Growing up, my family celebrated Easter every year. We were not religious, so the holiday was celebrated traditionally rather than spiritually. The Easter holiday meant egg hunts, family brunches, and lots of candy. I relished the Easter season and all that came with it– warm weather, frilly dresses and bonnets, Easter bunnies and outdoor egg hunts (that’s me, above, in one of my many Easter frocks). Searching for those colorful eggs was thrilling. And of course, the best part was indulging in all of those sweet Easter treats… chocolate bunnies, cakes, brownies, and “peeps.” 🙂
Speaking of sweets, here is one of my favorite family candy recipes. These lovely treats are super easy to make. They’re incredibly creamy, rich and delicious. You can flavor them any way you fancy. Traditionally my family uses peppermint flavoring to make them minty, but I’ve also made them using vanilla butter flavoring, banana, coconut, and lemon. You can flavor each color differently, if you like. I especially love how colorful they are… they remind me of all those delectable Easter treats growing up. What fun!
These candies can be made for lots of different holidays. I like to make them with blue food coloring at Hanukkah and in vibrant color blends (purple, orange) for Purim. They’re a fun gift to bring to a wedding or baby shower, and they’d make a festive addition to any dairy holiday table.
If you’re still keeping kosher for Passover, as I am, and you want to make this treat before the end of the holiday, be sure to check out the Passover note below.
Happy Easter to all of our friends who are celebrating today. Enjoy! 🙂
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Cream Cheese Candies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 8 ounces cream cheese (1 package)
- 4-5 cup powdered sugar (see Passover note)
- 1 teaspoon flavoring - peppermint, vanilla butter, lemon, banana, etc.
- Food coloring
NOTES
Instructions
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and stir till softened and partially melted into the butter.
- Turn off the heat. Add 4 cups of the powdered sugar to the pan and stir to form a soft sugary dough. If the dough seems to liquid or loose, slowly add more sugar till it firms up-- it should be firm enough to mold and shape. If making only one flavor, add 1 tsp of flavoring to the dough (or more to taste) and stir well.
- Divide dough into four equal portions. If making more than one flavor, add 1/4 tsp of flavoring (or more to taste) to each separate portion of dough and stir well.
- Color the dough by adding a few drops of food coloring to each portion of dough. For a pastel color, use 2-3 drops of food coloring per portion. For more vibrant color, add more drops.
- Shape the candies into round disks of about 1/2 tbsp each. Score them on top with a fork, if desired.
- Allow to dry on parchment or wax paper for a few hours until the candies set. Store candies in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Horrible recipe. Dough never got hard enough to take shape and I added about 9 cups of powdered sugar. Didnt see a temperature to cook it on. They just melted all over the paper and into my oven. And i know how to follow directions!
Dee – you’re not supposed to bake them, so clearly you didn’t follow the directions. They’re simply allowed to set, they are not baked – of course they dissolved.
I am about to make some with butter flavor. Should be yummy. I made some yesterday using 1/4th cup of cocoa powder in place of 1\4th of the sugar and they turned out well. They only taste like fudge to everyone because I didn’t put any flavoring in it. Next time I will add the mint.
Hi Bonnie No , The strawberries were a cream cheese base. I know what you mean about marzipan, not really a fan. but I’m thinking that if I put strawberry flavoring in,, red food coloring, and shape them into strawberries.It should work.and dip the stem part in green sugar, that could be good
Cheers
When I was younger and attending wedding showers, , there would be these amazing cream cheese confections shaped like strawberries. Do you think that this is the recipe?
Penny,
It sounds like you’re talking about marzipan, an almond paste that’s shaped into fruit shapes.
I have a question about making confectioner’s sugar. Can corn starch be used instead of potato starch?
Bonny Lee– yes.
Remember my poppy would have these candys when we can over.What a nice way to remember him.Cant wait to make them n bring back the memory s.Thanks for sharing
Is the can supposed to be hardened? I think
Not because cream cheese will always be creamy even after refrigerated, the candies are just too good. I found this recipe somewhere else but it came out all creamy, this solved my candy problem!! Anyways, answer me question? Thx!
I’m not sure I understand your question Athena. The candy should be solid, but not hard– it is soft to bite through, but it should hold its shape. I hope that helps!
If the recipe makes 48 or so, divide it by the amount of colors you use.
I got about 60 total candies and only made green.