Many Christmases ago, a lunchroom lady gave me a coconut bonbon her daughter made. Why do I remember that one coconut bonbon? Because it was so good!
I love coconut anything-Pap does too-I guess that’s where I get my love for it. The Deer Hunter does’t like it so much. He says coconut reminds him of toe nails WHAT???
Back to the bonbon. Ever since I ate that piece of candy I’ve wanted to make one that tasted as good. I’ve tried various recipes and while they were good they didn’t measure up to the coconut bonbon I ate all those years ago.
A few weeks ago, Chatter and I had a day of candy making planned. With my mind going back to the bonbon I decided to google around and see if anything piqued my interest. I found this recipe: Dark Chcolate Coconut Bites on the Pinch of Yum Blog.
The recipe jumped out at me right away because it used honey (or maple syrup-your choice) and coconut oil. I thought “Hmmm the coconut oil would have to add a stronger coconut flavor right? Maybe that’s the secret ingredient.” The blogger at Pinch of Yum details her reason for using coconut oil: its natural state at room temperature is a solid form and that helps the bonbons stay together. I was more interested in the taste so I decided to give the recipe a try.
Dark Chocolate Coconut Bites by Pinch of Yum (aka coconut bonbons)
- 2 cups dessicated coconut (I had no clue what this was-so I googled and discovered it is finely chopped coconut.)
- 4 tablespoons honey or maple syrup-I used honey
- 5 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 drops of coconut flavoring (my addition-not in the original recipe)
- 4 oz dark chocolate for melting (I love dark chocolate! But everyone else in my house doesn’t-so I melted milk chocolate for theirs.)
Shred coconut in a food processor until the texture is like chopped up pieces of rice.
Put coconut, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, and coconut flavoring in a bowl and mix together.
Roll the mixture or squeeze the mixture into whatever size bonbons you want. Pinch of Yum divided her’s into 18 balls. Chatter and I made ours small so we ended up with a bunch.
Place balls in the frig for at least 30 minutes or till hardened.
Melt chocolate and using 2 forks dip each bonbon in chocolate. We also tried using a skewer to dip our bonbons. Both methods worked good.
Set bonbons in frig to set the chocolate. (you should store the coconut balls in the frig too)
Are they as good as the one from my memory? I’m not positive they are…BUT they are the best coconut bonbons I’ve ever made, in fact I’ve already made them twice!
Tipper
i don’t have a food processor. would shredded coconut that you buy work?
Elithea-it would make it harder to get the mixture to stick together in balls. I’ve noticed unsweetened coconut is much smaller in size-you might try that 🙂
so going to have to try this with my grands. 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
Heather-thank you for the comment! If they are tightly wrapped I would guess the bon bons would last at least a few weeks. I’m sure a quick google search will turn up more detailed information. Hope this helps!
How long will bonbons last if you keep them in the fridge?
Though I never thought of the “toenail” analogy, because of its texture, I’ve never cared for shredded coconut on cakes or pies or in macaroons, etc. because it felt like having hair in my mouth, but I do like them in candy bars, and this sounds a lot like a Mounds, doesn’t it?
God bless.
RB
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These sound fantastic. It reminded me of coconut candy we used to buy. I hadn’t thought of it in years. Each candy Bon Bon was dipped in a coating. The coating was tinted in a variety of pastel colors. They were just beautiful in my mind’s eye. They were also delicious! Thanks for bringing up a goodvmemory.
The recipe you share also sounds good! I would go for the dark chocolate too.
Oh my those sound just like Mounds candy bars and I LOVE those! thanks for sharing.
Merry Christmas.
you could shape the coconut around a whole almond…
I make a coconut bon bon called Martha Washington’s. Condensed milk, powdered sugar, coconut, chopped walnuts, dipped in chocolate. I have even changed it up and add mini chocolate chips or chopped dried apricots to the coconut and nut mixture. MMMMM, so good.
Oh my gosh, these look and sound amazing! I am definitely going to have to try these! Thank you for sharing. Merry Christmas!
Pam
scrap-n-sewgranny.blogspot.com
Tamela…thats a good question! Thank you for the comments!
Tipper
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Tipper,
The Deer Hunter’s comment about
Toe Nails is like my version of
Clay Peas…”Taste like Dirt”.
I like cocoanut candy with Milk Chocolate like Almond Joys, but I
don’t ever buy Mounds because of
the Dark Chocolate. Weird huh?
Those Cocoanut bars you made look
delicious, minus the dark stuff.
…Ken
YEP,,, this recipe is for keeps,,,i will surley make these..my wife and i both love coconut bon bons or any other way coconut can be fixed or right out of the coconut itself…and the darker the chocolate the better…..
I’m a coconut fan but my husband definitely is not! Last Christmas I purchased some Italian Cream Cake (coconut is essential in the recipe) Ice Cream thinking I would enjoy it “secretly” from time to time. My youngest son discovered it and served it after supper one evening while home last Christmas. He guided the conversation to likes and dislikes (knowing his Dad doesn’t like coconut) and soon had his Dad proclaiming how disgusting coconut was – I started to say something but son caught my eye and discretely shook his head so I said nothing. Each evening until he left, son served his Dad Italian Cream Cake ice cream while son and I are trying to contain our amusement. Son told me not to say anything and see how long Dad went until he discovered on his own that he’d been eating coconut. I think it would have gone on all year if I hadn’t, in a moment of utter irritation at Hubby complaining about me eating a piece of coconut pie in a restaurant, blurted out that he’d been eating coconut for 9 months!! (It was my birthday after all – I should have been able to eat whatever I wanted for dessert without his snide remarks!)
Son was very disappointed that I’d told his Dad – we’ll see if he tries to sneak some in on his Dad this Christmas.
The question is: How does the Deerhunter know what toenails taste like?
Desiccated just means dried. It is another way to preserve food and things. Like apples, plums, raisins and Egyptian Pharaohs. Didn’t your Mummy tell you all this?
Now, first thing in the morning, my mouth is watering for one of those coconut balls. I love coconut! I will have to try making some of these. They seem rather simple! Yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
B.Ruth-thank you for the comment! I sometimes buy Pap a coconut for Christmas-because he has memories about them too : )
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Yep, I tasted them and they are very good. I’ve never made them but it sounds pretty simple.
Toe nails? I don’t have a clue where that came from but I promise you it didn’t come from me. I like coconut!
Tipper,
Those sound so very good. I used to make a coconut ball using condensed milk, coconut, powdered sugar and I think it was vanilla, may have been coconut flavoring! Mine too, were frozen before dipping in chocolate. We loved them. I don’t make Rum Balls, coconut balls, pecan bon bons like I used to. Last year all I made was hard candy. I might make one run of hard candy this year. Both my daughter-in-laws are not fond of coconut. Looks like maggots they say! ewwwww!
When I was a girl my Mom used a fresh coconut at Christmas. Dad would poke the soft spot on the end, (you know where it looks like two eyes/mouth, etc.) with a nail and drain out the milk in a glass. Mom would drink the stuff sometimes if she didn’t need it for flavoring something else..eww..made me sick! Then Dad would give it a hard lick with his big old claw hammer and pieces would fall on the counter. Sometimes if we were lucky and it was a big coconut, they would give us a piece and a spoon to go scrape it out to eat, just like candy for us! Mom grated it for her cakes, candy etc. for Christmas.
Those were the good old days!
Thanks Tipper,