Tag Archives: toasted coconut

Dark Chocolate Almond Bites

Posted on August 5, 2017 by Ruthanne

These little clusters of almond, coconut and dark chocolate will satisfy your sweet tooth without wrecking your diet!

I’ve been trying to eat healthier this year, and so far I’m doing really well (even with a baking blog!). My friend Laura and I walk each day and when we do we talk a lot about things we crave that could be made healthier. She was telling me that she craves chocolate so much that she takes a few dark chocolate chips and adds some almonds for a snack each night. I was in the process of making some coconut cut-out cookies and I had extra toasted coconut. We started brainstorming ways to make a cookie with relatively low calories and carbs. This is the result 🙂 They are delicious (!!) and as far as I can tell, they are about 85 calories each and 6 carbs. Which is perfect. Just perfect.

They aren’t very pretty- but who needs pretty when you can have yummy and relatively healthy? 🙂

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe here)

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of toasted coconut (buy it toasted, or toast your own…)
1 cup of lightly salted, roasted almonds
2 plain rice cakes
1 cup of dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Place toasted coconut and almonds in a food chopper and chop to small pieces. Place in a mixing bowl.
Crumble up the 2 rice cakes into very small pieces and add to bowl.
Melt chocolate chips, and pour them over the top of mixture.
Stir until well-blended and then use a medium cookie scoop to spoon out evenly-sized cookies onto a parchment paper- covered cookie sheet. (My batch made 22, and calories and carbs were calculated accordingly.)
Place cookie sheet in refrigerator until cookies harden up. Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are really, really good. I bagged mine up in individual cello bags and tied them shut with a twist tie. That way, I wasn’t tempted to eat more than one at a time! These are a perfect “gotta have some chocolate” treat. Lots of protein from the nuts, healthy oils from the coconut, and a little bit of crunch from the rice cakes. Enjoy! ~r

Other yummy (slightly less healthy!) cookie recipes here at Easybaked (click on a photo to see the recipe):

3 Comments

Homemade Mallo Cups

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Ruthanne

Dark chocolate and toasted coconut cups filled with creamy sweet marshmallow- YUM!

Last week we featured one use for silicone baking cups, and even gave two sets of them away! This week is another idea for these cups. If you missed the story last week, I was sent a set of these silicone cups to try out as an apology for a designer that stole one of my photos and used it in the product packaging of these cups. The cups I am using are Baketown Girls Silicone Baking Cups, and can be found on Amazon.com.

I was a little doubtful about the practicality of these cups (especially when I thought of doing cupcakes in them), but I’m having fun experimenting with the possibilities! I’m sure this won’t be the last recipe on Easybaked using these silicone cups.

Have you ever had Mallo Cups?

Dear me, they are amazing. They are considered the very 1st candy cup created, and they were one of my favorite childhood treats. They are a little hard to find these days, so I thought I’d re-create them. They are actually not very hard to make.

Here’s how we put them together. (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 12 cups)

2 bags of Wilton’s Candy Melts (if you want a little better chocolate, try Country Kitchen chocolate. It’s a touch more expensive, but truly better in flavor (click here). )
1 cup of toasted coconut (to toast refer to instructions here)
One large jar (13 oz) of Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme

DIRECTIONS:

Set 12 silicone liners on a cookie sheet with edges.
Melt one bag of candy melts in a bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Spoon carefully into a large zip-top bag and seal well.
Clip a corner off the bag of chocolate and pipe a little chocolate (about 1 tablespoon) into each cup.
Tip and/or tap each cup until chocolate covers the entire bottom of the cup.
Refrigerate for about 5 minutes until hard.
Carefully spoon marshmallow into a second zip-top bag and seal well.
Clip a corner off this bag and pipe a dollop of marshmallow into the center of each cup- do not let it touch the sides.
Use bag of melted chocolate to carefully pipe chocolate all the way around each dollop of marshmallow- this seals it into the center and keeps it from leaking out. Melt more chocolate, as needed.
Refrigerate for about 5 minutes until chocolate is hardened.
Melt remaining chocolate and add finely crushed toasted coconut to it (save a bit out to sprinkle on top later if desired)
Spoon this mixture into a zip top bag and seal well.
Clip a corner and pipe chocolate/coconut evenly over each cup.
Sprinkle with toasted coconut, or any decorative topping you desire.
Chill until cup is hardened and then peel away silicone cup and enjoy!

Not too difficult- and the end result is so much fun (and delicious!)

