No-Bake Chocolate Almond Snowballs

• Make ahead. This make-ahead chocolate snowball recipe is an ideal one to prepare, as you can freeze these little coconut snowballs for up to three months in advance.
• Gluten-free. Not only that, these snowball cookies are gluten-free. They're also easy to make sugar-free for your friends with allergies or special diets. You now have that problem solved!
• Choices. Make them with your choice of almond butter or peanut butter (in which case they would be chocolate peanut snowballs!)
• These are easy to make in stages! Got 15 minutes to make the dough? Mix it together today, then if you like you can leave it in the fridge for two to three days before rolling it into balls.
• So delicious. Bet you can't stop at just one!
• Gift them! These snowball cookies make a great hostess or neighbour gift. Scroll to the bottom of this post to download your free printable gift tags!
  

Coconut cookies are always on my holiday dessert trays. I make these Crispy Salted Coconut Cookies and these Cranberry White Chocolate Macaroons every year, along with our favorite recipes for Nana's butter tarts, Zebra cookies, and Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies.

Ready to get a head start and make a batch of these chocolate almond snowballs? You'll only need 15 minutes or so to make the dough. After that, you can leave it in the fridge for 2-3 days before you're ready to make them.

How convenient is that?

Here's a list of what you'll need to make these family-favorite chocolate coconut balls:

• rolled oats: also known as old-fashioned oats (use certified gluten-free oats if necessary)
• coconut: I use unsweetened, but sweetened will work too.
• butter
• almond butter: or peanut butter. Both optional. If you don't use them, double the amount of butter.
• milk:  any type will do. I use plant-based milk, like almond milk, cashew milk, soy or oat milk.
• cocoa powder
• sweetener:  Granulated sugar or 0-calorie Lacanto Monkfruit with erythritol.
• sea salt
• almond extract: pure
• dried cherries: or dried cranberries, optional but good.

🥄 Instructions

You'll find complete directions below. In a nutshell, all you have to do is heat the chocolate mixture in a saucepan, pour it over the oats and coconut, and roll balls into the coconut. That's it!

1. Combine the rolled oats and 1 cup of coconut in a large bowl.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, almond butter, milk, sweetener, cocoa, and salt. Whisk until smooth, then bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 1 minute without whisking, then remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract.
3. Pour this chocolate mixture over the rolled oats and coconut and stir to combine thoroughly. Stir in the chopped dried cherries, if using.
4. Cover and refrigerate for 45 minutes or up to 3 days.
5. Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, form the mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter, pressing them together firmly. Roll in coconut, pressing it into the balls, then place them on lined baking sheets. Refrigerate for 45 - 60 minutes to firm up.

Using long-shred coconut? I'd suggest pulsing it in a food processor so that it will adhere to the snowballs.

If the mixture does not hold together when you press it together firmly in a ball, it may be too dry. If it is too dry at this stage, the snowballs will taste too dry. You can easily fix this by adding a little more melted butter and/or milk and stirring to combine thoroughly.

Rolling the balls can get a little boring, but if you turn on some music or a podcast, it makes the time go faster. It can almost become Zen-like!

Scoop, squeeze together firmly, roll in the palm of your hand, roll in coconut, pressing the coconut into the ball . . . . and repeat!

Adding dried cherries or cranberries is optional but they add sweetness.