Brigadeiro (Brazilian chocolate bonbon)

Brigadeiro is an iconic candy in the Brazilian cuisine. It is super popular dessert loved by little ones and grown-ups.

Imagine this little candy with a mild chocolate taste that melts in your mouth! you can resist?!

Although you may find many variants of this recipe, the basic recipe is simple and easy and the results… simple fantastic! One of the fantastic details about this recipe is that you can have an assorted variety of bonbons based on the outside coating. The Original recipe asks for granulated chocolate but sprinkles can be used (adding a lot of color), or nuts or small chocolate pieces… so you have the same basic recipe with unlimited (almost unlimited) ways of decorating it…

One of my friend’s birthday was coming so this event was a perfect opportunity (excuse i should say) for me to make this bonbons! My little princess LOVED so much that I always didn’t have enough to bring to work with me the following day! and I had specially request for her birthday (which is also coming soon!).

She kept coming for more… I dare you to resist the temptation of eating just one! or two… they are so good…

Brigadeiros (makes 28)

• 1 can of condensed milk (14 oz)
• 1/4 cup of cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons of butter + for buttering a dish
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (optional)
• coating – granulated chocolate, sprinkles, chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios…) and/or chopped chocolate chips (milk, dark chocolate or white ones)
• mini cupcake liners

Butter well a dish – does not matter what do you use – you just need to create a buttered surface where your mix will cool down and set aside.

Combine well all the ingredients in a non stick pan with a wooden spoon.

Set the heat on medium and cook this mix for 5 to 8 minutes – Be sure to mix constantly and lower the heat if it starts to burn around the edges.

The mix will get ticker as it cooks and it will be ready when you run your spoon on the bottom of the pan and the mix takes a few minutes to get together again. My Great Grandma would call this the “Road Point”.

Transfer the cooked mix into the buttered dish previously made and set it cool to room temperature.

In the meantime set the coating in individual dessert plates: one for Granulated chocolate and another one of the sprinkles. You will do this will all the coating that you may want.

When the mix is cold enough, add a very small dab of butter into your hands (this will help making the little balls). With your hands pull a little of this mix (it will feel like soft dough) to get roughly a 1/2 a tablespoon and roll it between your hands until you have a little ball.

Now, roll your ball into the coating mix of you choice gently so the coat will stick uniformly to your ball and transfer it to the cupcake liner. Repeat until all the cooked mix is all gone and the size of little bonbons can vary and you will have more or less brigadeiros in the end.

Refrigerate and enjoy!