Ah, beijinhos de coco… I mean, Brazilian Coconut Kisses… They taste like childhood — so sweet!!! Make these five-ingredient, quick coconut fudge balls — especially if you have children or grandchildren who are fans of the movie FROZEN.
Brazilian coconut kisses (beijinhos de coco — also known simply as beijinhos or branquinhos) are traditionally made from a mixture of sweetened condensed milk, coconut flakes, and butter (sometimes egg yolks). After briefly cooking, they are rolled into balls, dredged in coconut flakes or sugar, and decorated with a single clove on top.
Does this sound familiar? The process of making them is similar to the ever popular BRIGADEIROS!!!
Coconut kisses (beijinhos) are great to snack on, to serve at birthday parties and other events, and to give away as Christmas gifts. If your child is crazy for FROZEN, you gotta make these…
My daughter Hannah will be turning eight a few days from now. Although I was secretly rooting for her to choose RIO as the theme for her upcoming birthday party, she winded up choosing FROZEN… like many children do nowadays. 🙂 I think that these coconut kisses would be a great treat to serve at a FROZEN themed party. Don’t you agree that they look like SNOWBALLS?
I hope you enjoy these edible SNOWBALLS… I mean, BRAZILIAN COCONUT KISSES… and other FROZEN theme treats that I intend to share with you soon. You are invited to take a peek at my daughter’s party next week!
Enjoy your rest of summer… serving and eating these coconut kisses!
Brazilian Coconut Kisses (Beijinhos de Coco)
Ingredients
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 14-ounce or 396 g
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes plus more for dredging
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter softened (plus more for greasing a plate and your hands)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract optional
- Cloves for garnishing optional
Instructions
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Mix the condensed milk, coconut flakes, and butter together.
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Cook in a medium non-stick saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture starts to show the bottom of the pan when you scrape it with your wood spoon (about 7 minutes). The coconut kisses mixture should be thick enough to reveal the bottom of the pan for a couple of seconds before the mixture levels out again.
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When coconut kisses 'dough' is ready, remove from the heat, mix in the vanilla extract, and spread mixture onto a greased plate.
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Let cool to room temperature before starting to roll them into balls with greased hands. Use a 1/2 Tablespoon as measurement. Then, dredge gently in the coconut flakes until totally covered.
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Place into paper bonbon cups. Stick a clove atop (center) of each coconut kiss if desired. NOTE: The clove is only for decoration and must be removed right before eating!!!
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Recipe Notes
Store coconut kisses into a clean airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
These delicate kisses look and sound a lot like Bangladeshi coconut laddu/naru that I absolutely love. Seriously, what is not to love about creamy smooth condensed milk and coconut. Scrumptious, my friend, totally scrumptious.
Thank you, Lail! I would love to try your laddu/naru.
What a lovely name for a dessert, i think i’m gonna use my choco condensed milk with this recipe,
or can i add another flavour for this recipe???
can i still called it coconut kisses???
We use also a pitted, opened prune under some of these and call them Mother-in-law eyes. Hehe!
Coconut kisses are only made from coconut. If you mix other flavors with it, you gotta call them something else. 🙂
Chocolate ones are called Brigadeiros! They’re also Brazilian made with more or less the same ingredients, but add some cocoa powder. I’m pretty sure it’d turn it out even more Chocolate-y if you use choco condensed milk! Yummmm
Mais uma donw memory lane…..
sweet memories! I am going to make these for our department soon, it’s kind of sad that one of our grad students hates coconut, so she won’t touch these. It is interesting because she is from India, and hates coconut – can you imagine that???? 😉
I cannot imagine an Indian hates coconut. Like us, they have many dishes made from it. But well, what to say?
I hope everyone enjoy these. I ate almost them all by myself. I also butterflied and placed a prune under some of them to have them like olho de sogra, remember?
Mouth watering recipe.I love it!!
Just the name “Coconut Kisses” brings a smile! What a joyful treat, bursting with sweet tempting flavor!
Deb: For me, they are even sweeter because they remind me of my childhood.
Wow they looks sinfully sweet and delicious!
I know I will love this and definitely will keep this recipe
Hi, Raymund! The good thing about these sweets is they are not only delicious but also guilt-free.
Such a simple but delicious looking treat Denise! I know your daughter will love these for her party.
