Cafeteria Peanut Butter Candy is an old fashioned goody you don’t want to miss!
Today I am sharing a quick candy that was a standard back in the golden days of school cafeterias. It’s peanut buttery good with the texture of taffy but without the stickiness. Kind of a peanut butter chew flavored heavily by peanut butter, milk, and honey : all favorite flavors in my house! This recipe is from a time when the lunch ladies were usually the mama of someone you knew and the hallways were slowly filled with the smell of soup stewing and bread rising as we watched the clock longingly and our stomachs got steadily louder the closer we got to lunchtime.
I guess it’s good that lunchrooms aren’t like that nowadays because I’d be spending my time coming up with an excuse to hang out around one. Come to think of it, since we homeschool that makes me the lunch lady around here! Oooh what fun! So after posting these, I feel the need to answer the call to make Vegetable Beef Stew and Jordan Rolls!
To make this, you’ll need: Honey, Powdered Milk, Peanut Butter, Vanilla, and Confectioner’s Sugar.
This is a classic cafeteria recipe with very basic (and few) ingredients that relies heavily on what was once considered “commodity” foods. Oooh, while I’m thinking about it, you can substitute corn syrup or even pancake syrup for the honey if you would like or need to. I know honey can be on the expensive side these days so do what you need to do.
Take all ingredients and put them in a big old mixing bowl.
Guess what’s coming next????
Mix it.
Okay, so I’m predictable. There is a lot to be said about being predictable in today’s world, though, so I’ll take it :).
You want to mix this, scraping down the sides if you need to, until it is well blended and a stiff dough is formed.
Put that dough on a large plate and knead it a few times with your hands just to help it all stick together.
If you have a pinch of it to taste, I won’t tell. It’s awfully good!
Separate that into two halves and roll them out into two logs.
Wrap those in plastic wrap or place in a large plastic bag and seal.
Place this in the fridge until it is well chilled. This is going to depend on your refrigerator. An hour-ish or so will probably do it.
Once cold, slice into 1/4 inch slices.
Dip those into a little confectioner’s sugar so that they won’t stick together when you put them on a plate.
Enjoy this old fashioned creamy, chewy candy!
Ingredients
Candy
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 3/4 cups powdered milk
- 1 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
Topping
- powdered sugar for dipping to keep slices from sticking
Instructions
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Place all candy ingredients into large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until well incorporated and a dough is formed.
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Remove from bowl and knead a time or two with your hands. Separate into two halves. Roll each half into a ball and then into a log. Cover each log with cling wrap or place in a large zipper seal bag. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
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Slice into 1/4 slices and dip each slice in confectioner’s sugar before serving. Store remainders in the refrigerator.
Notes
This is an old recipe that was a standard in many school cafeterias in days of old.
This recipe was originally posted in 2015. I updated the post with new pictures in 2019.
Click here to see all of my quote pictures and feel free to use them!
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