Baked Coconut Balls
Published April 3, 2018
Melina Hammer for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 35 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
FOR THE COOKIES
3 cups/255 grams unsweetened shredded coconut, preferably Bob’s Red Mill
3 tablespoons apricot, raspberry or orange jam, or maple syrup or honey
½ teaspoon baking powder
3 egg yolks
¼ to ½ cup/31 to 62 grams confectioners’ sugar
FOR THE GLAZE
¼ cup apricot jam
Ground pistachios, slivered almonds or rainbow sprinkles
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
8 grams carbs; 18 milligrams cholesterol; 99 calories; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 7 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 14 milligrams sodium; 1 gram protein; 5 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Make the cookies: Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, add the coconut, jam or syrup or honey, baking powder and egg yolks and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined.
- Step 2
Squeeze the mixture together to form small balls, about 1 inch wide, and roll them in confectioners’ sugar to fully coat. Transfer the balls to a parchment-lined baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray, spacing them 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, prepare the glaze: In a small pot over medium-low heat, whisk together the apricot jam and ¼ cup water until warm. Remove from heat and pour into a small bowl.
- Step 4
Let the balls cool completely on the sheet pan, then dip one side into the glaze. Return to the pan, glaze side facing up, and sprinkle immediately with the pistachios, almonds, sprinkles or anything else you wish.
Private Notes
Comments
The description says ground coconut, but the recipe says shredded and doesn't mention grinding it into flour. Don't make our mistake: we used coconut flakes, crushed up fairly fine, thinking that was close enough. The mixture didn't hold together whatsoever, just turning into a flaky goop. Not wanting to waste it, we ended up spreading it on a cookie sheet, dusting with sugar, baking it, and then breaking it by hand into flat uneven "cookies" once it cooled. They do taste good, though.
Doubled the recipe for a friend's party. My nearest grocery store didn't have unsweetened coconut, so I used sweetened coconut and left out the confectioners' sugar. They needed closer to 30 mins in the oven to cook through, and were definitely on the sweeter side with the apricot glaze, but they got rave reviews.
Description says ground coconut, the ingredients list says shredded coconut. Is shredded coconut ok, I don’t have a food processor to grind them.
I made these today, and they turned out well. Ideas for people who had trouble: first of all, use coconut powder instead of shredded coconut. I think that might be what the recipe writer meant by "ground coconut" in the description-- coconut powder is slightly gritty, less fine than flour but very different in consistency from shredded coconut. Second thing is, you have to squeeze the mixture a lot to compact it when shaping the balls. Mine held together well once I did that.
Agree with other reviewers, these balls did not hold together. I even tried with ground coconut flour and literally could not form balls. Ended up tossing the entire batch without baking. Such a waste.
Shredded coconut did not work and a waste. I'm trying to figure out how to turn this mixture into something usable.