Thanks, Chris! They want pretty much anything that reminds them of FROZEN. 🙂
Oh Denise…beijinhos de coco…they look so good, creamy and rich…I would love to have a couple of them now…beautiful pictures too!
Have a great week dear 😀
Thank you, Juliana! Likewise.
There is something similar in our cuisine I have always loved and grown up eating. Your version has condensed milk…Oh my! I want to try these pretty little treats soon.
I hope you have the chance to make these, Sonali! They are a real treat!
Wonderul recipe Denise. I love coconut and the kisses you made look incredible.
Thanks, dear! I spent my childhood eating them…
Very clever, Denise and I bet your daughter had an awesome party! I will have just one bite, please!
She will have her party this Saturday. I am serving homemade cupcakes…Her fave!
I love coconut! We make a coconut kiss that’s fairly similar to this. Such a terrific recipe! Yours looks wonderful — thanks.
Thanks, John! Anything made from sweetened condensed milk is awesome.
Bet your little one will love these at her birthday. The problem with these is.. you cant eat 1 !!
LOL… It is true!
Denise yes Frozen seems to be crazy now. My girl had her birthday too with the Frozen theme 🙂
The coconut kisses looks divine.
Here’s wishing your daughter a very happy birthday and God bless her with the best of life 🙂
Sorry meant to say craze but accidentally typed crazy 😉
No worries. It is crazy!!!!
Thank you, Rekha!!!! Yes, it is crazy how every single girl picks Frozen as the theme of their parties.
Thanks for the birthday wishes. I do appreciate them.
Anything coconut – am in! These are familiar with one of the special treats we grew up eating. Would definitely be trying this soon.
Hi, Immaculate! Coconut is one of my fave ingredients as well. I hope you enjoy these as much as the ones that you grew up eating. Wishing you a great week!
Fantastic idea and also very easy to make, like the Brigadeiros. Mirella plans to offer your Brigadeiros at work on her birthday later on September. They’re the perfect treat:)
Have a wonderful week Denise!
Panos:
My birthday is also in September — on the 6th! How about Mirella’s? I hope her co-workers and she enjoy brigadeiros which is the most popular bonbon in Brazil. Wishing you both a wonderful week! Thanks so much for stopping by.
Hi Denise,
her birthday is on the 22th, you have the same sign she says:) The brigadeiros will be definitely a hit. We tested them before on our ourselves:)
Thanks, Panos! Enjoy the brigadeiros, a fave of my eldest daughter… 🙂
Wow these sound amazing! My mom used to make something similar but with orange. I haven’t thought about these in so long—yum!
Thank you, Kate…I wish I could try your Mother’s orange version…
Hello,
I am looking for a recipe that is VERY similar to this recipe but it has a crunchy candy shell (yellowish color)on the outside of the coconut ball. Do you have a recipe for that?
A co-worker’s mother lives in Brazil and makes them and ships them to my co-worker who shares them with me but I’d love to have the recipe to try to make them. The co-worker’s mother prefers not to share the recipe so I’m trying to find it elsewhere.
Any assistance would be appreciated greatly!
Thank you.
Hi, Denise! Yes, I have the recipe that you are talking about. It is called Bala Bahiana or Glass Bonbons. It has a beijinho de coco or coconut kisses inside and a hard shell outside. Here is its recipe link: https://www.easyanddelish.com/glass-bonbons/
Enjoy and have a very Merry Christmas!
Hello Denise!
YES, these are exactly what I’ve been looking for! THANK YOU SO much! you have no idea how happy I am right now! (insert happy dance here!).
I can’t wait to make these this week for Christmas!
Thank you so much.
HUGS and Cheers!
Denise M.
My pleasure, Denise! Enjoy…
thank you so much for sharing this recipe. We loved it but will add about half the amount of vanilla next time. These are awesome thank you!
Glad that you enjoyed these coconut fudge balls, Dessa!!! Feel free to adapt the recipe as desired. Have an awesome weekend!
In Bahia they have another variation of Beijinhos the Coco… Just follow your recipe to a t, but before rolling them up into a ball, add a small green grape as a filling…
How delicious! In Pernambuco, we make the white brigadeiros and add a sour grape before rolling them up. We call them surpresa de uva or uvinha. Enjoy!