At Christmas time with all the tasty treats around us, my daughter was reminded of Israeli Chocolate Balls. She waxed nostolgic about all the different activities surrounding the infamous Chocolate Balls, also known as "Cadurai Shocolat." She spoke of them with a yearning that should have driven any decent mother out to the grocery store to gather the ingredients that would make her child happy. Alas, that didn't happen! But, now that the holidays are over and all the holiday goodies devoured, I am ready to tackle this! This is a a very simple treat that is extremely "kid friendly." In fact, when I started to prepare this recipe, I realized that I had only done this a handful of times before! When I called Tori in to help, she talked about the multitude of times and occasions, she and her classmates made Israeli Chocolate Balls. Although the recipe is kosher, you don't have to keep kosher to enjoy them! What does it mean to be kosher?For Orthodox Jews, there are some strict dietary rules.

One of them, is that milk and meat cannot be eaten together. That means no cheeseburgers, no pepperoni pizza or meat lasagna. That also means that if your main meal includes meat, you will need to wait anywhere betweeh 2 and 6 hours before you can eat a dairy meal. Desserts present a particular challenge because a good percentage of them are made with some type of dairy product. Many women who keep kosher, have become adept at either adapting traditional recipes or creating their own. The recipe I am using today has been adapted from the original which included milk. If you would like to learn more about what it entails/means to keep kosher, check out this site: KIR Ingredients for Chocolate Balls8 ounces tea biscuits, either plain or chocolate 1/2 cup coconut and/or sprinkles or any topping of your choice Tell me what you think Cook TimePrep time:Cook time:Ready in:Yields: Instructions for Chocolate Balls Crush biscuits into small bowl.(I usually put the cookies in a sturdy storage bag and pound them with a mallet.

The kids LOVE this part! Just make sure the bag is well sealed and doesn't rip.)waring blender 24cb9e Mix the sugar, cocoa and water in a small pot. kitchenaid 5ksb52eob blender ultra power 5 v noir onyxStir constantly, bring to a boil and remove from heat..cuisinart csb-76grslt smartstick 200-watt immersion hand blender parsley Stir in margarine, and when it has melted, pour mixture over crumbs and mix.hamilton beach hand mixer model #62665r Form into small balls and roll balls in coconut, sprinkles, chopped nuts or powdered sugar.blendtec sound enclosure - qb2c

( Bon Appetit in Hebrew!) Helpful productsA lot of people prefer to use a blender to crush the cookies.waring hpb270n blendfast megapro blenderA good flour sifter is great for powdered sugar, too! Mouse CookiesLast month, I attended a cookie exchange. One of the offerings there, were Mice Cookies.They were a big hit because they were so cute. The recipe was very similar. You could use the same recipe as above but shape them into these cute little mice. Here is the link for these cuties which does include their own recipe, as well: Mice Cookies. Breakfast at Miriam'sThis hub is tied in with the Miriam's Kitchen series. There are 20 installments on hubpages and they start with Breakfast at Miriams. If you haven't read any of these before, Miriam is my mother-in-law. She is also my confidante, mentor and friend. She is also one of the best cooks I have ever met. She was born in Morroco and lives in Israel.

I had the opportunity to get to to know her and learn from her for the 12 years I lived in Israel. This series is a compilation of some of her recipes, history and our life when we lived in Israel. More by this AuthorSalad RecipesHow to make Matbucha (Moroccan Tomato Salad.)Matbucha is a staple on the Morrocan and Israeli table. It is more of a condiment than a salad and is an accompaniment for most meals. Dietary RestrictionsKosher Breakfast and Brunch RecipesHere are several recipes that follow the rules for Kashrut. They are easy and delicious and not just for those who keep kosher! Jealous Behavior in CatsWhile cats may seem passive, there is often an aggressive spirit to them, especialy when they are jealous! Comments Go to last comment currently [Update: the price is $18.95 + $2.99 shipping on Oct 7, 2015]. I definitely know that this can get costly. So, what’s the solution? Make your own of course! This is a post explaining in detail how you can make this deliciousness at home with just 1 or 2 ingredients (including how to overcome the most common problem in making coconut butter at home).

