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Chocolate & Coconut Clusters
By Michelle | August 22, 2007
When I was about 4 years old my mother made finger foods for the church on every odd Sunday. These are one of the recipes she made. Like any typical kid I especially wanted to help her make these blobs of chocolate heaven. Constantly I was told to keep my fingers out of the sweet, thick mixture but how could I resist? At least I got to lick the pot out afterwards. During sermons all I could think about was my “sjokolade jungle oat koekies”, wishing the dominie (reverend) would come to a conclusion. Any conclusion, even if we all burn in hell I simply didn’t care for as long as I could eat my “koekies” first I will die happy.
When the sermon finished at last I would race downstairs to the eating hall and wait impatiently as the women dawdled getting all the food ready. When the cling film was removed I pounced. Bliss.
Therefore I think this recipe is great for getting kids to start cooking, with supervision of course. This is a hit at birthday parties!
Chocolate & Coconut Clusters
Ingredients
- 60ml (¼ cup) butter
- 250ml (1 cup) sugar
- 60ml (¼ cup) cocoa
- 60ml (¼ cup) milk
- 500ml (1½ cup) oats
- 125ml (½ cup) dessicated coconut
- 1ml (¼ teaspoon) vanilla essence
Method
- Melt the butter, and then add the sugar, cocoa and milk in a pot.
- Boil the mixture for 5 minutes.
- Add the oats, coconut and vanilla to the mixture.
- Make sure to stir the concoction thoroughly.
- Drop spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Leave to cool.
Notes
- Use a pot with a small surface area because the mixture can dry very quickly. If you’re not quick on your feet and leave it on the stove too long after it has been mixed, you will end up with a granola effect.
Topics: Birthday Parties, Boil/Simmer, Confectionary, Desserts, South African, Vegetarian, Wheat Free, a) 30 mins or less |
September 26th, 2007 at 13:30
Oooh, I remember these! Yum - thanks for reminding me. Must bookmark them to bake soon…
September 27th, 2007 at 15:45
Jeanne, I forgot about these clusters until I paged through a Cook and Enjoy It/Kook en Geniet. I rewrote the original recipe and included more oats as well. Any feedback would be highly appreciated.
October 10th, 2007 at 13:06
[…] topics offer recipes on Chocolate & Coconut Clusters, Chicken with Apples in a creamy Calvados sauce and New Potato, Feta & Pecan […]
December 16th, 2007 at 17:22
My daughter asked for these cookies to be made just for Christmas. Couldn’t find my recipe anywhere. I have been searching the net for over an hour for this exact recipe. Thank you for posting the picture
I new I had the right one but my children call them Chocolate Cow Plops because my husband require them to be made “Man size” This has been the joke for years. Have a Merry Christmas, I know I will
December 22nd, 2007 at 11:56
Wendy: What a fun name! It’s amazing how something so simple can satisfy children on many levels.
January 12th, 2008 at 03:22
Chocolate, coconut and oats sounds like a great combo!
January 18th, 2008 at 06:28
WAY WAY WAY too much oats!!! i followed the recipe exactly and i now have chocolate granola in a bowl. i guess it will be good for breakfast but there’s no way that this pot will be cookie material… not enough chocolate to hold the cookies together!
February 27th, 2008 at 13:37
Kevin: It sure is!
Alissa: I’m sorry you’ve had a bad experience with the recipe. After your comment I experimented again and found that less oats do make a moister and more manageable mix. The recipe has now been updated with some notes. Thanks for your feedback. It’s greatly appreciated.
April 24th, 2008 at 08:52
Tried this one and loved it. Now I’m hooked. Great post and great photos too! Hope that you would feature more and more yummy, tasty and delicious chocolate recipes. I’ve added this on top of my list of chocolate recipes. Thanks for posting this..
–Stephen
May 5th, 2008 at 20:08
This reminds me of an energy bar with the oats. Great idea, Keep up the good work!
June 18th, 2008 at 05:06
What a fun little treat! They look delicious!
June 27th, 2008 at 00:09
My family has been making this for many years. When asked what she was cooking my aunt told us kids it was “Dog Food”. The name stuck to this day.
Sometimes coconut and sometimes not. But there is not too much oats in this recipie! The problem is the 5 minute boiling time. Once the mixture reaches a rolling boil I time it at ONE minute. Any less and they may not set. Any more and you get the “granola” problem or maybe just hard cookies.
You are boiling sugar. Follow the recipie, but cut way back on the boiling time to ONE minute.