As a gift to my readers and in keeping with the Holiday Season I thought I’d repost an article I wrote for examiner.com a few years ago about my family’s favorite homemade Christmas treat.  Traditional treats are part of every Christmas celebration around the world. Even in our make-believe ones.  Perhaps one of your characters might want to prepare this delicious candy. 🙂

Looking for an easy candy treat that looks and taste decadent to add to your Christmas sweets. I offer you a recipe that has been in my husband’s family for 50 plus years.  He introduced this treat to me our first Christmas. Over the years all of our children have helped make this candy, and it just isn’t Christmas without it. We have given it as gifts, and it’s the centerpiece of Holiday parties.  This recipe has been modified for the modern cook. Rather than shelling pounds of pecans and mixing paraffin with chocolate chips, buy chopped pecans and almond bark or other dipping chocolate reducing the preparation time to minutes instead of hours.

This coconut ball recipe is easy enough that little hands can help. There is also the additional option of dipping the coconut balls after a few hours for a creamy texture or let them dry overnight for a firmer center.

Coconut Balls

2 pounds powdered sugar

1 can Eagle Brand Milk

1 large package (14 ounces) Angel Flake Coconut

1 pound chopped pecans

½ cup margarine

1 tsp vanilla

First, melt the margarine and remove from heat, then add Eagle Brand Milk, vanilla, powdered sugar, coconut, and pecans in that order. (If mixture gets stiff you can reheat slightly.) Roll mixture into one inch balls and place on wax paper to dry. You can either let dry a few hours or leave overnight before dipping in chocolate. Be sure they are completely cooled.

Prepare Dipping chocolate or Almond Bark according to package directions.  Melting almond bark in the microwave works great and is less messy that a double boiler. Melt 1 ½ pounds of almond bark or dipping chocolate. Dip each coconut ball in chocolate and place on wax paper.

(The original recipe called for 1 pound package chocolate chips and ¼ pound of paraffin melted in a double boiler. You have to make sure the water is hot enough and keep stirring. Too much paraffin and it tastes waxy, not enough and the chocolate doesn’t coat well.)

 

What’s your family’s traditional holiday treat? Share it in the comments. Maybe my characters would love to make it. 🙂