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
These look delish! I’m having a wedding shower for my niece and am wondering if you think these would go well. We are having a huge cupcake display for desert but I thought this would add a nice alternative for people who don’t like cupcakes plus they are so colorful. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!
Do you think if I add espresso powder when over heat it will become a yummy coffee cream candy?
Not sure how the espresso will taste with the cream cheese, honestly… might be weird, but if you try it and it’s good let me know! 🙂
when i was a child, these awesome candies were at my grandparents 50th wedding anniversity. i love these candies, as i ate to meny and ended up in the hospital that night. now that im older and pay attention to my health, im sure i can judge my sweet tooth a little better then i could back then. everything in moderation i say. lol thanks for the flash back.
When I was in the 6th grade my teacher had us kids make candies for our families for the Christmas season. I remembered how fun it was to press brightly colored dough into holiday molds and I really remember how yummy the candy was. Lucky for me I also remembered asking my teacher why it was so good. She said it was the cream cheese and powdered sugar that made it good but I know she also added mint. I couldnt get enough. Its been 32 years now since then and i still think about those candies. Your recipe has to be the same one or at least very close. I can not wait to make these candies again with my kids for my family this year for Christmas. Thank you for sharing this.
Hi Corrie! It sounds like a very similar recipe, but these candies are not meant for molds, they are too soft and they will not “unmold” (unless the molds are very flexible, like silicone… even then, it might be difficult). That said, if you try shaping them in molds, let me know how it goes!
I’m wondering if instead of molds, you could use a cookie stamp. If the ball of candy was rolled in sugar, and then stamped, maybe you could remove the stamp without it sticking too badly – or place a small square of saran wrap on top of the candy before pressing with the stamp. Don’t know if this would work, just a suggestion.
Hi! This recipe looks great. Can these be made ahead of time and frozen? Or, how long can I keep them in the refrigerator before they go bad? I have a big party coming up where anything that can be made in advance would be the bomb!
Wow, Tori! These look so similar to the delicious pastel ones from Lammes Candies, a Texas tradition! I used to eat them all the time when I was little, too! I’m going to give these a try!
I LOVE these! And what a great treat for spring…never thought of them as anything but a wedding snack. Thanks for broadening my narrow mind!
could i get away with making this with splenda instead of the powdered sugar,, i know it won’t make as good of a dough, if at all,, but i’m type 2 diabetic. I used to make potato candy years ago and did it the same way except with mashed potatoes. These look wonderful.
Hi! This is the first time I’m commenting on a recipe although I’ve been a fan of your blog for a long time (big fan btw!) I’m actually just wondering if the first step to the recipe isn’t posted above – it seems that you skipped the beginning of the recipe (or is it just my browser?) and started from the step where the butter and cream cheese are already melted together.
Hi Rebecca, thank you so much for noticing that!! My site recently underwent an upgrade, and for some reason the first step of the recipe didn’t transfer over correctly. I have corrected the issue, you should see it now. So happy you’re enjoying the blog! 🙂
They are great with orange flavoring 🙂 !
Can you use the strawberry flavored cream cheese
Hey Cassie! You know what, I’ve never tried it that way but I bet it would be yummy! Just don’t add any additional flavoring, the strawberry in the cream cheese should flavor it nicely. Let me know how it works for you, I’m curious– if it’s good I’ll try it that way myself! 🙂
Cooooool..Tori, u loved my homemade butter, and I llllllloved your candies.. my kids will love it as well. thanks for the idea.
You’re very welcome Nesrine! Hope you enjoy them. If you have a chance to try them let me know how they turn out for you! 🙂
Can these work for chocoholics, i.e., cocoa or melted chocolate?
Lois, you and my paternal grandmother share the same first name (which is pretty rare nowadays), so even though we’ve never met I like you! And even moreso because you’re a chocoholic! If you want to “chocolate” these up, I’d suggest using mint flavoring in the batter. After the candies set, dip them in chocolate coating, and you’ll have something very similar to a Junior Mint. Let me know how they turn out for you! 🙂
BTW, if you’re a true chocoholic, try these recipes, they’re exclusively for chocolate lovers:
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2011/05/triple-chocolate-almond-mandelbrot/
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2011/04/chocolate-crackle-cake/
Have a great weekend! 🙂
I am wondering how the candies taste if I do not use any flavoring just food coloring?
Hi Rhonda– the candies are good without flavoring too, they just have a more pronounced cream cheese flavor. I prefer them with flavoring, they’re a bit on the simple side without it. Hope you enjoy them!
Oh Tori, good memories! Thanks!!!
You are so welcome! Glad this brought back some fun memories for you guys.
FYI, yesterday a blog reader had a problem with the dough turning out too runny. If any of you have trouble with this, simply add more sugar till the dough firms up enough to be molded into the shape you want. I’ve added this tip to the recipe.
I TOTALLY forgot about these!!! Thanks for taking me back. :^}
They’re so cute…..who would believe they’re so easy! I’m definitely going to make them SOON!! Thanks for the recipe!
yum…these were soooo popular when I was growing up in Iowa during the 70’s. A stand-by at wedding receptions, usually they would be pressed into a mold that looked like a rose, and if I remember correctly, they were usually sparkly/crunchy on the outside, as if they had been rolled in granulated sugar before being molded. If I saw these on the reception table I would devour them.
Yes, I remember them from the 70’s too! My mom used to make them a lot. I also remember them being pressed into a rose mold. I’m from Illinois:)
Thank you for this lovely recipe. I made them and they
flew off the plate. How simple and wonderful.
So happy this recipe brings back memories for all of you, as it does for me! 🙂
Eileen, I’m very impressed that you tried them already. Aren’t they delish??
Can these be made with splenda instead of powder sugar?
Candus– I’ve never tried them with Splenda, but the sugar really needs to have a powdery consistency for these to work well. You could try blending 4 cups Granulated Splenda together with 2 tbsp potato starch in the food processor or blender till powdery. It might work, but no promises, as I haven’t tried it myself. If you try it let me know how it goes! 🙂
Can these be flavored and colored using koolaide mix?