Coconut Candy
Coconut candy is an island dessert that’s so simple to make, and fun to get the kids involved in making it.
Growing up, we’d make this a lot during Chamorro Week at school. This was also a popular treat at bake sales; coconut candy was usually the first item to sell out.
Freshly grated coconut is a key ingredient, but you can easily substitute it with frozen grated coconut. Just be sure NOT to use the sweetened coconut flakes. I love the taste of coconut, but to me, the best part of this candy is the caramelized sugar (yum!).
Give my recipe a try…get the kids involved in making them too. I’m sure they’d love making AND eating it. 🙂
Coconut Candy
Ingredients:
- 2 large coconuts
- 2 cups white, granulated sugar
Directions:
1. Finely grate the coconut; the smaller/finer the coconut flakes, the better. You should get roughly 4 cups of grated coconut from 2 large coconuts. If you can’t find fresh coconuts or don’t have a kåmyu (coconut grater), you can buy frozen grated coconut–make sure you use the UNsweetened kind.
Before continuing with the directions, I think it’s important to explain how to choose fresh coconuts. On Guam, we either cut the coconuts off the trees or pick up the brown ones (niyok) off the ground, then shake them vigorously, listening for the telltale sloshing of the coconut juice. If you live in the states, it’s sometimes difficult to find coconuts that haven’t already spoiled. For this batch, I actually bought four coconuts knowing I only needed two. Sure enough, two of them ended up being spoiled and moldy inside. Before buying coconuts, shake them. You should hear (and feel) liquid sloshing around inside. If you don’t hear and feel any liquid while shaking the coconut, do NOT buy it–it’s gone bad already. The coconut should also feel rather heavy. A coconut that either has very little liquid sloshing around or feels light (compared to the weight of other coconuts) are an indicator that the coconut meat inside is dried out or spoiled.
The coconuts I bought–the ones that ended up being bad–had liquid in them when I shook them. However, the coconuts must have sat in the store for who knows how long. In one of the coconuts, the liquid smelled sour (a sure sign of spoilage) and the meat felt slimy (yuck). The other bad coconut, after cracking it open, had mold growing between the meat and shell (more yuck!). And to think I paid about $2 for each coconut….
For those of you living on Guam or in a place where coconut trees abound and you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for them, be thankful. Ahh…how I miss those days when I could just go out to the back yard and husk open coconuts that just fell off the trees.
Anyhow, on to making coconut candy.
2. Caramelize the sugar.
Place the sugar into a large frying pan set over low heat.
Leave the sugar alone until you see it begin to melt.
Using a heavy duty spoon or heat-safe rubber spatula, scrape the sugar from the edge of the pan to the middle. You’re doing this for a couple of reasons — first, you want to keep the melted sugar from browning too fast and burning. Second, you’re moving the unmelted sugar to the hotter spots on the pan to begin melting.
The photo below shows a bit of clumping of unmelted and melted sugar. Don’t worry if yours looks like this — keep cooking the sugar over low heat and those clumps will melt right out.
Keep cooking (and stirring) over low heat…
…and…cooking/stirring…
…and cooking/stirring some more.
Whew! FINALLY the sugar is melted with a nice caramel color. Use the back of your spoon to smush any stray lumps of sugar (like the ones shown below).
3. Add the coconut to the caramelized sugar.
The sugar will solidify after adding the coconut, but don’t worry, the sugar will re-melt.
This is what the mixture looks like, with the sugar hardening after adding the coconut.
Keep cooking the coconut-sugar mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar re-melts. Turn off the heat once the sugar is melted again. Stir the mixture one last time to evenly mix the sugar and coconut together.
4. Form the candy.
Using a couple of tablespoons (I used a small cookie scoop), scoop small amounts of coconut candy onto a piece of waxed or parchment paper.
