Fresh Coconut easy balls for the sweet tooth! And these balls are picking up some pink for Valentines day, else why would I think of adding Beet in them:). These pink balls are just that.. beety balls of coconut and sugar, and a hidden hint of citrus. No other nut or Oil. You cant blame me for adding fresh citrus zest to everything.. it is so refreshing and reminds me of summer, though its cloudy and super cold out. I used raw sugar which makes a light brown syrup, hence causing the pink to be a bit warmer and darker.
Freshly grated coconut yields the best results. But where will you find a coconut, who will break it open, scrape it out and then who will grate it! Well, I might find one in an Indian store, get hubbs to break it and then we both will look at each other about the grating.. And since hubbs is uber busy.. I used frozen shredded coconut..:)
Want some more coconut.. check out Coconut Almonds Rum Balls, ready in 5 minutes! made with dried shredded coconut flakes. They taste heavenly after a few hours of Rum getting absorbed in each small flake!
These pink balls are heading to Cara’s Valentines Day Bake off!
3 Winners will be chosen, with 75$ giftcard to any store of choice! So if you have some fun Vegan and Glutenfree Valentiny ideas.. drop them off at Cara’s before Feb 6th. Feel free to grab the below badge for your posts.
Ingredients: 8-10 balls
7.5 Tablespoons raw sugar or jaggery
3.5 Tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1 Tablespoon grated red beet
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder or spice of choice
1+ cup shredded fresh coconut, not dried (depends on whether you are using freshly grated or frozen)
2 Tablespoons dried coconut flakes for rolling
Directions:
In a pan, mix the sugar and water and bring to a boil, Add zest, beet and spice and keep boiling on low till the syrup reaches soft ball consistency (a drop of syrup in cold water will form a soft ball and not mix in the water).
Add shredded coconut and mix. Add enough coconut so the mixture is a slightly stiff batter instead of liquid. If using frozen coconut, there will be some moisture and you might need to add more coconut after a minute of cooking.
Keep cooking the mix on low heat, stirring occasionally, till it comes together as a ball(15-20 minutes).
Pat this mix on parchment lined tray(6 by 3), let cool for 10 minutes and then cut into squares, or use a heart shaped cookie cutter, or roll into balls. Roll balls into dried shredded coconut. You can also dip the balls or heart shapes in some melted vegan chocolate! Dip and let set on parchment.
Put in pink tissue lined boxes and gift.
These look great! They remind me of gummy bears, but in ball form! They have such a vivid color too, Love them!
Chelsea @ Naturally Sweet Recipes
They look like Gulab Jamun coated with coconut flakes 😀
Is this your creation? Very creative combination of coconut, beet, orange & elaichi!
Squeeeeee! So pretty! I want to gobble gobble 😛
Beety balls of coconut and sugar? Um, amazing recipe Richa! Excited to try out the buns recipe tomorrow…
This look Delicious…You have made it awesome..Totally YUMMO..
Aarthi
http://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/
so cute! if you wouldnt have told beetroot i would have guessed they are strawberry truffles 🙂 love that coconut on top..gonna try this 🙂
These look so pretty! I’ve been loving coconut lately 🙂
wow awesome and very innovative…
Thank you Chelsea. these are not gummy, but soft and coconutty. but the texture does look like gummies:)
Thanks Nish!
Thank you Hannah..pink does that to me too!
Thanks [email protected], let me know how the buns turn out.
Thanks Aarthi, Anu and Heidi!
Thanks Deeps. Let me know how they turn out!
Very delicious n awesome combo,loved it!!
Erivum Puliyum
These are amazing! A beautiful and creative recipe 🙂 I found it over at Amee’s Savory Dish Friday linky. Love it!
Seriously…could you have combined any more of my favorite things here ;)? Beets in anything catch my attention, but add coconut and even better! I am so making these!
Superb recipe…looks very tempting..
A wonderful dish! Loved the color!!
Looks like a healthy snack my niece would love…she loves colourful treats! I love how you use a healthy colour alternative…all that fake dye can’t be good!
What is jaggery?
And these look so beautiful! I love the deep orange/pink colour.
Those are too cute! I can’t believe they’re died with beet – so cool. This is a great snack recipe – thanks for sharing!
Thank you Corey, Reshmi, Ambika!
Thanks Amy,.. let me know how they turn out!
Thanks Julie!
Thank you Charissa. Yes, I love natural colors and there are so many in all fruits and veggies:)
Isobelle, Jaggery is unrefined non-centrifugal whole cane sugar. Its like a blog of raw sugar with ever more molasses and minerals.
Thank you Myhappyhappenings!
Very healthy recipe..i will definitely try this..and as always..awesome photos..
Simply brilliant!!!! Love the beet for color and coconut is one of my favorite things to munch on lately! It makes me forget its winter time =) hehe
love it!
These beet balls look amazing!!! So delicious and healthy! Thank you so much for sharing on Fit and Fabulous Fridays. You always have wonderful, healthy creations to share with us. I’d love to have you back again this weekend! 🙂
Absolutely brilliant!! You really come up with the coolest stuff, Richa! 🙂
Thank you Sush, Jenn, Amee and Susmitha! Let me know when u try it!
Such a cool idea and I love the addition of beets! So, feel me, where do you find shredded frozen coconut???
EA, you can find it in an indian store and maybe an asian supermarket.
or you can get a whole coconut and then break, scrape and grate it:)
nice idea..thanks for sharing...
Is it possible to use dried coconut and edit the recipe at all? Thank you 🙂
You can give it a try. The fresh coconut absorbs the syrup and gels up a bit. You might need more dry coconut in terms of quantity. and might not need to cook the coconut at all. Add dried coconut to syrup till it comes together and roll. Try a smaller batch with just a little syrup.
Can I skip orange zest? I just need that lovely pink color to my coconut laddoos, not tangy taste.
yes you can skip the zest. add more cardamom or other spices.