And if you don’t know what coconut butter is, why it’s good for you to eat, or how to eat it, then head over to this post – on what is coconut butter + 12 coconut butter recipes. Ok, the main problem with making coconut butter is that the coconut flakes will stick to the sides of the blender (as you can see in the photo below) instead of getting blended by the blender blades. However, I’ve found several different ways of solving this problem (depending on what blender or food processor you’re using) and these are detailed below. If you have a Blendtec blender: use the Twister Jar (it’s sold separately) as this will allow you to twist the top of the jar to scrap the food off the sides of the container while blending. If using a VitaMix blender: use the tamper that comes with the Vitamix to scrape down any coconut flakes that stick to the sides of the container while blending. For both of these blenders, you just place around 6 cups of coconut flakes into the Blendtec of Vitamix and set it on high – it will take just a few minutes for the coconut butter to be ready.

(Feed Your Skull states that it takes only 44 seconds to make coconut butter. Whole New Mom states it takes 2 minutes (with a brief rest in between each minute).) If you don’t have a VitaMix with a tamper or a Blendtec with the twister jar, like me, then there’s another solution….add some coconut oil (after all, the coconut flakes are basically producing coconut oil). The process is simple – add in 6 cups of coconut flakes and start blending on high (you need a minimum of around 3 cups of coconut flakes for it to work). When the flakes get stuck to the sides of the blender, turn off the blender and use a spoon to push the flakes down. Then add in 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil (you can melt it in the microwave) and blend on high for 10 minutes. As you can see from the photo below, the same problem of the coconut flakes sticking to the bottom and to the sides occurs with the food processor. Adding 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil to 6 cups of coconut flakes will help again.

However, if you have the time and patience, you can keep scraping down and heating up the coconut flakes to make coconut butter without adding any coconut oil (method from TheKitchn). I’ve seen a few people suggest that it may be possible to make coconut butter using a mini chopper or one of the chopper attachments to a hand mixer. I haven’t tried this, but it would probably depend on how fast the chopper blade rotated (it might work ok). But note, don’t use an immersion blender as it’ll spray the coconut flakes everywhere! When you first start blending or food processing the coconut flakes (or coconut shreds), you’ll find that the flakes will lose their dryness and become slightly oily. They’ll start to clump together too. After a while, enough oil will be produced so that it becomes runny and creamy. The heat of the blender or food processor will make the coconut butter liquidy (even though it will solidify usually below approx. 76F or 25C). Note that the longer you blend it, the more creamy and less gritty the end coconut butter will be.

I personally like my coconut butter to be as creamy as possible, but I know some people like a slightly gritty texture to it. Here’s how it should look when you pour the coconut butter out of your blender: Any type of unsweetened coconut flakes or shreds will work. An alternative is to use coconut powder, which is ground up coconut flakes. (Note that coconut powder is not coconut flour because coconut flour is defatted. This means that there is no oil left in coconut flour, so you can’t make coconut butter from it.) is the Kevala brand at $9.29, although I typically buy the Artisana brand (which is organic and costs $13.49). Both are 16 oz (1 lb) jars. To make your own 1 lb jar of coconut butter, you will need 1 lb of coconut shreds (which is approx 5 cups). For 1 lb of organic unsweetened coconut shreds from Let’s Do Organic (if you buy 6 lbs from Amazon), the cost is approx. $5.40 (non-organic is cheaper). So the saving is approximately $13.49 – $5.40 = $8.09

This is definitely worth it if you have a VitaMix with a tamper or a Blendtec with a twister jar, but it’s still a pretty hefty saving even if you have to spend 15-20 minutes using a blender or food processor and adding in coconut oil. You might also lose a bit of coconut butter because it’s hard to scrap every last bit out of the blender or food processor, but it’s probably still worth the savings. I think the only difference is that homemade coconut butter is slightly more gritty than the Artisana one, but it’s not bad. You can also add in other ingredients to flavor the coconut butter while you’re making it (e.g., cocoa powder, spices, or even other nuts). In fact, adding some nuts can even help the process if the nut produces a lot of oil (in which case the additional coconut oil might not be needed). Print 20 mins 20 mins 6 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut (or coconut flakes or coconut powder) 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (if not using the VitaMix with a tamper or a Blendtec with the twister jar) Add the shredded coconut to the blender or food processor and blend on high.