This soft peanut butter candy is reminiscent of old-time penny candy, and it is incredibly easy to make! You only need 4 simple ingredients, including peanut butter, cream, powdered sugar, and a splash of vanilla. This homemade candy is perfect for snacking or gift-giving.
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Are there peanut butter lovers in your house? Here, peanut butter is eaten with a spoon more than it is used in sandwiches. When I saw this old-fashioned recipe card for peanut butter candy, I couldn’t remember anyone in my family ever making it. Our family has many peanut butter fanatics, so I knew this recipe would be a huge hit.
This candy is so easy to make…you have a creamy peanut butter candy in under 10 minutes. Just roll, slice, and wrap in wax paper. If you love old-fashioned recipes, you will want to try my Grandma’s Homemade Bread Pudding recipe. I converted it to gluten-free, and it is so good.
Ingredient Notes and Easy Swaps:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Peanut Butter – I recommend creamy peanut butter. Natural peanut butter is too oily to use in this recipe.
- Powdered Sugar – Most powdered sugar is gluten free.
- Heavy Cream – Do not use low-fat versions. To make this recipe dairy-free, use a dairy-free heavy cream, such as So Delicious brand.
Substitutions:
If you are allergic to peanuts or can’t eat nuts, you can still enjoy this homemade nut candy!! You can also use:
- Cashew Butter
- Almond Butter
- Sun Butter (nut-free!)
If you do try this peanut butter candy recipe with natural peanut butter or almond butter, please comment below on how it turns out so we can all know. Luckily, everyone LOVES peanut butter in our house, so it is often hard to find a jar of peanut butter with enough left to create a recipe!
If you are a peanut butter fan, try these Gluten-Free Peanut Butter M&M Cookie Bars.
How to Make Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Candy (Step-By-Step)
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Add the heavy cream, peanut butter, and powdered sugar to a large
Your dough will be mostly firm, like in this picture.
Use wax paper to roll the candy into a long snake. The recipe said to roll the rod in powdered sugar. I chose not to add extra sugar to this recipe because it is a lot of sugar. This peanut butter candy melts in your mouth and tastes incredible without the extra layer of powdered sugar.
Use a sharp knife to slice the roll into round pieces. Wrap in wax paper! Cut up the wax paper and use it to wrap your candy for safekeeping. This peanut butter candy makes wonderful gifts for teachers, friends, holidays, and work parties!
Frequently Asked Questions:
No, there is no cooking in this peanut butter candy recipe.
You do not have to chill your peanut butter candy roll before slicing, but it does help make the slices cleaner.
You are going to love the flexibility of this homemade peanut butter candy recipe. You can use any whipped peanut butter.
I don’t use natural peanut butter due to the oils and how they separate easily from the peanut butter.
More Homemade Candy Recipes:
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Candy
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter Do not use natural peanut butter.
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- extra powdered sugar optional if you want to roll the candy in this.
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup heavy cream, and 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.
- Mix the ingredients into a soft dough.
- Place waxed paper on the counter and put half the dough onto the paper.
- Roll out (like playdough!) into a long snake. Repeat with the second half of the dough.
- Wrap in the wax paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes (this is optional but helps.)
- Optional: roll the peanut butter roll in powdered sugar. You can also add tiny chocolate chips as a mix-in when making this recipe!)
- Slice the candy and wrap each piece in a square of wax paper.
Notes
- You can use creamy peanut butter or crunchy. Just note crunchy peanut butter will make your candy more textured. Do not use natural peanut butter because the oil can cause the recipe not to work.
- If you are not able to eat peanuts or nuts due to an allergy, you can substitute Sunbutter the nut-free butter instead.
- This homemade candy makes a great holiday and teacher gifts!
- Store the wrapped candy in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It should keep fresh for up to 3 weeks.
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SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
I truly hope you enjoy this recipe. I have been testing and creating gluten-free recipes for over 15 years. Creating gluten-free recipes that do not taste gluten-free is my goal for every recipe. Sometimes I only have to test a new recipe a couple of times, and others it takes multiple times. I do this so you get reliable, delicious results every time!
I have used this recipe for eons. I swap unwhipped- whipping cream for the milk . it comes out so much creamer like real fudge. Not gritty like the milk version. You can use evaporated milk, but it you have cream for your coffee, use that instead. The butter fat gives it a better texture and taste
I am so glad you love this peanut butter candy. I love your idea using whipping cream. I can’t wait to try that next.
hi! thank you for the great and easy recipe! I was wondering if you would recommend dipping the pieces in dark chocolate and sprinkling with sea salt?
Hi Ashley, It sounds delicious. You would need to store them in the refrigerator to keep the chocolate cold.
Will canned evaporated milk work
Hi Pat, I haven’t tested evaporated milk, so I do not know if it will work correctly. If you try it, please come back and let me know how it turned out.
These look yummy. Do you have to wrap the individually or can I put them all in a container?
Hi Jen, you can put them into a container if you like.
I have two questions:
1) Why is this called 2 Ingredient Peanut Butter Kisses when it has 4 ingredients?
and;
2) Since it contains cream, does the candy need to be refrigerated?
I tried to search on kisses and I have no idea where you saw that. As for the 2 ingredients, it was an error from 5+ years ago on a Pinterest pin, it doesn’t say this anywhere in the recipe. Yes, it should be refrigerated.
Now I need to go to the store to get supplies…lol. This sounds so yummy. Thank you.
I love this recipe. I was a hospice nurse, and a patient taught me. Their was 1 minor difference you may like. They used unscented dental floss to cut the candy. Slide it under the candy, wrap floss around the candy, and pull. The candy slices without any squish. You will have near perfect coins. I use this technique to cut cinnamon rolls too. Great recipe, thank you for reminding me. I’m chilling mine as I write this comment. 🫠
I am so glad you love this simple recipe. I grew up with penny candy. Thank you for the tips for using dental floss to cut them out easier!!
Grew up eating this it’s my all time favorite passing it on to my grandchildren now
I am so glad this candy brings back such wonderful memories :-).
So does everyone use just the 2 ingredients like the title and directions throughout say or do you follow the actual recipe below that has several ingredients not just pb and powdered sugar ?
You must have found my recipe via an OLD pin on Pinterest from back in 2018 because I have since edited the title and all. If you would like these to turn out as everyone raves about…use my listed recipe.
When I was a kid my mother made peanut butter candy a lot for her 8 children and she always rolled it into small balls not a log. I roll it into balls when I make it also .
I am really happy my recipe brings back such beautiful memories. Thank you so much for sharing with me.