My thoughts: These are just fun little treats to put together and they really are so yummy with the crunchy coconut and creamy marshmallow. I even made an Easter batch of them!!! I hope you get a chance to try them! Enjoy!! ~r

We love to celebrate spring! Here are some other fun springtime recipes: (click on photo to see recipe)

2 Comments

Posted in Candy and tagged candy coating, candy cups, chocolate, classic candy, coconut, dessert, easy, easy candy, fun, mallo cups, marshmallow, recipe, silicone cups, toasted coconut. Bookmark the permalink.

Piña Colada Cupcakes!

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Ruthanne

These pineapple cupcakes are full of coconut and rum flavored happiness. A perfect pool party treat!

Aren’t these just the cutest little things? I love the flavor combination of coconut and pineapple, it is such a refreshing taste! The light whipped frosting on these, combined with the crunch of toasted coconut makes them such a delicious summer treat! I even added a cute little edible coconut drink topper that I found on Party Pinchers. So. much. fun!!!!

INGREDIENTS: (printable recipe here)

1 boxed pineapple cake mix (I used Duncan Hines), plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box directions.
5 cups of shredded, sweetened coconut
3 teaspoons of rum flavoring (divided)
2 teaspoons of coconut flavoring
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter (softened to room temperature)
2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
3 cups of powdered sugar
Decorations (as desired)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325F degrees
Spread 5 cups of coconut out on a large baking sheet that has edges.
Toast in 5 minute increments, stirring with a big spoon to evenly toast (It usually takes me about 20 minutes)
Allow coconut to cool, then place in a large zip-top bag, and crush into smaller pieces.
Make cake mix according to directions on box, and after it is made, add one cup of crushed, toasted coconut and mix completely into batter.
Add 2 teaspoons of rum flavoring and stir completely into batter.
Divide batter evenly into 24 cupcake liners placed into tins.
Bake according to package directions and cool completely.
To make frosting, place butters, coconut flavoring, remaining rum flavoring, and powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl and beat on high for 3 or 4 minutes until very light and fluffy. Add one cup of crushed, toasted coconut and stir until well blended.
Use a spoon or a cookie scoop to place a rounded scoop of frosting on the top of each cupcake.
Place the rest of the crushed coconut into a small bowl, and turn each cupcake upside down into it, pressing coconut into the top and sides of each scoop of frosting.
Decorate as desired. I found these cute little edible “coconut cups” on a site called Party Pinching, and I couldn’t resist making them for my pina colada cupcakes! You just cut the tops off of a Whoppers malted milk ball, put a dab of melted white chocolate and add little flower sprinkles and a bit of string licorice. FUN!

My thoughts: I really thought these captured the flavors of coconut and pineapple in a perfect combination. I loved the little crunchy bits of coconut in the cake and frosting. These are such a festive cupcake and make a perfect refreshing summer or vacation dessert for all ages!
Other fun cupcake recipes:

22 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, buttercream frosting, coconut, cupcakes, dessert, luau, party, pina colada, pineapple, recipe, rum, summer, toasted coconut, whopper drink cups. Bookmark the permalink.

Coconut Caramel Cupcakes

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Ruthanne

Half-n-half coconut and caramel cupcakes topped with coconut buttercream and melted caramel sauce…yum…!

I was in the baking aisle of my grocery store the other day (of course!) and I saw these:

I was understandably intrigued….two flavors in one cupcake….? This has to be better than just one lonely flavor…..? Plus they weren’t very expensive. I had to try them! So I stood in front of the cake mixes pondering the possibilities… caramel sounded good…but with what? Coconut!!! Like those yummy Girl Scout cookies….

I grabbed two cake mixes, some caramels and some coconut. Ready to go. Note the two cake mixes. If you want two flavors you need two mixes, which means that this recipe makes a TON of cupcakes. 48 to be exact. I made 24 full size cupcakes and then used the rest of the batter making minis for a different recipe idea. You could make the full 48 and freeze half without the toppings too- just thaw and frost when you need them!

Here’s the recipe. Makes and frosts 48 cupcakes. (printer-friendly recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

1 boxed caramel cake mix (with water, oil and eggs to make according to package)
1 boxed white cake mix (with water, oil and eggs to make according to package)
1 cup shredded coconut (divided)
4 teaspoons of coconut flavoring (divided)
32 Kraft caramel candies (unwrapped)
1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) salted butter (divided)
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
3 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Make both cake mixes according to box instructions
Add 3/4 cup of shredded coconut to the white cake mix along with 2 teaspoons of the coconut flavoring. Mix well.
Place the rest of the shredded coconut on a small cookie sheet in oven for 10-12 minutes until toasted and browned. Set aside to cool and use for topping at the end.
Place cupcake liners in a cupcake pan and set batter dividers into center of cups. (get 12….I got 6 and it took longer than I wanted it to!!)
Gently spoon batter on each side of divider and tap pan to settle batter into bottom of cup.

