouldn’t it just be clearer to list boiled potatoes, cream and indicate a larger amount of butter and then mix it all up together?
When you say mashed potato, do you mean the ingredient: potatoes that are mashed (nothing else added, no butter nor dairy, no nuthin), or do you mean an unseasoned version of the side dish, such as you might see alongside of meatloaf (that is, potatoes mashed with butter and milk or cream)?
I’m confused because mashed potato could refer to two very different things.
Hi Drew. “Unseasoned” to me means completely plain — boiled and mashed potatoes with no seasoning or “extras” (i.e. cream, butter, salt, pepper, sour cream, chives…any of those delicious things we add to mashed potatoes when making them as a side dish). I’ll further clarify the recipe to show my interpretation of unseasoned, since some folks also interpret “plain” to mean basic mashed potatoes with milk and butter. Hopefully that will do the trick!
Hi Kissy. By plain, unseasoned potato we mean mashed potatoes with nothing added to them. Thanks!
So, not the side dish, just pure potato.
Hi again, Kissy. To quote you, “potatoes that are mashed (nothing else added, no butter nor dairy, no nuthin)” — that’s what we mean! 🙂 Potatoes are just an ingredient in this candy — no Thanksgiving-style mashed potatoes required! Thanks!
Not to beat a dead horse here on the “mashed potato” discussion but since “mashed potatoes” is a very real common description of a prepared side dish, and this recipe doesn’t want that side dish, why not simply call for warm boiled potatoes in the ingredient listing and “thoroughly mash the warm potatoes” in the technique listing. Those of us who were previously familiar with Needhams and their potato content clearly understood what was wanted, but to novices new to the idea of adding potato to candy making, this could make it clearer.
Good Lord!! SERIOUSLY?
Can the finished candy be frozen in order to overcome the 2 day limit of edibility?
Where can I buy Needham’s?
Is there a place to order Needham’s candy and have it shipped?
I’ve never heard so much talk about potatoes! Obviously these people have never heard of potato sourdough starter since that also calls for “plain, mashed potatoes”. Sorry, I just had to say something…I think the devil made me do it!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
All joking aside, the candy sounds wonderful and I plan to try it asap. I hope Idaho potatoes will work since that is what is available here. I am a Texan, living in the Pacific Northwest but have a daughter that lives in and loves the Boston area so I rely on Yankee Magazine to learn about New England traditions and try some of the food favorites. Needhams may become a tradition in the PNW!
When I make potato candy, I do not even mash the boiled potato. Just put it in the bowl, start adding powdered sugar and it will “melt”….and plain means just that, add nothing. This looks like a terrific candy for Christmas time. 🙂
I think your (plain mashed potatoes) was self explanatory! I will be making some for the holidays with a twist & put pecans in them. Thank you for sharing.
I remember these when I was a kid in the 50s. They were delicious! I guess I’m dating myself! They were sold in Mom and Pop stores.
Can I just buy some? Thanks!!
Can Needhams be frozen several weeks before Christmas
for goodness sakes people!! plain mashed potato means NOTHING IN IT!!!why is that so hard to understand!
I have made these for years…but my recipe has only 8 oz of coconut and they are good for a couple weeks.
This recipe is fantastic! Best needhams I have had, as well as raving compliments from the guests. Not dry. Good flavor.
We’re so glad to hear it!
watch out, Needhams are addictive after eating just one!
My mother made this candy when I was growing up in the 40’s.I thought it was made in the Depression. Anyway,we loved it! We lived in RI.
Len Libbey Candies in Scarborough, Me. I think are the best around if you don’t want to make them yourself. Order the ones dipped in dark chocolate. They’ve been making them the past 60 years.
My mother was from Waterville Maine. And she made delicious Needham’s for the family in the 50’s! When it came to the chocolate my mother used to just pour a whole layer over the top of the pan introvert and we would cut them to the side we wanted! I’m also wondering if anyone here has a recipe for Harris’ squash donutsAlso found in Waterville Maine!? Loved visiting my auntie and she would get us those donuts!
