Can I give you a little kiss? Now don’t be alarmed, I’m offering you a beijinho which means ‘little kiss’ in Portuguese and it’s a Brazilian coconut sweetie. They’re delicious, very fast and easy to make with fine desiccated coconut, condensed milk and a clove in each one. They clearly fit in with that diet plan where small treats count as a mere 10 calories – totally negligible. Mine are slightly healthier, made with skimmed ‘fat-free’ condensed milk (ho ho). There were also some edible bits and bobs around to use up so I made a Beijinho selection: traditional, orange, coffee and hazelnut. Can you guess which are my favourites?
A selection of beijinhos
I’ll tell you later! But how did I first meet these gorgeous little coconut kisses? On Diana’s Little bits of nice blog (which last time I checked seemed to have disappeared, but maybe it’s back online now…) where she says they’re typical birthday party treats in Brazil and sweet reminders of home and her mum. They look so lovely in her photos. You know I couldn’t resist them. I followed her traditional recipe with all the great suggestions and details, which you can possibly see on Diana’s Beijinhos de coco. 
The coconut balls
- 1 tin (397g/14oz) condensed milk – option: skimmed, low fat
- 100g/1 cup plus 1 tablespoon fine desiccated coconut (shredded coconut flakes)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- a little grated orange zest, optional
Cook all the ingredients in a small/medium heavy-based saucepan on medium heat for 6 to 7 minutes – stir continously. It needs to be thick so you can see the bottom of the pan.
Rolling – 5 minutes
- about 50g/half a cup fine desiccated coconut
- a little butter for your hands
- a clove for each beijinho
Let the mixture cool a little until it’s warm but you can touch it with your hands. Roll balls in the palms of your hands. Roll in coconut and flavour as you like. Stick a clove in each beijinho if you’d like a traditional one.
Traditional – a clove in each one.
Coffee/moka – a coffee-flavoured chocolate bean on top.
Orange – good-quality candied orange peel (to taste) finely chopped and kneaded in – a clove in each one.
Hazelnut – a hazelnut in the centre and on top.
Eating and storing
Store your little coconut kisses in the fridge in an airtight container and chill a few hours or overnight before eating. They keep in the fridge a week or so and probably in the freezer. Both Diana and myself are attempting to keep a few aside in the freezer, as they never usually make it that far! Ahem… I’ve frozen ONE beijinho for this experiment!
My favourites
I love the traditional version (with a little grated orange zest) but the orange ones are also wonderful with that citric tang. The hazelnut and chocolate coffee bean ones were lovely but I think I miss the subtle clove flavour and I’m not sure about the extra crunch. Any other flavour ideas? Cocoa? Oh, and I’ve loved mine but next time I’ll try cooking them a little less to see what they’re like when they’re gooeyer.
Disclaimer
A beijinhos selection
I’m not responsible for any addiction that may occur once you’ve made these. I’d bandy the words ‘self-restraint’ and ‘moderation’ around but I know you’re aware of these concepts. So good luck! 🙂 Just going to hand around a little plate of them …… so we can practise together saying ‘No thank you. Well, okay just the one!’ 5 minutes later… ‘Maybe just one more then!’ Etc. On second thoughts it’s probably best not to follow my example…
Hope you enjoy these little Brazilian treats. Thank you Diana! It’s lovely discovering sweet stuff from all over the world. I hope you’ll all let me know of any more I should be ‘researching’, as in making and eating!
Beijinhos – Brazilian coconut kisses
I bid you a fond farewell sweet reader and have a lovely week travelling around the world at your table. Happy baking or no-baking and eating! 🙂 x
lili's cakes 
You’re so funny! I need to practice saying, “no thank you” more! 🙂 They look so festive, cheery, and yummy to eat!
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Thank you Deborah! Yes, I like imagining these at a Brazilian or any birthday party… and they’re so good that ‘just the one/two/three!’ is the best phrase … Forget ‘no..’ 🙂
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As a brazilian, alongside “brigadeiros” (chocolate balls), beijinhos were a huge part of my childhood (and adulthood as well, why not). They are garanteed in any b-day party by the cake in the decorated table. Thanks for bringing these memories back =D
They are also a great cake and sweet pizza (yes, we have sweet pizzas as desserts…) filling 😉
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So glad these brought some memories back for you and thank you so much for sharing them with us Leticia! I also went directly to google to look for them as cake filling… yum. Must do more research into that! Thank you again – it’s great to know more about beijinhos! 🙂
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Wonderful little beauties! They ALL look delish 🙂
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Thank you Linda! That’s really sweet and I’m glad you like them. 🙂
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So excited to give these a try; I’m going to take mine in to work so I don’t scoff the whole lot myself!
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Brilliant plan Vanessa!! Very excited you’re going to make them too – let me know how it goes, or how they go! 🙂
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What size of condensed milk? I can actually attempt to make this one I think. fingers crossed!
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Yay! That’s great Ally! 🙂 It’s the average size can or bottle: 14 oz. which gives you about 1 cup and a third apparently. Sweetened condensed milk. I used the ‘light’ skimmed kind. Send us a photo of if you do make them! 🙂
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They look great Lili! And I love the additions you made. Sorry for not commenting earlier, I have been unwell. Could do with a beijinho right now to cheer me up! And thanks for the mention 🙂
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Thanks Diana and you’re very welcome. Sorry to hear you’ve been ill and hope you now have some beijinhos. 🙂 By the way, the frozen one was fine after a week in the freezer. Glad you like my beijinhos and thank you again for the great recipe! 🙂
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Ooh these look gorgeous, I’m pinning these and will certainly be making these. They’d make such a lovely change to chocolate truffles if you wanted to make some as a gift…though given your disclaimer it would seem that they wouldn’t all reach the recipient! 😉
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Thank you Angela! So glad you like them and are planning to make some… And ..um.. yes, not sure any would reach the recipient! Maybe if you double the quantities? hee hee. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
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