Once batter is evenly spooned in on both sides, just pull divider straight up and out, leaving a half caramel/ half coconut cupcake! (so fun!!!)
Bake at 350F degrees according to times on boxed mix, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While cupcakes are baking, make your caramel sauce:

Place 32 Kraft caramels, sweetened condensed milk and 1/4 c. (1/2 stick) of salted butter into a saucepan and heat it on high, stirring constantly, until melted and smooth (takes about 5-6 minutes). Set aside.
Make buttercream frosting by adding 2 sticks of salted butter, 2 sticks of unsalted butter, powdered sugar and remaining 2 teaspoons of coconut flavoring to a large mixing bowl and beating it until it is light and fluffy.
Cool cupcakes completely.
Mix caramel sauce (reheat a bit if it has started to harden) and dip the tops of each cupcake in the sauce.

Allow caramel sauce to harden and cool completely (or it will melt your buttercream!)
Place coconut buttercream in a large zip top bag that has been fitted with a piping tip in one corner.
Pipe frosting over top of each cupcake.
Sprinkle toasted coconut on top.
Drizzle with any remaining caramel sauce you have left….and enjoy!!!

My thoughts: Loved these cupcakes…so flavorful and fun! The two-flavor center got lots of “wow”s and that caramel topping…yum….! I would get 12 of the batter dividers. It was just inconvenient to need to wash and dry them half way through. I’m excited to try other color and flavor combinations now. Super fun for school colors or sports team cupcakes (go Packers!!). Hope you are inspired to try these. I think you will really love them! Enjoy!!!! ~r

Coconut Lemon Drop Cookies

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Ruthanne

These crunchy little cookies are full of sweet coconut and tart lemon drop flavor- yum!!!

INGREDIENTS:

12 T. (1 and 1/2 sticks) butter -room temp.
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
6 t. lemon juice
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. finely crushed cornflakes
yellow food coloring (to desired shade)
1 c. shredded coconut
1/2 c. Wilton’s candy melt in white chocolate
15 lemon drops (or other lemon-flavored hard candy)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 250 degrees.
Place 1 c. shredded coconut on a small cookie sheet and place in oven for 10-15 minutes until it is dried and crunchy— not browned– just dry and crunchy. Remove from oven and cool.
When coconut is cool, use your hands to crush it up into smaller pieces, set aside.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Cream sugar and butter together, add vanilla.
Add lemon juice, food coloring, flour and coconut, beating until well combined.
Add crushed cornflakes and mix (use clean hands if you want!) until well combined.
Use a small cookie scoop to spoon batter onto parchment paper. Press tops down a little to make the cookie flat on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-16 minutes.
Allow cookies to cool.
Crush candies in a small zip-top bag using a hammer.
Melt Wilton’s candy melts in a small bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments until smooth and completely melted.
Spoon melted white chocolate into a zip top bag, clip a corner off and drizzle over each cookie.
Before chocolate hardens, sprinkle generously with crushed candy. Allow chocolate to harden and ENJOY!!

My thoughts: These cookies were really a stretch as far as inventing goes– I was really unsure if they would be any good at all. They are SO yummy- I’ve had 4 now…(shhh….) I took them to a Labor Day picnic and everyone loved them– especially the “crunchiness”. Well, everyone but my Uncle Keith who hates coconut….who hates coconut? Just seems wrong. Anyway– if you like lemon and candy and coconut and cookies—you are gonna love these little treats!!!! Enjoy! -r

3 Comments

Posted in Cookies and tagged baking, candy, coconut, Cookie, corn flakes, dessert, food, lemon, lemon cookie, lemon drop, lemon juice, sugar, toasted coconut, yellow food coloring. Bookmark the permalink.

Toasted Coconut Cheesecake Bonbons

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Ruthanne

I just found out that the word bonbon comes from the French word bon which means “good”…so these are goodGOOD!!!! (GOOOOD!) With toasted coconut on the outside and chewy coconut and cream cheese on the inside they couldn’t get any better! Oh- wait—yes they can! Bite into one of these bonbons and you’ll find creamy dark chocolate and almonds inside! YUM!

