Chocolate coconut balls are absolutely delicious and super easy to make! Great news! You don’t need to own a candy thermometer, and you don’t need to know anything about the “hard crack” stage or anything else about candy making!
Chocolate coconut balls aren’t for everyone, but for those of us who love both coconut and chocolate, they taste like a little bite of heaven! Some folks in my family genuinely believe chocolate is one of the four basic food groups. I have other close relatives who don’t like chocolate at all, but the chocolate lovers wildly outnumber the others.
June is National Candy Month! For real! Now, we have a legit excuse to up our candy consumption as part of our patriotic duty! There is no need to wait until the Christmas holidays to indulge.
June is the time to explore the sugary wonders of the confectionery world. This month-long event pays homage to the diverse array of candies, chocolates, and sweets that bring joy to our taste buds.
The great thing about this candy is that you don't need to turn on the oven to whip up something sweet and delicious! This decadent treat is quick and easy even if you've never made candy before!
Two people close to me hate coconut. Can you believe it? One says he thinks it’s like eating bugs. I’ve always meant to ask him if he ever tried it or if he only imagines what it would feel like in his mouth. I can’t understand what’s not to adore about coconut, but it means more candy for those of us who love both!!
You need powdered sugar and sweetened condensed milk plus unsweetened coconut, sometimes called desiccated coconut.
I was unfamiliar with the term “desiccated” coconut. Quite simply, it is unsweetened coconut. It has a drier texture, so I was surprised to know it’s easy to find in grocery stores because more recipes call for sweetened flaked coconut.
In a “(coco)” nutshell, desiccated coconut has no sugar, and it is drier and chopped finer. There’s plenty of sugar in the other ingredients! There are many brands to choose from, but I purchased this bag at Walmart! I just had to look a little more closely.
First, combine powdered sugar, unsweetened coconut, and sweetened condensed milk in a bowl. Stir the mixture together well; it will be stiff.
This hint may be helpful. The first time I made this candy, it had been extremely dry here, with humidity matching the Sahara desert. I found I needed to add some additional sweetened condensed milk to bind all the ingredients into a scoopable consistency.
We've had an unusually wet spring here lately, so no additional moisture may be needed. Start with the recommended amount. By the way, if properly sealed in a freezer bag, unsweetened coconut stays fresh in the freezer for twelve months!
The next step is to roll this sweet filling into 30 balls. Before you panic about measuring everything out, I found scooping out enough to make one-inch balls gave me exactly thirty!
I picked a little off a few here and there and added a bit to others, but I was surprised how easy it was to get the right number. Yay! Precision has never been my gift!
Oh, and I did spray my hands with non-stick spray, and the whole process was slick! It went way faster than I expected! Yay again!
I covered the sheet pan with wax paper and lined the little coconut balls in rows like small round soldiers awaiting their chocolate baths. I stuck the whole pan in the refrigerator so the centers would firm up and be ready to dip.
I do not have a double boiler, so I put an oven-proof glass bowl on top of a saucepan with some water in it. It doesn’t have to be enough water to touch the bottom of the bowl. As the water simmers, it generates enough gentle heat to melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips with a little bit of shortening to a perfectly melty consistency.
I used a skinny fork and a long toothpick to plop the coconut balls into the melted chocolate, give it a roll, and set it on a silicone mat to harden. I’m sure wax paper or parchment paper would work well, too. Before the chocolate hardened, I sprinkled a little coconut on about half the chocolates for a stunning effect. Sprinkles would be adorable, too.
I ended up with extra chocolate, so, being the frugal chick that I am, I broke graham crackers into small squares and dipped them until I used up the chocolate. They were great!
You might also melt some white chocolate chips in a baggie and snip off a corner to drizzle some cute contrasting stripes on the candies after they have had time to set up. Garnishes elevate the appearance of a special treat but believe me, these taste fabulous, even unadorned!
I wasn’t sure where I could find candy cups like the ones you get in a box of fancy chocolates. It turns out they are more available than I thought! Walmart and Dollar Tree carry them.
There is an Ace Hardware store very close to us, and I was delighted to find it has a large specialty section devoted to baking and candy making.
Look at the cute little paper candy cups I found! I love them! There are fancy ones, too, that I think would look adorable on a plate of Christmas goodies! I’m already thinking ahead for the holidays!! At my age, they will be here in about five minutes!
I rarely make candy, but I am so excited about these chocolate coconut balls that I’m eager to try more recipes, especially if they are this easy and taste delicious! Bonus: This candy is gluten-free!
Do you make candy for the holidays? Do you have any not-so-secret recipes you would share? That would be such a SWEET thing to do! Happy chocolate dipping, everyone!
A quick and easy candy that uses only five ingredients.
My husband (Papa Steve) has a terrible sweet tooth so he loves every single candy we make! He's especially fond of Fantasy Fudge and Sweet Pretzel Hugs and Kisses you can modify for any holiday!!
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Love, GB (Betty Streff)
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