Dark Chocolate Coconut Cups
Straightforward from-scratch coconut cups made with dark chocolate – a reliable holiday or Valentine’s treat.
It took us quite some time to come around on coconut desserts. We never disliked them, but we never appreciated them until we had a pint of coconut dark chocolate chunk ice cream a couple of summers ago. Since then, we've been doing quite of a bit of experimenting with our own ice cream, cupcakes, bundt cakes, and more. Now… candy!
True story: When we were a kid and there were boxes of assorted chocolates sitting around the house during the holidays, we would break the bottoms to see what was inside of each so we didn’t have to waste biting into one and throwing it away. Coconut was routinely one of the flavors that we would put right back in the box, but it appears that our tastes have evolved because we are LOVING these dark chocolate coconut cups.
We made these in the same fashion that we did our from-scratch peanut butter cups – some chocolate on the bottom, a little coconut cream patty, then surrounded by more chocolate. These coconut cups are incredibly simple to make – just a little melted chocolate and a creamy coconut mixture that you could even dip as truffles if you’d like!
Here’s to growing up and resisting the urge to pick over assorted chocolates (but we still won’t eat the strawberry ones!)
Four years ago: Sticky Toffee Pudding
Five years ago: Fig and Walnut Biscotti
Dark Chocolate Coconut Cups
Yield: 24 Straightforward from-scratch coconut cups made with dark chocolate - a reliable holiday or Valentine's treat.- ¼ cup (56.75 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) coconut extract
- 2 tablespoons cream of coconut
- pinch of salt
- 1½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar
- 1 cup (90 g) sweetened shredded coconut
- 24 ounces (680.39 g) dark chocolate, finely chopped
- ¼ cup (51.25 g) vegetable shortening, or refined coconut oil
- Line a mini-muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. Line a baking with parchment paper; set aside.
- Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the vanilla and coconut extracts, cream of coconut and salt, and beat to combine. Slowly add the powdered sugar until it’s completely mixed in, then mix in the coconut; set aside.
- Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and shortening (or coconut oil) together in the microwave on 50% power in 30-second increments, until completely melted, stirring after each.
- Using a small cookie scoop or a couple of teaspoons, spoon melted chocolate into the bottom of each lined muffin cup.
- Use a heaping teaspoon to scoop out the coconut mixture and place on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Once finished, refrigerate both the muffin tins and the coconut patties for about 30 minutes.
- Place a coconut patty on top of each chocolate-lined muffin tin. Then use a scoop or spoon to add more melted chocolate on top and around each coconut patty. (If the melted chocolate firmed up, just pop it back into the microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds to re-melt.)
- Refrigerate again for 30 minutes, until the chocolate is set. Store in the refrigerator or freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
Nutritional values are based on one cup
- Yield: 24
- Prep: 20 minutes
- Total: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- ¼ cup ( 56.75 g ) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) coconut extract
- 2 tablespoons cream of coconut
- pinch of salt
- 1½ cups ( 180 g ) powdered sugar
- 1 cup ( 90 g ) sweetened shredded coconut
- 24 ounces ( 680.39 g ) dark chocolate, finely chopped
- ¼ cup ( 51.25 g ) vegetable shortening, or refined coconut oil
Method
- Line a mini-muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. Line a baking with parchment paper; set aside.
- Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the vanilla and coconut extracts, cream of coconut and salt, and beat to combine. Slowly add the powdered sugar until it’s completely mixed in, then mix in the coconut; set aside.
- Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and shortening (or coconut oil) together in the microwave on 50% power in 30-second increments, until completely melted, stirring after each.
- Using a small cookie scoop or a couple of teaspoons, spoon melted chocolate into the bottom of each lined muffin cup.
- Use a heaping teaspoon to scoop out the coconut mixture and place on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Once finished, refrigerate both the muffin tins and the coconut patties for about 30 minutes.
- Place a coconut patty on top of each chocolate-lined muffin tin. Then use a scoop or spoon to add more melted chocolate on top and around each coconut patty. (If the melted chocolate firmed up, just pop it back into the microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds to re-melt.)
- Refrigerate again for 30 minutes, until the chocolate is set. Store in the refrigerator or freezer for up to 1 month.