INGREDIENTS:

1 bag (24-30 pieces) of Dove chocolates (dark chocolate with almond)
8 ounces of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
12 ounces (one bag) of white chocolate chips
1 tbsp of coconut extract
2 cups of all-purpose flour
5 cups of shredded sweetened coconut (divided)
1/2 cup of butter (melted)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Unwrap all of your chocolates.
Soften Philadelphia Cream Cheese in the microwave for about 30 seconds- until it is warm and smooth after stirring.
Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until they are melted and smooth.
Add softened cream cheese to the melted white chocolate and stir well.
Stir in coconut extract.
Add flour and mix until it forms a thick, sticky dough.
Fold in 3 cups of coconut.
Using your hands, take about 2T of dough, press it into your palm, place a chocolate in the center and wrap the dough completely around it.
Smooth the dough by rolling it a little between your hands and set it on an un-greased cookie sheet. Repeat this process with remaining dough and chocolates.
Brush melted butter over tops of cookies and press remaining coconut on the tops and sides of the cookies.
Brush the coconut topping with butter and place in the oven.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. If coconut is not sufficiently toasted on the tops of the cookies at this point, turn your broiler on high and finish toasting it. (This will happen quickly under the broiler, so keep an eye on them!).
Remove cookies from the cookie sheet and place on parchment paper to cool. They can be served warm or cooled to room temperature first– either way they are delicious!

My thoughts: mmmm…..I love these! I created this recipe for Real Women of Philadelphia and it took me awhile to decide which chocolate to use in the middle and how to get the cookie part to taste REALLY coconutty (I just made that word up!) These cookies remind me of the Chocolate Coconut Cream Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory– seriously one of my favorite desserts and now in cookie (BONBON!!) form 🙂 ENJOY!

I shared this recipe on these wonderful blogs:

5 Comments

Posted in Cookies and tagged almonds, bonbons, cheesecake, chocolate, coconut, cookies, Cream Cheese, dessert, toasted coconut. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Coconut Cream Cups

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Ruthanne

These chewy coconut cookie cups filled with rich chocolate and fluffy cream cheese are topped off with soft caramel, chocolate and toasted coconut. More than delicious, these are truly a unique dessert that will have all your friends and family wondering how in the world you made them!

INGREDIENTS:

2 c. yellow cake mix (any variety)
2 c. crushed coconut cookies (I use WalMart brand)
2 eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. shredded coconut
1/4 c. whipping cream
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
16 Kraft Caramels (unwrapped)
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/4 c. margarine
6 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese (softened)
1/2 c. sugar
4 oz. Cool Whip (refrigerator temperature)
12 oz. Wilton Dark Candy Cocoa Melts

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a mixing bowl combine cake mix, crushed coconut cookies, eggs and oil. Blend well.
Scoop batter evenly into 12 un-greased muffin tins, pressing it down with spoon. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Spread coconut over a small cookie sheet and toast at the same time your cups are baking for 10 to 15 minutes (check often to prevent burning!)
While cookie cups bake, make your fillings:

Chocolate ganache: Place whipping cream in a small saucepan and heat it over the stove until it just starts to bubble at edges (20-30 seconds). Turn off heat, add chocolate chips, over and allow to sit on warm burner for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, stir until smooth.
Caramel Sauce: Place caramels, condensed milk and margarine in a saucepan and heat until caramels are fully melted and mixture is smooth (about 5 minutes) stir constantly.
Cream filling: Combine cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Fold in Cool Whip.

Remove coconut from oven when it is a toasty brown. Place in bowl to cool.
Remove cookie cups from oven. They look like muffins at this point–using a tart shaper or the end of a wooden spoon, press the middles of the muffin in to form a cup shape. (NOTE: because ovens vary in temperature, your cups may need to bake longer. When you press the middle in it should look a little oily from the coconut oil in the cookies- but it should hold its shape– if it’s doughy and wont stay pressed down, place it back in the oven for a few minutes.)
Tip the muffin pan over a clean counter to release the cups and carefully turn them all upright to cool.
Melt chocolate candy coating in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Dip the top edge of each cup into the chocolate and then sprinkle with toasted coconut.
Spoon chocolate ganache evenly into each cup.
Place cream filling in a large ziplock. Cut one corner and pipe the cream evenly into each cup.
Spoon caramel sauce evenly over each cup.
Drizzle any left-over candy coating over each cup and top with remaining coconut.
Keep refrigerated until serving.

Makes 12 cups.

My thoughts: I “invented” this recipe for Kraft using Philadelphia Cream Cheese. It has some of my favorite flavor combinations– coconut, chocolate and caramel– amazing! It is also a great texture combination: chewy, creamy crunchy….yum. This is a fairly time-consuming recipe. If you love baking it is FUN FUN FUN!!!! (I’m actually a little addicted to making these!) I can’t give it an “easy recipe” tag though– its just too involved. If you get a chance to try these let me know what you think! Enjoy!!!! r-