This year I decided to offer you Christmas desserts that are delicious yet easy and quick to prepare. Just like these pristine coconut balls with wafers and white chocolate.
I also thought of those who have little time to spend in the kitchen. Organizing the Christmas menu (or for Christmas Eve or New Year’s) can be quite stressful! Especially if you have to juggle work, family, and various commitments! So I thought of a truly tasty and clever treat! The coconut and wafer balls can be prepared in 10-15 minutes at most.
No baking, no electric whisks, no rolling pins nor pans to dirty and then clean!
The coconut balls are actually perfect for any occasion, not just for Christmas! We can prepare them for a romantic dinner, a Sunday lunch, or a birthday buffet!
Making coconut balls is really simple. They can be personalized according to our tastes. We can enhance these coconut truffles by inserting a hazelnut (or almond or walnut) inside them. Or fill them with hazelnut cream, pistachio cream, or jam.
Since Christmas is getting closer, I covered the truffles with shredded coconut. Don’t they look like little snowballs?! Additionally, I added melted white chocolate to the filling. I won’t tell you how delicious they are!
At the end of this article, you can find some variations of this recipe.
If you like no-bake balls (or truffles), don’t miss these proposals too!
Lemon Truffles No Bake
Delicious Bon Bons with Hazelnut and Nutella
Chocolate Balls with Orange and Rum
Panettone Truffles with Nutella
Here are some more easy and delicious Christmas dessert ideas for you!
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: about 28 balls
- Cooking methods: No baking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 9 oz ricotta cheese (cow or mixed, well-drained)
- 1 1/3 cups shredded coconut (rapè) (not coconut flour but shredded coconut)
- 3.5 oz white chocolate
- 1/3 cup sugar (about)
- 2.8 oz wafers (vanilla flavored)
- to taste orange zest (or ground cinnamon)
- Half vial vanilla flavoring (or 1 sachet of vanillin)
- 1 1/3 cups shredded coconut (rapè) (about)
Tools
- Bowl
- Cupcake Liners (paper)
- Spatula
- Sieve
Steps
An important tip before starting. When preparing ricotta-based desserts, it is best to let it rest in a sieve.
This way, it will release its whey and become nice and dry. I usually let the ricotta rest overnight and start working on it the next day!
Take a bowl and put the ricotta inside with the sugar.
Work it with a fork until it becomes creamy and lump-free.
I recommend tasting a teaspoon to check the sweetness level and add more sugar if necessary according to your tastes.
Take the vanilla wafers and chop them with a knife, not too finely.
Add the chopped wafers to the ricotta along with the shredded coconut.
Please, NOT coconut flour (it’s almost a powder), shredded coconut has a coarser and therefore tastier grain.
Add half a vial of vanilla flavoring and some orange zest.
If you don’t have vanilla flavoring, you can replace it with a sachet of vanillin.
Mix the ingredients with a spatula and set aside (at room temperature).
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler, being very careful not to burn it.
Unlike dark or milk chocolate, white chocolate is much more delicate, so keep an eye on it!
Add the melted chocolate to the other ingredients and mix well until you get a rather compact mixture.
Don’t worry if the melted chocolate solidifies once added to the cold ricotta.
The important thing is to mix it well with the rest of the ingredients. Taste again to check the sweetness level if you like.
At this point, let the mixture firm up in the fridge for about half an hour.
This operation will allow you to better scoop and work the dough.
After this time, put the shredded coconut in a small bowl (or food bag).
Take some of the mixture, and rolling it on the palm of your hand, form a ball.
Roll the ball in the shredded coconut and place it on a serving plate or in a paper liner.
Continue in the same way until all the dough is used up.
Store in the fridge until ready to serve.
If you leave the coconut balls at room temperature, they will have a softer consistency.
If you prefer them firmer, leave them in the fridge until serving.
As promised, the coconut truffles with wafers and white chocolate are ready!
A perfect dessert to win hearts with zero effort!
Article protected by copyright © – Gabriella Geroni © All Rights Reserved
Surely, there are those who don’t like ricotta, or coconut, or wafers, etc.!
In this case, here are some possible substitutions that I hope you will find useful!
1) Ricotta can be replaced with mascarpone, robiola, or any spreadable cheese.
The grams remain as indicated in the recipe; we’re just substituting the ingredient.
To make the balls even more delicious, we can insert (inside each) a whole hazelnut (or almond or walnut).
Or we can fill the balls with a teaspoon of hazelnut cream, pistachio cream, or various jams.
2) Those who don’t like coconut can make these balls by making the following changes.
They can use about 4 oz of plain cookies (or ladyfingers) or hazelnut wafers, to be ground and added to the filling.
The coating will be done instead with unsweetened cocoa powder (about 1 oz).
In this case, I recommend replacing the vanilla wafers with hazelnut ones, which pair better with the cocoa coating.
The original doses may need adjustments because the substituted ingredients have different consistencies.
Just adjust as you go until you get a workable and rather compact mixture.
