The Perfect Newfoundland Snowballs Recipe
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Newfoundland Snowballs. The most searched for Newfoundland recipe on RockRecipes.com. Soft chocolate fudge balls with the goodness of oatmeal and coconut.
UPDATE: Here is a revisit of Newfoundland Snowballs, one of the most popular recipes ever featured on Rock Recipes and one of the earliest. This iconic Newfoundland treat is among the most searched Newfoundland recipes on the internet.
Many folks tell me this recipe is how they discovered my website in the first place.
This recipe came from my Nan, Belinda Morgan of Port-de-Grave, Newfoundland and has been made in our family for over 50 years.
I have sampled these all over the province and have never yet found any as good as her soft, fudgy version.
It is and will always be for me, the perfect and most authentic Newfoundland snowball recipe.
Originally Published on November 7, 2007.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas we will be featuring some family favourites for holiday baking. One of the most popular treats anytime but particularly at Christmas is the Snowball.
Newfoundland Snowballs, an iconic local recipe.
This recipe is virtually a Newfoundland icon. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who has spent any time in this province and has not sampled a Snowball.
More a confection than a cookie, a proper snowball should be soft, fudgy and slightly chewy. Many people find this recipe to be a bit of a challenge but if you follow the method closely and are precise in your measurements, you should have no problems.
Some crucial tips for success.
Key to the success of this recipe is the length of time that the base of the recipe is boiled. More precisely, it is the temperature that the mixture reaches when boiling that is critical.
Much akin to making fudge, you are looking for the mixture to reach soft ball stage or near soft ball stage on a candy thermometer. Use one if you have it but if not, the five minutes gentle boiling as directed in the recipe is a pretty dependable guideline.
It is also very important not to stir the mixture as it boils or you risk the sugar crystallizing and leaving you with a hard, crumbly finished product. I've added the two very short videos below to demonstrate what each stage of preparation will look like.
Don't worry, chill out!
Chilling the snowball mixture well is also very important. Many people start adding more coconut and/or oats to the recipe when they see how soupy the mixture is when it is hot. That is a mistake to be avoided.
Once chilled the mixture will be easy to scoop and roll into balls. This will take several hours or overnight as is mentioned in the recipe instructions below.
Looking for more Newfoundland inspired desserts?
Be sure to check out our Best Newfoundland Christmas Cookies Collection. They are definitely worth making at any time of year!
Like this Newfoundland Snowballs recipe?
You'll find over 200 more like it in our Cookies Category and if your looking for more traditional and traditionally inspired recipes browse our Newfoundland Recipes Category.
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The Perfect Newfoundland Snowballs Recipe
Newfoundland Snowballs - the most searched for Newfoundland recipe on RockRecipes.com. Soft chocolate fudge balls with the goodness of oatmeal and coconut. These freeze exceptionally well and my kids actually prefer to eat them frozen, just like I did as a child.
Ingredients
- 3 cups sugar
- ¾ cup melted butter
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- 3 cups large rolled oats
- 1 cup unsweetened fine coconut
- 12 tablespoon cocoa
- 1 ½ cups extra coconut extra coconut to roll the balls, approximately
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and milk. This mixture will foam up while boiling so a larger pot is recommended.)
- Boil together gently over medium heat for 5-6 minutes or until mixture reaches about 225 -230 degrees F on a candy thermometer. (The 5 to 6 minutes cooking time is usually quite accurate for me but don't start timing it until the mixture is fully at a rolling boil and don't stir the mixture while it boils.) For the record, my latest batch took exactly 6 minutes at a rolling boil and it was perfect.
- Mix together the oats, 1 cup coconut and cocoa.
- Add the boiled mixture to the dry ingredients until well combined and chill well in the fridge, until mixture is able to be shaped into 1 ½ inch balls. The mixture will be quite soft and sloppy while it is still hot. It will not firm up until it is very well chilled.