Let the candy cool for a couple of minutes, then use your impeccably clean hands to roll the candy into balls. Wrap each ball of candy with plastic wrap. The candy will keep for about 2 weeks (at room temperature), but I highly doubt they’ll last that long (before it gets devoured). ENJOY! 🙂
I’ve been looking for this recipe everywhere! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for this. I am an English Language Development teacher who is hosting an end-of-year party for my students. I was looking for an easy Chamorro dish that my kids would enjoy and remembered my grandma always cooking this (although I was never a fan! lol!) I loved how you described the cooking process: you stir, and stir, and keep stirring… that brought back so many wonderful memories of Gram (she taught me how to cook our dishes with “you put, and put, and put… to taste”) Thank you for the recipe and for bringing back such warm memories with your words!
You’re welcome! How did your students like the coconut candy?
My MIL just sent us a box filled with treats from Guam and these are my favorite!! I’m so happy to be able to make them at home. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
I’m am so excited that I found this recipe; I lived on Saipan as a child in 1950-1952 and remembered the coconut candy. Several times a week we would have it; we would buy it at the little store in Chalan Kanoa village. I am looking forward to making it — hope that it tastes the same — it will bring back many, many, happy days on the island.
Do you take orders for coconut candy? I need to send to my kids in Las Vegas for Christmas.
No, I’m sorry, I don’t.
Does the candy have a soft, sticky texture? I want it to have that praline texture….
It is soft and sticky.
If my only option is to buy the frozen coconut, approximately how much would I need for the 2 cups of sugar? 2 large coconuts = 4, 5, 6… cups coconut? Thank you Annie!
Hi Jean,
The amount of grated coconut you get from 2 large coconuts is actually specified in step 1 of my directions:
1. Finely grate the coconut; the smaller/finer the coconut flakes, the better. You should get roughly 4 cups of grated coconut from 2 large coconuts.
So, you would need to purchase enough frozen grated coconut to get 4 cups.
how long does it take to melt? i cooked this for hours and it barely melted and then my candy turned out crackly and i wasnt even able to mold it into balls
It actually takes a few minutes. An hour seems way too long. The only thing I can think of to explain yours “cracking” is that you reached the hard crack stage while melting the sugar.
Making this right now as a special Christmas surprise for my father in law… he’s native Chamorro and talks about coconut candy every time we get together! ☺️
[…] This recipe comes from Guam and other Micronesian islands – for a more authentic version, see Annie's Chamorro Kitchen Author: Julie Hunter Recipe type: Paleo, AIP, Vegan Cuisine: Chamorro, dessert, snack, treat […]
GOOD
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Thanks so much! My family really enjoyed this!
You’re welcome! I’m glad everyone enjoyed it.
Do you take orders?
I’m sorry, I don’t at this time.
I saw another recipe where it was required to make coconut milk from the grated coconut first, and then use the left over coconut for the candy. That doesn’t sound right to me, because I think the left over will be dry and tasteless. Am I correct, or are we supposed to do this first?
Kathy, I don’t squeeze the milk prior to making coconut candy.
Thank you! I’ll be making this for the first time for my holiday dinner party. Wish me luck!!
Good luck! Please let me know how it turns out.
Hi Kathy, back in the days, we multi purposed coconut, because of its versatility and compliment to many chamorro dishes. Sometimes, we only needed coconut milk so the spent coconut flakes were then made into candy. It tastes the same either way, but the texture would be drier.
Our ancestors didn’t waste anything. First they would use the grated make coconut milk to cook or make coconut oil with. Then the leftover grated coconut would become yummy coconut candy or food for the crab they were raising. The candy would have been such a treat, I doubt they would have found it dry or tasteless. Definitely isn’t a requirement to do it this way though. 🙂
I am making this with my son for a school project on Guam, but am curious…about how many pieces does this recipe make?
Caroline, the quantity depends on the size you make each ball of candy. I used a small scoop (about a tablespoon), making a couple dozen balls of coconut candy.
Exactly how I remember Coconut candy being made by my mother. Can’t get it any beater than this-perfection!
Thanks, Tina. Making coconut candy brings back so many great childhood memories for me too. 🙂
I was stationed at Clark, AB in the Philippines, and I used to go down town to buy coconut candy in a square shape with different color. Evidently they used food coloring with other mixture. Do you by any chance have the receipe for the aforementioned coconut candy?
I’m sorry, I don’t.