I will be trying this soon.
I don’t use vegetable oil – I use parafin wax – half of a block. It makes the chocolate really shiny.
How much mashed potatoes do I use? I don’t see it anyplace telling about. Thank you
2d ingredient, 3/4 C plain no-seasoning mashed potatoes. I overlooked 1st time also.
My mom used to make pure white, rolled potato fondant to cover cakes, especially fruit cakes… but I was a child and I never had the recipe nor can I remember what she did or how to… And now, in my senior years, I am frantically looking for a recipe for this paste…!!! Can anyone remember a recipe like this…? Made out of potatoes…? She came from Irish, English and German stock… and recipe must be very old… Also, I am thinking which type of potato to use for some are starchy and, I assume, stretchi, elastic… while others are grainy and crumbly such as the Peruvian yellow potato (papa amarilla) and/or Yukon and Gold which are, in my opinion, rather sweet and have colour and may be better suited for “dulces…” (after dinner sweets) like blancmanger or “manjarblanco…” which is an antique, Spanish Colonial recipe only made in convents in the 1500’s in Lima and Arequipa…
Thank you…!!!
Can I use instant plain mashed potatoes
My daughters and I make candy every Christmas and this is one of them. I got the recipe on this site a few years ago but I remember buying them at the corner Mom and Pop store in Somerville, MA. None of my friends remember them but I loved them as a child. Of all the candy we make and give away during the holidays these are the favorite. Thanks for the recipe.
I make these every year around xmas. I have stored these for up to 3 months wrapped individually in plastic wrap easily. Tastes just as good as the day they were made. They definitely store for more than 2 days and the chocolated doesn’t discolor.
Ok… just to add to the potato discussion. Does one kind of potato work better than another…. Russets, Golden, little reds etc. Thanks.
Ya, my name is Valerie too … go figure. I thought you had a very good question and nobody answered it! My guess is the stickier Idahos, but that is the best I can do, I would like to know the answer myself. Different varieties of potatoes are quite different, right?
I’m 65 and have original home ec recipe that adds 1/2 cake of paraffin wax to melted chocolate..
Me too! From Home Ec class in the late ‘60’s/early ‘70’s!
So you eat the parrafin?
If you look at the ingredients of cheaper Easter Bunnies, you will see wax.
actually most candies dipped in chocolate have melted wax, people just don’t know
That is how we always made them
Hey,Yankee-sometime back in the early to mid ‘80’s you printed an article about hand-dipped chocolates-complete with the recipe for making the centers (quite complicated, but they were amazing) I had saved that article for years but lost it in my last move. I don’t supposed it’s possible to find it?? They were phenomenal….????
I too am interested in these centers recipe. following.
My husband is from Limestone, ME. His maternal grandfather was a potato farmer & his paternal grandfather was a potato broker so it’s safe to say his family knows potatoes! I never heard of Needhams until I tried some when we were up for Christmas one year. I remember some were mint flavored while others had coconut. I was recently at a candy shop in Camden when I noticed they had them with coconut in your choice of milk or dark chocolate. I prefer milk chocolate for the coconut version & the dark for the mint. Be careful not to add too much mint. Add a little, mix & taste, repeat if needed. It’s a wonderful & frugal way to use potatoes. BTW potatoes should be covered in dirt & not washed until you’re ready to use them. Dirt protects them from insects & mold. Store them in a cool dry place in a basket or a paper bag if you don’t have one. They’ll last quite awhile!
If you don’t know what real mashed potatoes are, skip this recipe and make something else!
Is it OK to add vegetable oil or is vegetable shortening that white Crisco in a can? Does it make a difference in how much to be added?
Hi Margaret! Since shortening solidifies at room temperature and vegetable oil does not, it’s important to use this amount of shortening here. Hope this helps!
