Traditional Newfoundland Snowballs

Published: November 7, 2019

One of the most recognized confections in Newfoundland, these traditional snowballs are a no-bake version with lots of chocolate and coconut flavour! These delicious treats show up in almost every household at Christmastime, but in our home, they were eaten and enjoyed throughout the year!

Simply referred to as snowballs by most Newfoundlanders, these Traditional Newfoundland Snowballs might be one of the most common confections prepared at Christmastime across the island. I’m not sure I can say that I’ve ever had a Christmas pass by without eating at least a few of these.

My mom used to make these all of the time, however, I can’t recall if her recipe used a store-bought chocolate cake mix, or if she made hers using cocoa powder. My ex-wife used to make these as well, but I think she was the one responsible for introducing me to the cake mix approach. Either way, you dice it, these are so freakin’ delicious! And so easy too!

I first posted this recipe to the blog about 3 years ago. I remember bringing samples to work for everyone to try. One of my coworkers, Nadia, liked them so much that she decided to make 10 dozen of them for a Christmas cookie exchange she was participating in. I’m so glad they were a success for her!

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NO-BAKE RECIPES

I used to think that the term no-bake meant that a recipe was more of an assembly-type recipe. Something like a salad, for example. It sounds simple enough, right? Toss the lettuce and any other veggies you want into a bowl. Top it with cheese, croutons, avocado, hard-boiled egg, etc. Add some dressing and you’re all done! But, no-bake actually just means no baking. There still might be some stove-top cooking needed – or even a microwave, for that matter. To prepare these Traditional Newfoundland Snowballs, you will need to use your stovetop.

Some other no-bake-type holiday recipes you might enjoy are these Rudolph’s Red Nose Cookies. Hairy Moose Droppings are delicious and always quite the conversation starter! Just like these Caramel Peanut Slices were a favourite of my mom’s so were these Marshmallow Coconut Balls and so were these Christmas Crunch Cookies. You can find many more no-bake cookie recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen by using the search field at the top of this page.

HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

Butter – You can use either salted or unsalted butter. Make sure the butter is at room temperature.
Sugar
Milk – Use whole milk for best results.
Coconut – Use unsweetened coconut otherwise your snowballs will be to sweet.
Oats – Use quick oats.
Cake Mix – Use a store-bought chocolate cake mix. There is no need to bake the cake first. The powdered mix is used as is.

HOW TO MAKE TRADITIONAL NEWFOUNDLAND SNOWBALLS

In a saucepan, gently bring to a simmer, the butter, sugar, and milk. Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil. Once the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved, remove the saucepan from the heat. In a large bowl, whisk together 3 1/2 cups of the coconut (set aside one cup for rolling the snowballs into later), chocolate cake mix, and rolled oats. Poor the cooled butter mixture over the dry ingredients, and using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix the ingredients together until well incorporated. The mixture will look gooey. Place the bowl into the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.

Place the remaining one cup of coconut into a shallow, wide-set bowl. When the mixture has had time to set, use a small cookie scoop to portion out equal amounts of the cookie mixture. Roll the mixture into balls. Coat the balls in the remaining coconut by gently rolling the ball around. Keep refrigerated. These snowballs are freezer-friendly as well.

COCONUT – SHREDDED, FLAKED, DESICCATED??

Now, I wanted to talk for a minute about the coconut. Most of the snowball recipes I’ve found use sweetened coconut. My mom used to use sweetened coconut as well in her Traditional Newfoundland Snowballs. I found the sweetened coconut to be way too sweet, so I recommend using unsweetened coconut.

It’s imperative that you use a medium shred coconut for this recipe. Finely shredded coconut is too small and you won’t get the right snowball texture. The same goes for flaked coconut. It’s too big and it makes it really difficult to roll the mixture into balls.

Desiccated coconut is one of my favourite coconuts to use in baking, but sometimes it’s too fine. Find yourself a shredded coconut that’s clearly marked “medium shredded” and get unsweetened for best results. If you really like sweet things, you can get sweetened coconut.

BOXED CAKE MIXES GALORE!

Have you walked down the baking aisle lately at any decent-sized grocery store? The available variety of boxed cake mixes is very impressive! It seems there’s one for every flavour you can think of, and then each flavour has a variety too.

For instance, my local grocery store probably has four or five different types of chocolate cake mix – and that’s just from the one brand! So, which one is best for this recipe?

The simple answer, my Dear Reader, is either one of them. To be completely honest, I would recommend buying one that is a brand name to get the best colour and taste. The brown colour you see inside the snowball here is based only on the cake mix, so you want good quality.

I bought Duncan Hines this time around. You can use Betty Crocker too. The Duncan Hines brand has Dark Chocolate Fudge, Swiss Chocolate, German Chocolate, Triple Chocolate, and Devil’s Food – all great choices for these Traditional Newfoundland Snowballs.

CAN’T FIND A 15 OUNCE BOX OF CAKE MIX??

Don’t worry; if your cake mix is an ounce or two over or under. Even the Duncan Hines flavours I mentioned above all have different sizes written on the box, or so it seems. It’s really not going to make a difference. Just find one that’s as close to 15 ounces as possible.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down to follow me and never miss another recipe!

Be sure to remove only as many as you need. You want to avoid freezing, thawing, and then freezing again if you don’t finish them all. I find the best way to thaw them is to place the number of snowballs I need onto a plate in a single layer. They thaw perfectly!

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