Chocolate Coconut Balls

Chocolate Coconut Balls are decadent, delicious, and super easy to make with just 5 ingredients: coconut, white chocolate, butter, dark chocolate, and shortening. Perfect for your holiday treat platter and gift giving.

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You’re going to love these

Super fast. The dough for these coconut balls literally takes one minute to make. And another couple minutes to roll together. And a couple more to dunk the chocolate. 

So easy. All you have to do is stir together the coconut and melted white chocolate, roll the dough into coconut balls, let them chill, then dip them in chocolate. 

They look fancy-ish. On a holiday goody platter filled with bars and cookies, it’s the little bon bons that always catch my eye. These chocolate covered coconut balls look like you fussed over them for days.

Decadent and delicious. Deep dark chocolate is the perfect foil against sweet, nutty coconut. It’s rich and luscious and not too sweet. 

The perfect bite. It’s so tempting to want to try a little sample of everything during the holidays. These little darlings are just a couple of bites, so you’ll have room for other things— and a couple more coconut balls. 

More Treats to Try

Ingredients

Coconut. Sweetened coconut flakes keep these little coconut balls nice and moist and sweet. I like using the sweetened coconut, rather than desiccated coconut because the sweetened coconut has more moisture, which is necessary for rolling the dough into balls. 

White chocolate chips. I am all for saving a buck wherever possible, but in this recipe, it really is necessary to use a premium brand of white chocolate because it melts much more smoothly. I tried it with a very well-known name brand of white chocolate chips (starts with an N), and it just didn’t work. It was very thick and pasty when combined with the butter. Ghirardelli worked great. 

Butter. I experimented with making these coconut balls with both butter and coconut oil. They were both good, but the butter added better flavor and a softer texture. But if you’re avoiding butter, coconut oil will work. 

Dark chocolate chips. Chocolate and coconut are a match made in heaven. And since the coconut and the white chocolate are both on the sweeter side, you can use chocolate with a pretty high percentage of cacao.

Shortening. When you’re melting chocolate for dipping, adding shortening makes it smoother and easier to work with. Now, you can use coconut oil. I’ve tried it. And it works very well. But when coconut oil comes to room temperature, it becomes quite soft, so the exterior chocolate will melt in your hands. Using shortening instead of coconut oil prevents that from happening. 

If you decide to substitute coconut oil, you will need to store the coconut balls in the refrigerator to keep the chocolate firm.

Recipe Essentials

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How to Make Chocolate Coconut Balls

Melt the white chocolate and butter together in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Heat in 10-second increments until the chocolate has completely melted and is smooth and creamy. 

Stir in the coconut until the mixture is completely combined. 

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Using a ½ tablespoon, scoop the mixture into balls. Squeeze the mixture in your hand to form a compact ball and roll it between your hands to make it nice and round. You should end up with about 16 coconut balls. 

Place the balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Set them in the refrigerator for about 10-20 minutes or until the coconut balls are firm. 

Place the dark chocolate and shortening in a bowl that has plenty of room for dunking the coconut balls. Melt the dark chocolate and shortening in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Heat in 10-second increments until the chocolate and shortening are smooth. 

Drop the balls into the chocolate, one, two, or three at a time. Place them on a wire rack. I like to use two spoons to do this.

Place 2 tablespoons white chocolate and ⅛ teaspoon shortening in a small bowl and heat in the microwave for 15 seconds. Stir. Heat in 10-second increments until it is completely melted and smooth. 

Use a spoon to drizzle the white chocolate over the chocolate coconut balls. 

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Once the white chocolate has dripped off of the coconut balls, carefully transfer them to a plate or baking sheet lined with waxed or parchment paper. I like to use 2 forks to do this.

Place them in the refrigerator to set. Store chocolate coconut balls tightly covered in the refrigerator or at room temperature. 

TIPS

• Use premium white chocolate when making these coconut balls for a smoother, creamier coconut filling.  

• A ½ tablespoon measuring spoon is the perfect size for creating bite-sized coconut balls. 

• When forming the balls, squeeze the dough in your hands to adhere the mixture together. 

• To avoid getting puddles of chocolate around the base of your chocolate coconut balls, place them on a wire rack after dipping and drizzling them in chocolate. Once the extra chocolate has dripped off, carefully transfer the balls onto waxed or parchment paper. 

FAQs