Brigadeiro (plural Brigadeiros) is a chocolate fudge made with condensed milk, butter, and cocoa powder. It’s LOVE at first bite!
WHAT IS BRIGADEIRO?
Brigadeiro (Portuguese for Brigadier) is the most beloved ‘candy’ of Brazil. From north to south, it is a national passion!
It came into being in the 1940s and gets its name from Brigadier Eduardo Gomes, who once ran for president.
According to this brigadeiros article, it’s also know as ‘negrinho’. Some compare it to truffles or tootsie rolls, but it is different from both.
It’s usually rolled into balls which are then covered in chocolate sprinkles. However, you can also enjoy it unrolled with a spoon.
Plus, use it as a topping or filling for cakes and cupcakes. In Brazil, no kid’s party is complete without it!
So satisfy your sweet tooth with these rich chocolate candy cups.
HOW TO MAKE BRIGADEIRO
For this traditional brigadeiro recipe, whisk the condensed milk and cocoa together until uniform. Then, stir in the butter.
(SEE FULL RECIPE BELOW – FOR BOTH STOVETOP AND MICROWAVE)
WHICH OTHER TREATS CAN YOU MAKE WITH BRIGADEIRO?
You can make cake, cupcakes, brigadeiro cookies, and this triple brigadeiro cheesecake tart.
Also, patriotic brigadeiros or those with other flavors such as pumpkin, strawberry, coconut, and beer.
If the cooked mixture is too soft to roll into fudge balls, the alternative is to serve brigadeiro piped onto spoons.
Moreover, you can serve it as fudge cups, to eat with small spoons, almost like a shot of dense pudding.
USEFUL TIPS TO GET BRIGADEIRO RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
1. Use a wider, no stick pan — those with aluminum bottoms work best. This will let it cook faster, saving you time. Take a look at the RECIPE VIDEO!
2. Cook over medium heat, avoiding burnt bits.
3. Whisk condensed milk with cocoa powder before starting to cook– for a mixture without lumps.
4. If making brigadeiro recipe in the summer time, use only 1 tbsp of butter; otherwise it’ll make harder to achieve the correct consistency. In the cold months, though, you can use 2 tbsp of butter and still roll it into balls with no problem. They will be tastier too!
5. If making a double batch at once, use a large, wider pan rather than a pot; otherwise it will take much longer to get it right.
HOW DO YOU STORE AND FOR HOW LONG?
Store brigadeiro in an airtight container at room temp for up to 2 days. Either store covered in the fridge for up to 4-7 days, or freeze in plastic bags for up to 30 days.
If frozen, bring them to room temp before serving them.
PIN & ENJOY
Brigadeiro -- Brazilian chocolate fudge balls
Brigadeiro (or Brigadeiros) is a chocolate fudge made with condensed milk, butter, and cocoa powder. Our brigadeiro recipe is love at first bite! It comes with a video and step by step photos.
Ingredients
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 14-ounce
- 1/4 cup baking cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1-2 tablespoon unsalted butter (softened) plus extra to grease plate and hands
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Chocolate vermicelli or good quality chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
Whisk the condensed milk and cocoa powder together until homogeneous (no lumps). Then, stir in the butter.
Stove: Cook in a medium non-stick saucepan over medium heat (large burner), stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and starts to peel away/show the bottom of the pan when you scrape it with your wood spoon (about 5-8 minutes).
Microwave: Pour mixture into a deep microwaveable bowl. If 900 watts, let cook on full power for about 6 minutes -- removing and stirring at least every 2 minutes, or until thick enough to be rolled (when it cools down, mixture will be thicker).
While it is cooking, do not leave the microwave unattended because mixture will rise and possibly bubble over, making a mess. Every time it rises, pause until mixture settles back down. If 1100 watts, cook at 80 % power. Double batches take more time to cook
When brigadeiro is ready, remove either from the stove top or microwave, mix in the vanilla extract and spread mixture onto a greased plate.
Let cool to room temp before starting to roll them into balls with greased hands. Use a 1/2 ( or 1 ) tbsp as measurement.
Then, dredge gently in the chocolate sprinkles until totally covered, and place into paper bonbon cups.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Store brigadeiro/brigadeiros (Brazilian chocolate fudge balls) in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. They can be also stored, covered well, in the refrigerator for up to 4-7 days, or frozen in ziploc bags for up to 30 days.
- If making brigadeiro recipe in the summer time, use only 1 tbsp of butter; otherwise it’ll make harder to achieve the correct consistency. In the cold months, though, you can use 2 tbsp of butter and still roll it into balls with no problem. They will be tastier too!
