Every Christmas the kids and I love to make up a batch of Christmas Balls.  This year we did Choc Cherry and Apricot flavours.  They are a great homemade gift for teachers, friends, family and all those other people in your life you want to give a small gift to at this time of year.

Making a combination of flavours also gives a mix of colours which look great when they are packaged up.  For packaging you can use any gift box (noodle boxes, little cardboard boxes or chocolate boxes are good) or clear bags.  Simply tie a bit of festive ribbon around them and it’s ready to go.  Here’s how we packaged them (featuring my helper Maggie).

The balls can be made ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen so they are ready when you need them.

Choc Cherry Balls

Ingredients

425g Cherry Ripe bars
250g packet plain chocolate biscuits
395g can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup desiccated coconut
Extra desiccated coconut

Method

Chop the chocolate bars.

Chopped Cherry Ripe

Process the biscuits to a fine crumb.

Chocolate Crumbs

Combine chocolate, biscuits, condensed milk and coconut in a bowl and mix well (don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty).

Choc Cherry Ball Mix

Roll a teaspoon of mix into a ball and roll in coconut.

Rolling Choc Cherry Balls

Apricot Balls

Ingredients

400g dried apricots, chopped
250g packet plain sweet biscuits
395g can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup desiccated coconut
Extra desiccated coconut

Method

Process the biscuits to a fine crumb.

Combine apricots, biscuits, condensed milk and coconut in a bowl and mix well (don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty).

Apricot Balls ready to mix

Roll a teaspoon of mix into a ball and roll in coconut.

Apricot Balls ready to roll

The Klutzy Cook Notes

• Cherry Ripe chocolate bars combine cherries, coconut and dark chocolate.  Any similar chocolate bar could be used, or even experiment with different flavours.
• The chocolate bars and apricots are most easily chopped using a food processor.
• I used Arnotts Chocolate Ripple and Marie biscuits.
• The balls can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or frozen for 6 weeks.  So make plenty ahead of time and use as required.

What other flavours could we make for Christmas Balls?  Please let me know below.