These easy chocolate coconut balls are a fun and festive no-bake treat you can make in just 10 minutes! They’re batchable, freezeable and giftable, or add them to your sweet dessert table for Christmas.
In This Post You’ll Learn
Why We Love This
Coconut balls are a fun festive treat and an easy no bake dessert. They’re a popular Christmas sweet, but when they’re so yummy why not enjoy any time of the year?
It’s so quick to make these sweet little bites (in just 10 minutes!), and they’re perfect for sharing.
The rum balls base recipe is super easy to adapt to make them your own (see our variation ideas below), and batchable too, so you can easily make extras for edible gifts and freeze some for later.
Related: Coconut Ice / No Bake Lemon Slice / Mini Christmas Puddings
Quick Tip – Crumbly or Chewy, It’s Your Choice!
As Rum Balls have a biscuit base, if you make them on the day, they’ve have a slightly soft and crumbly texture to them when you bite in.
Or, if you love soft cookies – think ice-cream sandwiches or cookies and cream ice cream – then pop the coconut balls in the fridge (or make them a day ahead) and they’ll be chewier that way!
What are Chocolate Coconut Balls?
Choc Coconut balls, also called Rum Balls, are small round treats that are made with crushed biscuits, desiccated coconut, cocoa powder and sweetened condensed milk. They’ll sometimes have a splash of rum or other spiced spirit, but this is usually left out if kids will be eating them as well.
They’re also sometimes known as coconut truffles, except they don’t have a soft ganache filling like regular truffles. Instead they are rolled in a coating of extra coconut, cocoa or our family favourite – Milo!
These festive chocolate rum balls are quite similar to our candy spuds recipe, except candy spuds are made with icing sugar (aka powdered sugar) instead of crushed biscuits.
What You’ll Need
- Crushed Biscuits – (Note: For US readers, note we mean cookies rather than scone-like biscuits). We generally use Milk Arrowroot biscuits, sub with Milk Coffee biscuits, oat biscuits or digestive biscuits if you prefer.
- Cocoa – These coconut balls are amazing with 100% cocoa for a deliciously intense chocolate flavour. You can sub with drinking chocolate, however please note that they will be much sweeter if you do.
- Desiccated Coconut – Ie finely grated and dehydrated coconut. Avoid chunky sliced or shredded coconut as it won’t be fine enough for the balls to hold their shape.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk – Sub with condensed coconut milk for a dairy free and vegan version.
- Coatings – Your choice of extra desiccated coconut and/or Milo (or both!). We like using Milo as the colour contrasts nicely with the darker brown from the cocoa. For US readers, just use cocoa or sub with regular drinking chocolate.
How to Make Chocolate Coconut Balls
First, gather your ingredients: See recipe card below for measurements.
- Set up the coatings (milo and ⅓ cup desiccated coconut) on small plates, ready to roll the coconut balls.
- Crush milk arrowroot biscuits into fine crumbs using a food processor, or sealed bag and rolling pin.
- Transfer crushed biscuits to a mixing bowl. Add cocoa powder, 1 cup desiccated coconut, condensed milk and optional: rum. Mix with a wooden spoon and finish off with your hands, forming the mixture into a sticky, rough dough.
- Roll a tablespoon of mixture into a ball using your hands, repeat for remaining dough.
- Roll the first half (around 15-20 balls) in desiccated coconut, and the remaining half in milo (or cocoa).
Wandercook’s Tips
- Coatings – Don’t skimp out on the coatings. These not only taste and look awesome, they stop the coconut balls from sticking together.
- Storage – No bake coconut balls will last for up to a week if they’re not all eaten straight away! To keep them fresh, store them in an airtight container. For softer coconut balls, keep them on the counter, or for harder bites, store them in the fridge. Note that the milo coating will go a little sticky if popped in the fridge, but still tastes great!
FAQs
Yes you can freeze coconut balls. Keep them in an airtight container to stop them taking on any aromas from the freezer. They’ll last around 2 months, possibly longer, but always use your best judgement.
Variations
- Add Flavour – Add a few drops of vanilla, peppermint, almond or cherry essence. Or add a splash of rum, whisky or your favourite liqueur for an extra special Christmas treat for the adults.
- Add Texture – Try adding a handful of chopped nuts (almond, walnut or pistachio) or chopped dried fruit (apricots are our favourite) into the coconut mixture before forming into balls.
- Add a Surprise Filling – Press a whole almond, chocolate chips or sliced dates inside each coconut ball for a raffaello style treat.
- Chocolate Coating – Instead of rolling them in milo or desiccated coconut, try dipping them in your favourite melted chocolate. Place them on a lined baking tray and pop them in the freezer for around 30 mins to help them set. Store this version in the fridge until ready to eat to make sure the chocolate coating won’t melt.
- Make Them Vegan / Vegetarian Friendly – Swap out the sweetened condensed milk for condensed coconut milk and make sure your biscuits are vegan friendly.
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★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Ingredients
- 250 g milk arrowroot biscuits 1 packet, 8.8 oz
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder 20 g / 0.7 oz, Dutch works best
- 1 cup desiccated coconut 70 g / 2.4 oz
- 1 tin sweetened condensed milk 395 g / 14 oz
To coat:
- ¼ cup milo sub cocoa powder, 30 g / 1 oz
- ⅓ cup desiccated coconut 30 g / 1 oz
Optional:
- 1 tbsp spiced rum sub with port or sherry
Instructions
- Set up the coatings (milo and ⅓ cup desiccated coconut) on small plates, ready to roll the coconut balls.⅓ cup desiccated coconut, ¼ cup milo
- Crush milk arrowroot biscuits into fine crumbs using a food processor, or sealed bag and rolling pin.250 g milk arrowroot biscuits
- Transfer crushed biscuits to a mixing bowl. Add cocoa powder, 1 cup desiccated coconut, condensed milk and optional rum. Mix with a wooden spoon and finish off with your hands, forming the mixture into a sticky, rough dough.3 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 cup desiccated coconut, 1 tin sweetened condensed milk, 1 tbsp spiced rum
- Roll a tablespoon of mixture into a ball using your hands, repeat for remaining dough. Roll the first half (around 15-20 balls) in desiccated coconut, and the remaining half in milo (or cocoa).⅓ cup desiccated coconut, ¼ cup milo
Video
Recipe Notes
- Coatings – Don’t skimp out on the coatings. These not only taste and look awesome, they stop the coconut balls from sticking together.
- Storage – No bake coconut balls will last for up to a week if they’re not all eaten straight away! To keep them fresh, store them in an airtight container. For softer coconut balls, keep them on the counter, or for harder bites, store them in the fridge. Note that the milo coating will go a little sticky if popped in the fridge, but still tastes great!
- Add Flavour – Add a few drops of vanilla, peppermint, almond or cherry essence. Or add a splash of rum, whisky or your favourite liqueur for an extra special Christmas treat for the adults.
- Add Texture – Try adding a handful of chopped nuts (almond, walnut or pistachio) or chopped dried fruit (apricots are our favourite) into the coconut mixture before forming into balls.
- Add a Surprise Filling – Press a whole almond, chocolate chips or sliced dates inside each coconut ball for a raffaello style treat.
- Chocolate Coating – Instead of rolling them in milo or desiccated coconut, try dipping them in your favourite melted chocolate. Place them on a lined baking tray and pop them in the freezer for around 30 mins to help them set. Store this version in the fridge until ready to eat to make sure the chocolate coating won’t melt.
- Make Them Vegan / Vegetarian Friendly – Swap out the sweetened condensed milk for condensed coconut milk and make sure your biscuits are vegan friendly.
Nutrition
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