[Sienna’s Swedish chocolate balls]
A few things are always on rotation in our freezer. Really, if you’d come over – any day of the year – you’d very likely find the following: lingonberries and blåbär [blueberries] that we picked in the autumn, a bag of store-bought potatisbullar [hash browns] for an almost-instant school-night dinner, a few sausages from my favourite butcher, and Sienna’s favourite: chokladbollar [chocolate balls].
Swedish chocolate balls are a staple in many homes. I might be wrong but I would say they’re categorised as små kakor [small cookies and biscuit] in Sweden. And thus the perfect companion for a Sunday afternoon fika. Or one that gets eaten after a day at pre-school, or even packed in a ziploc bag for a morning walk through snowy forests, along with our open-fire coffee pot.
I often make them with Sienna. She will help cut the butter and weigh the sugar, oats and cocoa powder. But really, she’s mostly waiting to roll the dough into small balls. Depending on how festive we want the chokladbollar to be, we then roll them in a variety of toppings. Shredded coconut, sprinkles, cocoa nibs, or the very traditional pearl sugar.
Sienna’s Swedish chocolate balls
Makes 25-30 balls.
200 g salted butter
180 g caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
250 g rolled oats
60 g cocoa powder
50 g strong coffee or milk
To coat
Pearl sugar
Shredded coconut
Sprinkles
Cocoa nibs
Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until combined. Form into small balls, 25-30g each. Coat in topping of choice. We love coconut and sprinkles! Refrigerate for an hour or freeze in an airtight container for later.