Chocolate Coconut Balls

Ingredients

100g. dates pitted

100g. dark chocolate (70%)

50g. coconut shredded

50g. almond powder

75g. oats

50g. condensed sweetened milk

A pinch of salt

More condensed milk and coconut for coating

I still remember the taste of those chocolate coconut balls that I used to have as a child! The wife of a second cousin used to make them and they were really nice! I asked my auntie for the recipe and I was surprised to know that these “chocolate” balls did not have any chocolate in them!!! It was basically crushed dates and coconut…… and of course other ingredients, but those were the main ones!

I got another recipe from my auntie’s (that did not have dates, but chocolate and condensed milk and oats etc…) and searched online for different versions too. At the end I opted to include basically a bit of everything (see picture below)! They turned out to be really nice, not too sweet but not bitter… oh I just realized that I didn’t add any salt… will do that next time! They’re not too chewy but the texture is nice and not crumbly. Although the mixture was very crumbly! But easy to work and to make into small balls. Except the very last 2 balls. I had to add a bit of the condensed milk to be able to roll them, the mixture became mainly oats and coconut…

If you are looking for a nice recipe to make CHOCOLATE coconut balls, then give it a try!

First start by placing the chocolate in a bain-marie to melt. I have not used the proper bain-marie pan that I have, I thought it’s too much for washing up! So I have just put the chocolate, cut in bits in a bowl and put that bowl into a bigger one filled with boiling water (from the kettle). It didn’t take long at all for the chocolate to melt. I used dark chocolate so the balls are not hyper sweet.

In the meantime, place your dates – pitted of course – in a grinder and grind until you get sort of a paste. Transfer the paste into a big bowl and add the shredded unsweetened coconut, the almond powder and the melted chocolate. Mix all well then add the oats and condensed milk. And of course the salt (that I forgot to add, I am sure they would have tasted even better!). Mix all well. I have used a spatula and then my hands!

Since the weather is not super hot here, I did not place the mixture in the fridge to solidify but have started making the balls straight away. Take a little lump from the bowl and work it with your fingers sort of to make it stick together then very gently (and I stress on the very) form the balls in the palm of your hands. Don’t force since you might break them!

Once formed, you need to coat them with some coconut, so they’re tastier! The problem was that the balls were not sticky enough from the outside to let the shredded coconut stick on them! So I dipped them just a bit in some extra condensed milk (tried as much as I can not to coat them lots so they’re not overly sweet) then rolled them in the coconut making sure that they’re coated from all sides.

I got approximately 30 balls. Place them in little paper holders, in a box to serve straighaway or in the fridge to store and enjoy later.

Your hands will become so covered with the chocolate mix! Thankfully our boiler was fixed today and we had proper hot water running through the kitchen tap again 😊