- ALTERNATIVE: If you don't get the right consistency and the cooked mixture is so soft that cannot be rolled into balls, the alternative is to serve brigadeiros piped on spoons or into shot glasses/cups to be eaten with small spoons almost like a shot of pudding-- like we do in Brazil.
- Love brigadeiro(s)? Try also our Brigadeiro Cookies and also our Triple Brigadeiro Tart.
Farm House Academy
October 29, 2014 at 7:36 pmMy daughters and I are currently studying South America in our homeschool studies. Our first stop was Brazil! Thank you so much for the delicious recipe and fun background!
Denise Browning
October 29, 2014 at 9:28 pmThank you for your interest in Brazil and for trying this recipe. I am happy that you enjoyed brigadeiros, a real family favorite.
Nancy
January 18, 2015 at 7:59 pmHow many does this make?
Denise Browning
January 18, 2015 at 11:02 pmHi, Nancy!
Yield can be seen right above the ingredients in the recipe. It makes about 28 brigadeiros or chocolate “truffles”.
Have a great week!
nancy abrams
February 11, 2015 at 1:45 pmI’m sorry, did not see that. I made my first batch and they are fabulous!
Can I double the recipe without any problems or should I make two batches separately?
(I am trying to make enough to share with everyone at work)
Denise Browning
February 11, 2015 at 2:10 pmNo problem, Nancy!
Yes, you can double the recipe without problems. I do this all the time because it is a family favorite. 🙂 They disappear pretty quick at my household. My eldest daughter and I don’t even wait to roll them into balls… We eat brigadeiro by spoonfuls! 🙂
But by doubling the recipe, it will take a little longer to be cooked (NOT the double of the original time). Follow the recipe guidelines and everything will be fine. I hope your co-workers enjoy these brigadeiros. Have a great week!
Donald
March 3, 2015 at 2:10 pmQue tal uma receita em espanhol então?
Just kidding, this is one of the better blogs I have seen for Brigadeiros. How do you say, they are pra caramba.
Denise Browning
March 3, 2015 at 2:27 pmLOL… Thanks a lot, Donald!
Wishing you a delicious week — as delicious as these brigadeiros!!! 😉
Peggy
March 9, 2015 at 11:32 pmHello! I saw a video of Facebook about making these. I thought I remembered it right, and tried it today. But I remembered that it said to use half a stick of butter, and no vanilla. Then I rolled them in more cocoa, sort of truffle-style even though I saw in the video to use white sugar. They are a little soft, but I think it’s the way they should be?
THEN I experimented with another batch, and used flavored hot chocolate instead of cocoa. They are super-soft, and after I rolled them they turned into disks instead of balls! LOL Do you know if the rest of the ingredients in the hot chocolate messed it up, or maybe I just didn’t cook that batch long enough? I want to play with other hot chocolate flavors, but don’t want to keep making disks…
Denise Browning
March 10, 2015 at 5:28 amHi, Peggy!
About 13 years ago when I got married and came to live in the US, I tried to make mine with hot cocoa mix. It was a disaster!!! Honestly, the texture was not the same as the brigadeiros from my home country. Hot cocoa mix simply does not work for brigadeiros because contains a lot of sugar changing their fudgy texture. You have to use cocoa powder which is made from ground chocolate solids. Too much butter also makes them too soft and flat. Follow my recipe, which it is the traditional recipe for brigadeiros, and will get them right. The vanilla extract is optional. I added it to the traditional recipe because it makes them more delicious without changing the texture. Brigadeiros are traditionally rolled in chocolate sprinkles but a few folks roll them in white granulated sugar when they don’t have chocolate sprinkles in their pantry. If you would like to play with flavors, you can use my recipe omitting the cocoa powder and vanilla, and adding flavoring extracts instead. This way you will have white brigadeiros with different flavors (e.g. almond flavor b/c almond extract). Another good way to play with flavors is flavored gelatins. In Brazil, there is a strawberry brigadeiro recipe. Instead of using cocoa powder, we use strawberry gelatin to give both color and flavor to the strawberry brigadeiros (in this case, if the recipe asks for 2-3 Tbsp of cocoa powder, you use 2-3 Tbsp strawberry gelatin instead). Let me know if you have any other questions. Have a great week!
stacy
April 8, 2015 at 10:24 pmThey look amazing!!
Denise Browning
April 8, 2015 at 10:26 pmThanks a lot, Stacy! Enjoy…
Kent Taylor
May 3, 2015 at 9:58 amI was introduced to Brigadeiro the other day by my friend Átila (from North East Brazil) and fell in love immediately, I have just tried this recipe and it tastes fantastic! I think this is going to mean I have to step up the effort at the gym, but it’s well worth it!
