These moist, no-bake coconut balls are a staple of Czech Christmas celebrations. Flavored with a hint of rum, they are easy to make and taste absolutely delicious!
This is an old-fashioned recipe coming from the Czech Republic, where coconut balls belong among very popular Christmas cookies.
Czechs call coconut balls "kokosove kulicky" (correctly spelled "kokosové kuličky"). Here is the Czech pronunciation:
MY TIP: If you like coconut, try these Czech coconut meringue cookies (they melt on your tongue!)
➜ Ingredients
For homemade no-bake coconut balls, you need:
- Dry/dessicated shredded coconut; finely ground
- Egg white
- Cocoa powder, dark
- Unsalted butter; softened at room temperature
- Rum; conventional dark rum - in the USA, e.g., Stroth rum
- Powdered sugar
- Shredded coconut; for coating
✅ You'll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
➜ Instructions with Photos
STEP 1: Place the coconut, egg white, cocoa powder, butter, rum, and icing sugar in a bowl.
STEP 2: Work into a dough and place in the fridge for an hour to set.
STEP 3: Scoop out equal-sized pieces of the dough, roll each into a small ball between your palms, and coat it in shredded coconut.
STEP 4: Place the coconut balls in paper candy cups.
➜ Useful Tips
- The coconut balls in this recipe are made without condensed milk, sweetened with powdered sugar. If you find the dough too runny, add some shredded coconut rather than sugar.
- The cookie balls are moist and pretty soft, thanks to the butter included. Once made, refrigerate them to firm up, .
- The balls contain a small amount of rum. If they are intended for children, you can omit the rum.
➜ Questions & Answers
As this is an unbaked candy, prepare the balls no more than a day or two in advance.
Place the coconut balls in a resealable container and store them in a cool, dry place. The top of a fridge is ideal. Take out the balls from the refrigerator shortly before eating.
Because coconut balls contain raw egg whites and are unbaked, eat them up in about five days.
More sweet recipes:
- Walnut shaped cookies
- Pracny cookies
- Cookies with meringue topping
- No bake rum balls
- No bake honey balls
Find more inspiration in the category Czech Christmas cookies!
Tried this recipe?
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📖 Recipe
Easy Coconut Balls (Czech Kokosové kuličky)
Tap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups dry shredded coconut finely ground, unsweetened
- 1 egg white
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ stick unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon dark rum such as Kirkland spiced rum from Costco or Austrian Stroh 54
- 3 Tablespoons dark cocoa powder unsweetened
- ⅓ cup shredded coconut finely ground; for coating
Instructions
- Place 1 ⅓ cups dry shredded coconut, 1 egg white, 3 Tablespoons dark cocoa powder, ½ stick unsalted butter cut into pieces, 1 Tablespoon dark rum, and 1 cup powdered sugar in a bowl.
- Work the mixture into a dough and place it in the fridge for an hour to set.
- Scoop out equal-sized pieces of the dough, roll each one into a small ball between your palms, and coat it in ⅓ cup shredded coconut.
- Place the coconut balls in paper candy cups.
Notes
- The basic recipe makes about 25 balls (if they are around 1 inch in diameter).
- The coconut balls in this recipe are perfectly sweet. If the dough is too runny, add more shredded coconut instead of sugar.
- The coconut balls are moist and quite soft. Once made, refrigerate them to firm up.
- STORAGE: Place the coconut balls in a resealable container and store them in a cool, dry place. The top of the fridge is ideal; they will last for about five days.
Victor says
I came across this recipe when searching for something to bring to our family reunion. I don't usually bake, but this recipe was really easy! The rum balls are really tasty, and everyone in my family loved them. Thanks for this recipe!