Christmas Food: Coconut Snowmen

Years ago, my mom found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine. She made these cute little buggers way back then, but vowed it was so stressful she’d never do it again.

You know where I’m going with this.

This year, she planned our yearly Ladies Christmas party with a snowman theme. Yup, these cute guys needed to make an appearance!

She has tweaked the recipe some in ways that seem to make it easier to put together. This time she declared them “a little stressful”… so apparently practice makes perfect?? Ha!

Here is the recipe and her updated techniques:

Coconut Snowmen
4 cups flaked coconut, coarsely chopped
3 ¾ cups confectioners sugar
⅔ cup sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup butter, softened
White candy melts
Milk chocolate candy melts
1 package large marshmallows
Decorator gel icing (orange for the nose, red for the holly, another color for the eyes and mouth)
Green leaf-shaped candies (found in christmas sprinkles)


To make the coconut ball:
Combine coconut, confectioner’s sugar, milk and butter. Shape into 1 ¼ inch balls; place on waxed paper-lined cookie sheets. Chill for 1 ¼ hours or until firm.

To make them into snowmen:
Melt your white candy melts. {We put it in a bowl and set it on a hot griddle to keep it softened and warm while we are working with it. You can melt it in the microwave, too.} Once it is melted and stirred smooth, dip coconut balls; place on waxed paper cookie sheets. Chill until firm, about 15 minutes.

Melt the milk chocolate candy melts. When it is softened and smooth, dip each marshmallow in until completely covered. Set on waxed paper cookie sheets, allowing the excess to pool around the bottom and make the brim of the “hat.” Chill until firm, about 15 minutes.

{A note about this dipping process: this is the stressful part, making these come out looking like you want. This time, mom found using a fork was the best method - piercing the top of the coconut balls or marshmallows with a fork and dipping them into the melted chocolate, then transferring them onto waxed paper. The top of the coconut ball will not be seen anyway, and she just dropped a little more chocolate on top of the marshmallow after placing it on the waxed paper, to cover up the fork holes. Just find what works best for you!}

With a knife, level the top of the coconut balls. Use a dab of melted white chocolate to attach the marshmallow “hats” onto the ball.

Use gel icing to add eyes, mouth, and nose. Add “holly’ to the front of each hat. Be creative! What other embellishments could you use?

This recipe yields about 4 dozen coconut balls. How many snowman you end up with depends on your patience. :)

I wish I had more pictures of the "afters" because they were just so stinkin' cute, there wasn't much time for picture taking. These guys didn't last very long! Chocolate and marshmallow is pretty much one of my favorite combinations...it makes the coconut worth it, in my opinion, lol!

Have you been doing any holiday baking? Let me know if you try this recipe!

Linked up with Kraven It!