Denise Browning
May 3, 2015 at 1:45 pmHi, Kent!
I am so glad that you stopped by. I am also from Northeastern Brazil.
Brigadeiro is the most popular and beloved “candy” in/from Brazil, present at every single birthday party and other celebrations… It is also one of the fave snacks down there. At my household, we love it so much that we don’t wait to have brigadeiros rolled into balls. We eat brigadeiro by spoonfuls. 🙂
Since you learned how to make brigadeiros (and they can be very addictive as you already know), I wish you good luck. 🙂
Have a great week — and exercise routine! 🙂
Wendy
November 5, 2015 at 7:03 pmHi Denise, can you freeze Brigadeiro?
Denise Browning
November 5, 2015 at 8:32 pmHi, Wendy! Absolutely! But for this, you can make the brigadeiro “dough”, let cool at room temp, roll them, and freeze in a ziploc bag… but please only roll the brigadeiro balls in the sprinkles once thawed.
Jordan
November 6, 2015 at 3:05 pmHi love the recipe but I keep getting bits in my brigadeiro, like some of the cocoa powder is clumping togeter into small bits. Any idea as to how to remedy this?
Denise Browning
November 6, 2015 at 5:08 pmHi, Jordan!
I see. No worries! It’s pretty easy to solve this issue. What you have to do is to whisk well the sweetened condensed milk with the cocoa powder until obtaining a homogeneous mixture before cooking. It helps if you add the cocoa powder little by little while whisking. Then, add the butter and cook the mixture according to the instructions. Enjoy!
Jordan
November 6, 2015 at 11:14 pmThank you so much for responding Denise!! I will give it a try! They were still loved and with the sprinkles no one noticed the bits, but I sure am glad to have a solution!! These are so tasty and my husband loves that they are not as overly sweet and you would think they would be!
Isaac Hartley
February 23, 2016 at 5:02 pmI just made these using your microwave version! The “dough” tended to rise up every 30 seconds, so what I did when that happened was take it out and stir before putting it back in. After it was done I melted 3 slivers of butter on a big plate, then poured a tiny bit of vanilla extract on that and spread the melted butter and vanilla around the whole plate with the round side of a spoon. After I rolled the truffles I dropped them in cocoa instead of sprinkles! They’re currently setting in the fridge, but they look and smell HEAVENLY!
Denise Browning
February 23, 2016 at 7:48 pmHi, Isaac! Thank you for the visit and nice feedback. I hope you enjoy this long-time fave of mine.
Isaac Hartley
February 26, 2016 at 9:44 pmThey were amazing! The cocoa, it was a bit much, so I dipped the truffles in milk chocolate and rolled them in powdered sugar. Delicious! I’ll be making more for my boyfriend and I tonight! Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe!
Denise Browning
February 27, 2016 at 7:59 amThank you again, Isaac! It makes me happy seeing people trying and enjoying new recipes. Have an awesome weekend!
Gabrielle
March 7, 2016 at 6:29 amHi denise, this brigadeiros look so delicous and unique i would love to try it!
Denise Browning
March 7, 2016 at 7:34 amYou won’t regret it, Gabrielle! But please, follow the recipe instructions. If you have a medium, non stick skillet, please use it to cook these brigadeiros because the “dough” cooks faster in wider pans.Please, also make sure the “dough” has thicken and runs slow. The cooking time varies from one stovetop to the other. Enjoy!!!
Gabrielle
March 30, 2016 at 5:55 amHi Denise!
I tried rolling it in a ball after i had put it in the fridge for 3 hours but it was so hard to roll it.
I now have put it in the fridge for a day.
Will that work?
Denise Browning
March 30, 2016 at 8:00 amHi, Gabrielle. I have just seen your comment.
If after all this time in the fridge you could not roll brigadeiros into balls, it’s because you did not cook the mixture enough to get the right consistency. This is a critical step for brigadeiros. When this happens, the alternative is to serve brigadeiros pipped on spoons or into shot glasses/cups to be eaten with small spoons– like we do in Brazil. Later today or tomorrow, I will be uploading a cooking video that I recorded about brigadeiros and you will have a better idea about the right consistency — better than the recipe direction pictures that you see here. I give all the tips how to get the right consistency every time and also how to achieve it quicker — so next time you make brigadeiros you will be able to roll them easily.
Know that not getting the right consistency at first is not uncommon. Thank you for trying!