White Chocolate Coconut Snowballs

What comes to mind when you think of snowballs and sweet treats? Is it one of the many varieties of wedding cookies? Or perhaps it is the classic Hostess snack cake? Or maybe Traditional Newfoundland Snowballs? Until relatively recently (can I say that when referring to something in the range of about 6 years ago?), one of those treats probably would have been my answer (ok, maybe not the Newfoundland snowballs, those are a very recent discovery for me). That is until mom told me about these White Chocolate Coconut Snowballs – a super simple, no-bake confection that brings together tangy cream cheese, sweet and nutty coconut and white chocolate.

I remember mom telling me about these during one of our many phone calls. She had come across the recipe published by Stop & Shop – dad is a fan of macaroons and these were advertised as a riff on the coconut macaroon. With only 18 minutes of active preparation and cook time, a list of pretty common ingredients and no need to fire up the oven, she figured on these being a quick win to make something fun and delicious for dad. And she wasn’t wrong, they quickly became one of dad’s favorite treats, and one of the ones he asked me to recreate.

If you happen to peruse the original recipe over on the Stop & Shop recipe center, you might notice that the ratings for this recipe are (surprisingly) very low at only two stars. Since I know mom made these successfully for years, and I was able to make them successfully on the first try, I was very curious as to what the problem(s) might be. The negative reviews consistently complain of the mixture being too soupy and way too sweet. While I can’t claim these aren’t sweet, I think the cream cheese and the unsweetened coconut (as well as a touch of salt) do a great job of balancing the sweetness of the white chocolate and sweetened condensed milk and, although the mixture is definitely soupy at first, the ratio of white chocolate and cream cheese to the sweetened condensed milk are sufficient to allow it to firm up nicely in the refrigerator.

Based on the comments and my experience with my Vanilla Bean Coconut Macaroons, I would venture to guess that the folks leaving negative feedback made one of two mistakes:

• Overlooked the specification to use unsweetened coconut – sweetened coconut would add more sugar to the recipe which would act like a liquid, making the mixture looser in texture as well as significantly increasing the sweetness.
• Misunderstood the original recipe’s “1/2 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk” ingredient, thinking it was calling for 14 oz of sweetened condensed milk rather than 7 oz. This also would have increased the liquid ratio and overall sweetness of the recipe.

As long as you avoid those two potential pitfalls, I think you will find this recipe both easy and rewarding to make!

White Chocolate Coconut Snowballs

No ratings yet

Advertised as "a riff on a coconut macaroon", this treat combines tangy cream cheese, sweet and nutty coconut and creamy white chocolate into adorable little snowballs that will delight any coconut lover.

Print

Pinterest Facebook Share on X Email

Share SaveGo to Collections Rate

Prep Time 18 minutes mins

Chilling Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 18 minutes mins

Servings: 34

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Calories: 108

Equipment Ingredients Method Notes Nutrition

Equipment

• ▢
  large glass heat safe mixing bowl
• ▢
  medium saucepan
• ▢
  cookie scoop (#100)
• ▢
  large baking sheet (lined with parchment)

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x4x

• ▢ 12 oz white chocolate
• ▢ 7 oz sweetened condensed milk
• ▢ 4 oz cream cheese softened
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ tsp salt
• ▢ 8 oz coconut unsweetened, shredded [divided use]

Method

 

Cook Mode Cook Mode

 

1. Add a few inches of water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. In a large, glass, heat safe mixing bowl, add the white chocolate and sweetened condensed milk. Place on top of the saucepan (forming a double boiler) and stir continuously until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
   12 oz (340 g) white chocolate, 7 oz (198 g) sweetened condensed milk
3. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the cream cheese, stir until fully melted.
   4 oz (113 g) cream cheese
4. Add the vanilla, salt and 1 1/2 oz of the shredded coconut. Stir until well combined.
   1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp (¼ tsp) salt, 8 oz (227 g) coconut
5. Cool the mixture completely and then chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until the mixture is a firm, scoopable consistency.
6. Put the remaining coconut in a shallow dish and place near your parchment lined baking sheet. Using a cookie scoop (#100), scoop and shape the chilled white chocolate coconut mixture into 1 inch balls. Roll each ball in the coconut until it is completely coated. Place the completed balls on the baking sheet as you go. Refrigerate the snowballs until you are ready to serve them.
   8 oz (227 g) coconut

Notes

Do NOT use sweetened coconut. Sugar often behaves as a liquid in recipes; if you use sweetened coconut, the sugar included in the coconut will dissolve in the white chocolate mixture and affect the texture – it may end up soupy and never set enough to roll into balls.

Private Notes

Click here to add your own private notes.

Nutrition

Calories: 108kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 1gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 45mgPotassium: 79mgFiber: 1gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 63IUVitamin C: 0.4mgCalcium: 41mgIron: 0.2mg

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!

More recipes you might enjoy:

Vanilla Bean Coconut Macaroons Award Winning Red Velvet Fudge Dark Chocolate Caramel Macaroon Tart Grandma’s Old Fashioned Fudge