These Coconut Bon Bons are moist and delightfully sweet, and they are great when dipped in any flavor of chocolate.  They are a great candy to make for Easter!

Calling all coconut lovers!!!  If you’re a lover of coconut, you’re gonna love these slightly sweet, Coconut Bon Bons. When I think Easter…I think coconut.  I love Coconut Pie, Coconut Cake, Coconut Bon Bons, and anything else coconut.  I’ve been making these sweet little concoctions for years at Easter time.  These Coconut Bon Bons are made with desiccated coconut, which is a very finely ground natural dry coconut, which is reconstituted with corn syrup in this recipe.

I will never forget one year at Easter when my 90-year-old father came to visit me at Easter.  He was wearing bibbed overalls.  When he got ready to go home, he stuffed two Coconut Bon Bons at one time in his mouth, just before stuffing several in the front pockets of his bibbed overalls.  He looked like a chipmunk ready to hibernate.

I’ve made these wonderful Coconut Bon Bons in various flavors over the years, but these days, I mostly make my two most requested flavors, dark chocolate, and orange.  Other good flavors I’ve made include vanilla, strawberry, lemon, and key lime.

Note:  If you are not a fan of corn syrup don’t worry.  In the next couple of days, I’m posting my second Coconut Bon Bon recipe that substitutes sweetened condensed milk for the corn syrup.  The coconut is loaded with chewy moistness.  You will love them.  Coming real soon!

Okay, before I tell you how I made them, let me tell you about desiccated coconut…

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Desiccated coconut is a very fine dry coconut that has had 97% of the moisture content removed.  In this recipe for Coconut Bon Bons, the coconut is reconstituted with corn syrup.  Desiccated coconut can sometimes be hard to find.  I find it at a local cake decorating supply store in my area.  They have mailed it to me on occasion.  If you can’t find it, you can feel free to call Fantasy and Frosting in Newport Kentucky at (859) 431-0356.  One 8 ounce bag is around $4.00.  There is also the option of making your own desiccated coconut by dehydrating unsweetened flaked coconut in an oven and processing it to a fine consistency in a food processor.

Okay, here’s how I made the Coconut Bon Bons…

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First I placed some desiccated coconut in a large bowl and added some light corn syrup to it…

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Next, I took my hands and mixed the two together thoroughly…

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It should be slightly moist and sticky…

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Next, I rolled it into small balls, about the size of a walnut…

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And placed them on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet.  I let them sit for about 1 1/2 hours to firm up before dipping…

Okay, in this recipe, I dipped the balls in two chocolates, the first being dark chocolate…

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I purchased Ghirardelli Dark Melting Wafers.  They melt beautifully and the chocolate sets up fast.  You can also use chocolate chips or a broken-up bar of chocolate.  These wafers come in white chocolate too.  Also, this recipe makes one batch of about 35 bonbons, and one 12 ounce bag of chocolate will coat about 30 bonbons.

Update:  The dark melting wafers are sweet, not bittersweet.  When I want bittersweet, (my favorite), I use Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips…

Okay next…

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I poured the wafers into a deep but small bowl…

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I microwaved the wafers for 30 seconds, removed them, stirred them once with a spoon, and microwaved them again for 30 seconds, and stirred the chocolate until it was smooth…

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Then I dipped them one at a time in the chocolate…you need to use a utensil like the one above or a fork to dip them….

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And I placed them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  The excess chocolate will run off and the chocolate will set up…Once the chocolate did set up, I used a sharp knife to trim any excess chocolate off of the bottoms…

Okay, on to the white chocolate….I actually used white chocolate chips for the white chocolate versus wafers, only because I already had some.  The white chocolate chips are a little bit thicker than the dark chocolate wafers when melted…

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Again, I placed them in a bowl…

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And melted them for two 30 second intervals…the same as the dark wafers…

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Next, I added some Lorann pure orange oil…

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And some gel orange food coloring, (not liquid)…

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And thoroughly mixed it together…

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Then I dipped the balls, one at a time, in the chocolate…

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And placed them on a lined cookie sheet again.  As you can see, the white chocolate is thicker and doesn’t run off the candy as much as the darker chocolate….

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You can also use a toothpick to dip these….

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And use the tip of the toothpick to swirl the chocolate on top for a fancier look.  This works well for the thicker white chocolate, but not as well on the thinner darker chocolate…

And Voila!!!

Here’s another great recipe for Coconut Bon Bons #2.

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Coconut Bon Bons

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  • Author: Cindy Gibbs @ My Country Table
  • Prep Time: 60
  • Total Time: 60
  • Yield: 35 1x
  • Category: Candy
  • Cuisine: American

Description

These Coconut Bon Bons are moist, dense, and slightly sweet, and taste great when dipped in any flavor of chocolate. They are a great candy for Easter!


Ingredients

Units Scale

For the coconut balls

  • 4 cups desiccated coconut
  • 1 cup light corn syrup

For the chocolate

  • White, milk or dark chocolate chips or melting wafers. One 12 ounce bag is enough to coat about 30 balls. This recipe makes about 35 balls, therefore one bag of chocolate is not quite enough to cover one batch.
  • Gel food coloring, if using white chocolate
  • Pure oil flavoring, if using white chocolate.


Instructions

For the balls

  1. In a large bowl, using your hands, mix together the coconut and corn syrup. Roll the mixture into small balls, no bigger than a walnut and place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Let the balls set for about 1 1/2 hours to firm up before dipping.

For the chocolate

  1. Pour one bag of chocolate chips or wafers in a small but deep bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir the chocolate, microwave for an additional 30 seconds and stir until smooth.
  2. Using a fork or toothpick, dip the coconut balls in the chocolate and place back on the wax paper. Once the chocolate has set up, use a small sharp paring knife, to trim any excess chocolate from the bottoms.

Notes

  • Desiccated coconut is finely processed natural dry coconut that has not had any sweetners or moisture added to it.
  • In this recipe I made orange and dark chocolate bon bons. For the orange ones, I used one bottle of Lorann pure orange oil, and orange gel food coloring.
  • These bon bons can be made in any flavor. Chocolate and orange are my two most requested flavors. I’ve also made plain vanilla, strawberry, lemon, and key lime. The most important thing to remember is to use pure oil flavorings and gel, not liquid, food coloring.