I was born and raised in Maine, but no longer live there 🙁 These were great! Made them for the family for Christmas and we can’t stop munching on them. Will keep this recipe handy!
I am also looking for the recipe for vanilla butterflies candy which was printed in the 80’s and had several recipes for other flavors including cherry cream and possibly orange creams. I would love to have these recipes again. I used to make them every Christmas.
I grew up in Searsport, Maine. As a child l remember my dad bringing home a small white cardboard box filled with needhams. I think these may have been “seconds” but they still tasted great even though they may not have been a perfect shape. I now live in Fl and l make these every year at Christmas for my neighbors and friends.
Change the butterflies candy to buttercream candy.
Sometimes my potato/coconut/sugar filling doesn’t stay Firm, what am I doing wrong?
Hi Joanne! Because the recipe calls for melted butter, the mixture should firm up as the butter comes to room temperature and begins to solidify. If “room temperature” is too warm, the butter won’t solidify. Try sticking them in the fridge for a bit. Hope this helps!
I am so EMBARRASSED!
New England has once again been voted the most educated region of America and the lengthy conversation revolves around if the mashed potato is seasoned like a dinner side!
The recipe asks for mashed potato. It does not ask it be seasoned.
In Fact: the remainder of the recipe does describe how to season the spuds.
Please read everything exactly. What is read is usually quite clear if there are no adjectives used or adverbs used as adjectives. Those ‘As’ alter any recipe and if absent? Just plain pure (unseasoned) mashed potatoes.
When coconut mixture has been made And spread in pan I put it in the freezer for an hour. I melt a half cake of wax with the chocolate ( makes the candy shiny). I find it easier to dip coconut pieces in chocolate when it’s chilled.
My dad grew up on a Maine potato farm in Otisfield, and is quite the expert in potatoes. Idaho russet is a curse word at the old farmstead, but I admit they are good baked. I’m betting that this recipe is best with classic white Maine potatoes you still find in paper bags at the grocery store, but would love to get Aimee’s take on it.
If you want to buy Needhams, just stop at any Maine convenience store that still has a wooden floor. They’ll be on the counter. I’ve never seen them outside of Maine.
What is the history of Needhams? I’m wondering if my 98 year old mother would have experienced them as a child. She was born and grew up in Lincoln Maine as well as Brownville ME, ( far away from the the main population centers or tourist areas) but left in 1942.
Im sure she did, as these have been around forever. My mom was born here in Maine 1923. She always made them and shared the recipe with everyone who asked. They are a big thing up north.
When I was growing up in Maine, Needhams was my favorite candy. Back then, it was a round candy, like a full size York Peppermint Patty, and came in an unsealed paper envelope that was folded over at the top. They were the BEST! They are now being made again in Maine. They are square and in sealed wrappers. I’ve found them in a small country store where I live in NH, as well as Renys when I go to Maine
Help! They won’t harden, even in the refrigerator for over three hours. I put in all the right ingredients. And, yes, only mashed the boiled potatoes- nothing added.
The history of needhams can be traced back to Boston. A candy maker in the mid 19th century developed these. Since Maine potatoes are used, this confection is synonymous with Maine. I grew up in Portland Maine and needhams were everywhere. Usually corner stores and variety stores. The 7 Elevens didn’t have them but the little corner stores did. I remember Brunis Variety on Washington Ave had them, Corner Store on Cumberland Ave and Anderson St, DiPietros on Cumberland Ave, Quatruccis Hilltop on Congress St across from the Observertory, Mellon St Variety, Big Apple stores. We ate them like Snicker bars. Wicked cheap too like .15 cents. I now live in Minneapolis nobody knows what they are here. I make them in Minnesota and I’ve given them out at farmers markets in Minneapolis in the summertime. They say it tastes like a Mounds bar, go figure
Needham’s are sold at retail or by mail at Mrs. Nelson’s Candies in Chelmsford, Ma. I grew up loving these, but missed them when I moved away. Now, when I visit home, I stock up on these, and they are great!!!,