I am coconut mad at the moment. I want everything coconut. Dinner? Let’s put coconut milk in. Dessert/Treats? Shredded Coconut please! Drinks? Coconut water! Seriously it’s madness! But tasty madness so I don’t care. These little coconut treats are called Beijinhos – beijinhos literally mean “little kisses” in Portuguese. It’s such a cute name for these treats. Little coconut kisses…now tell me you aren’t dying to taste one of these? These cuties are super super easy to make and they taste fantastic. They are the coconut equivalent of Brigadeiros which are made exactly the same but with chocolate. I adore brigadeiros and both brigadeiros and beijinhos used to be my favourite treats when I was growing up. I asked Christoph which he prefers between those 2 and he couldn’t make up his mind claiming I needed to make brigadeiros again to see if that would help him choose….I think we could get stuck in a brigadeiro-beijinho circle, all in the name of testing… And talk about what a sugar rush that would be! As if there is a downside to these is that you need very strong willpower to not eat tooooooo many as they are made of condensed milk, so not exactly the most heathly. Do you see a pattern here with Brazilian sweets? Condensed milk is used A LOT of the time. Beijinhos de Coco 1 tin (397g) of condensed milk 100g of coconut flakes plus extra for rolling 1 tablespoon of butter plus extra for rolling Cloves for decorating In a pan add the condensed milk, 100g of coconut flakes and the butter. Now the fun begins! Over medium heat start stirring. And keep stirring until the mixture thickens and you can see the bottom of the pan for a good few seconds before the mixture levels out again. This is really important. This process should take at least 6-7 min, don’t rush it or it won’t be the right consistency to roll into balls. Leave it to cool, around 15min, enough so that it is cool to hold in your hands and the mixture has firmed up. Grab the flakes you had reserved for rolling. You can do 2 things here: 1) Use them as they are to roll or 2) Blitz them so that they are super fine. I blitzed them as I like the outside texture to be soft. But it is totally up to you if you decide to do this. Coat your hands in a little butter (just so that the mixture doesn’t stick) and start making your balls. I like mine the size of a little smaller than a measuring tablespoon. Once all rolled out put one clove in the midle for decoration. This is traditional and for decoration. Remove it before eating and it does leave a nice taste. I am bringing these to this week’s Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by Michelle @Giraffes Can Bake and Juju @ cookingwithauntjuju, to share with my friends. Beijinhos bring back such happy memories for me of kids parties, of Brazil and my mum so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do and maybe even create your own sweet memories with them. Happy Fiesta Friday everyone! xoxo
Baking / Food / Recipe / Sweet treats
a like from a Brazilian is worth a thousand likes here 😉
(btw, I definitely prefer beijinhos to brigadeiros!)
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It is indeed! I can’t make up my mind about which I prefer sometimes I think one then I will make the other and think no that’s the one I prefer! Obrigada! 🙂
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lol de nada! 🙂
I am a big coconut fan, and not that big chocolate fan. But the Brazilians definitely prefer brigadeiros! (which is good for me, because there are always more beijinhos left!!)
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you need to go on holiday to Kerala if you have a coconut fixation !
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Yes please!
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They look delectable, I think the kids might like doing these. I make coconut balls every christmas but they are baked – basically coconut, a little sugar, an egg & a tiny bit of self-raising flour all squeezed together. They are very popular.
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Oh those sound good! And a whole lot healthier than mine 😛
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Not after you dip them in chocolate 😉
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What a tasty looking coconut recipe and so simple to make. Just a few ingredients is always appreciated. Thanks for coming to Fiesta Friday and sharing with all of us – have a nice weekend 🙂
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Thank you 🙂 have a lovely week end!
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If they are coconut equivalent of Brigadeiros, I am sure I would love this. Looks so decadent and so rich. Happy FF. 🙂
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Thanks Jhuls, Happy FF to you! x
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These look delicious Diana! And yes, I am dying to taste one (or two) right now! 🙂 Will pin, buy a tin of condensed milk and then make. Thank you for bringing these to FF! 🙂
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They look gorgeous Diana! Love that you have used cloves here! We make something similar in India as well with milk, coconut and cardamom which makes it heavenly! I’d love to try them with your idea of cloves next time, 🙂
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I looove anything coconut, especially little treats like these! They look really yummy, and I’m a sucker for anything with condensed milk!!
Thanks for bringing these to Fiesta Friday!
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Just an update to say I’ve made them and they are delicious!!! And they work with ‘light’ condensed milk – though I suspect there’s still sugar in there … 🙂 Can I keep them in the fridge for a week or two? If they last that long! And do you ever freeze them in Brazil? Thanks Diana! 🙂
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Thanks Lili! I’m so glad you tried them and most importantly that you liked them! You can definitely keep it in the fridge for at least a week. I have no idea how they would keep for longer or how they freeze (never lasted long enough, either when I was a child or now as an adult!). Next try I’ll freeze a couple (if I can hide them from my husband) and let you know! Or if you have some left let me know!
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Thank you again Diana for introducing them to me! I love beijinhos. I’ve linked back to you on my post. I fully understand the difficulties with putting some in the freezer – I’ve only managed to put one in there! lol. Will let you know how it goes 🙂
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[…] milk and coconut, lovely Brazilian Beijinhos de coco. I put a few bits and pieces in them but the traditional recipe’s at Diana’s Little bits of nice (thank you Diana!) and I’ll be posting about them this week. Luckily a few healthy Lime […]
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[…] so I’ll give you the ingredients with some process photos but please go to Diana’s Beijinhos de coco recipe for full instructions.The coconut balls (cook in a small/medium heavy-based saucepan) – 5 […]
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