- In updating this recipe I prepared a batch and let it cool down to almost room temperature before covering the bowl and refrigerating overnight. The next day, as can be seen in one of the photos above, the mixture was very easy to scoop and roll into balls.
- Roll the balls in additional coconut.
- Makes about 4 dozen. These should ALWAYS be stored in the fridge to maintain the soft yet slightly chewy texture. They tend to be too soft at room temperature.
- These freeze very well (my kids eat them frozen all the time, just like my siblings and I did as kids)
Notes
- To prevent your snowballs from hardening, (the sugar crystallizing) it is important not to take the mixture over the desired temperature. A heavy bottom pot is best, so as not to conduct the heat too quickly.
- Also, some people ask about a rolling boil. To me, that is a gentle boil, using only just enough heat to make the mixture slowly and constantly bubble and be foamy.
- Of course both your pot and your own stove have to be taken into consideration. While the recipe says medium heat, your stove/pot combination might need medium low for example to maintain a gentle boil.
- The most important thing is not to have the heat too high for YOUR specific equipment.
- The 2 hour total time for preparation is an estimate and includes chilling time before the snowballs are rolled in the coconut.
- It is not recommended to double this recipe, as the boiling time will not be long enough. You can use a candy thermometer though when doubling the recipe. Hope this was helpful, B.
Nutrition Information
Yield
48Serving Size
gAmount Per Serving Calories 129Saturated Fat 4gCholesterol 8mgSodium 30mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 1gSugar 13gProtein 1g
Barry, Thanks for this recipe. I have tried to make snowballs for 4 years in a row now & every time...I had to throw them out. (What a waste!) They were always very dry ! Last year I even added chocolate syrup to them to moisten up the batter, but, that didn't work out well either. I just made a batch of these on the weekend & I have to say..they are the best. I have had 2 or 3 each evening since I made them & I absolutely love them. Thanks again for sharing !
This seriously made me happy to hear. I hate dry snowballs too!, ugggh!
I was just reading through old comments and noted the reference to Fiddle Diddles. Mrs. Evans on our road made these all the time and the difference in those and snowballs were that the Fiddle Diddles were neither shaped in a ball nor rolled in coconut as were the snowballs. As youngsters we saw these as two completely different "cookies"
I followed the recipe to a tee, used large oats and didn’t stir. The texture looked soupy when I put it in the fridge but 24 hours later, it is still a bit gooey in the middle. I rolled a few but some of the mixture is still a bit liquidy as I dig further in the bowl. Should I put the mixture in the freezer to harden a bit? It tastes great but just need the texture to be a little bit harder. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Thank you for the recipe. I've never even heard of these before and thought I'd give them a try. Well, I am not sure exactly how the texture should be, but I am fairly sure 3 out of 4 of my batches were wrong. For anyone using a thermometer, DO NOT wait until 230F. I know it's soft ball stage, but it ended up being too high and the texture was soft, but still way too dry. I found that the mixture plateaued at around 220F after the suggested 5 minutes. It takes several minutes (at least 5 for me) for to get up to 230F. After ruining my first batch, I thought I'd just wait the suggested 5 minutes. Well, my thermometer read 220F after 5 minutes. I waited a bit longer, but the temp plateaued and didn't rise for 2 minutes so I stopped and moved on with the recipe. They turned out quite soft this time, but very tasty and chewy. So good from the freezer! They did not hold their shape though, so I thought I try to get the temp to 228F my next attempt - I thought they would be a bit firmer, but still chewy. Well, I did that and it definitely took longer than 6'. The texture was soft, but still too hard and not nearly as good. So, I recommend hitting 220F and definitely stay <228F. I don't know the sweet spot yet. I'll probably just stick to 220F because the temp plateaus there after 5 minutes and holds for quite a while. I checked the temp with two different thermometers as well. I might have to make another batch because it irritates me they didn't turn out.....
Hello Barry: I am loving your website because I am a Newfoundlander living in New Brunswick. I came to your site tonite looking for the good old snowballs recipe my grandmother used to make. And found it of course. Spot on! I wonder if you know of a recipe for bread pudding? This is not the one you bake in the oven for dessert . My Nanny used to put a bag of bread pudding on top of the Jiggs dinner as it cooked. If you have never had it it might sound weird but it was a favorite treat for our whole family. (My Nanny was from Salmon Cove). Well, if you have ever heard of it and know the recipe I'd love to see it. I'm not sure that I could recall it as my Nanny never wrote it down. One of those things. Also my Mom would off the top of her head concoct a baked pudding with its own sauce in the over. Chocolate, lemon, apple or caramel were just a few she could throw together in minutes. Again never a recipe that was written on paper.
I have heard of the bread pudding in a bag but never tried it. Spouse talks about it from her childhood but she hated it.LOL!
Hi Steph,
I think what your looking for is a bread pudding that I put in a bag with my boiled dinner. Can you remember if
it also has apples? I got my recipe from my mother in law from Salmon Cove.
After a few drinks people have probably given these all kinds of names, and i could care less, and call em terd balls with white flakes on em. cause they are dliecious and that speaks for itself. Ive lived in toronto since we left newfoundland when i was very young. The english coconut ones are the ones my mom and garnadprents all talk about and they go to a newfie store up here to get em. i much prefer these, made em twice, and im sorry, im a chocoholic and these are the best "snowballs" or terds i ever ate lol. Hands down. Still buy the others cause my folks liek what they are use to, and what makes them think of younger days. i get the best of both worlds now. Love your recipes , cant say how much i adore the chance to make many of the dishes i grew up with and some i never learned from scratch, keep sharing the food love and all your secrets. lol, and thank you
How long will these stay good out of the fridge? Thank you
Also these are absolutely perfect, I make them all the time from this recipe, and it comes out perfect everytime!!!
They should always be kept in the fridge or freezer.
Hi Barry, can’t wait to try this recipe! When it calls for 3/4 cup melted butter, do you measure the butter before or after it is melted? Thanks!!!
before is easier.
For a true coconut experience, I replace real butter with 1 cup of coconut butter, the kind you buy at Costco, I switch the milk and use a can of coconut milk that you can find in most grocery stores now, I use 2 cups of rolled oats and 2 cups of coconut, and lastly, I have only been using 2 cups of sugar instead of the 3 called for in the recipe.
Not sure what I did wrong but I used “I can’t believe it’s not butter and 1% milk. I made sure to follow the boiling instructions perfectly. I put them in the fridge last night and this morning, the mixture is hard as a rock. I’m thinking it might be the butter or maybe I need 2% milk.
Actually I spoke too soon and panicked when I touch the top of mixture with my fingers this morning. When I posted, I hadn’t dug completely into the mixture with my hands. My bad. When I put my hand in the mixture, it was firm enough to form a ball but still fudgy and gooey. I took a spoon to the outer layer that was a bit hard but after I got into the middle of the mixture it was perfect. ”I Can’t Believe it’s not Butter “ actually worked and it’s a plant based margarine. I was making these for a friend’s party along with your date squares and they both turned out amazing! Thanks Barry for all your efforts and Merry Christmas from a St John’s Newfoundlander in Ontario!
I have a family member with a dairy allergy. I used coconut milk (Grace) and margarine (Crystal) and they turned out great.
So I put it all in the fridge and the snowballs are as hard as hockey pucks. I have one hard mass in my bowl and lovey is away working in Alberta with the jackhammer. Wonder where I went wrong.
It got too hot. You need a gentle boil.
First it was runny and so I refrigerated it but since I’ve removed it from the fridge it is too dry to stick together...is there anything I can add to make it to work
Is it possible it was over boiled?
What kind of milk ?
Tin evaporated or carton whole milk
Either is fine