These Chocolate Caramel Brigadeiros Are Easier to Make Than Say

Brigadeiro is all you could possibly want in one little bite: chocolate, caramel and a slight crunch of sprinkles.

These little balls of heaven hail from Brazil and are a staple at kids’ birthday parties, which means that they’re super fun to look at and eat. The best part is, they’re incredibly easy to make and will totally impress your friends, co-workers, family members and maybe even a prof (a bite of brigadeiro might make the difference between an A and A+, but don’t hold us to it). For those of you wondering, here’s how you say it:

Photo by Olivia Faria

I kid you not, that was probably the hardest part. Now that you’ve mastered saying brigadeiro, it’s time to make some. This is a pretty classic recipe with a few optional twists.

Brigadeiro (Brazilian Chocolate Caramel Truffles)

• Prep Time:5 minutes
• Cook Time:15-20 minutes
• Total Time:2 hours (including cooling and shaping)
• Servings:About 30 balls
• Easy

Ingredients

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 5 tablespoon chocolate milk powder, hot chocolate powder or cocoa powder with sugar
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Sprinkles or other coatings (see recipe for other suggestions)

• Step 1

  Gather and measure out your ingredients.

  

• Step 2

  Place a medium saucepan on medium-low heat and mix the sweetened condensed milk and butter together with a spatula or wooden spoon.

  

• Step 3

  Add your chocolate milk powder or cocoa powder and continue to stir constantly. You may add a bit of Nutella (no more than a few tablespoons) or espresso powder/instant coffee (no more than 1 or 2 teaspoons) if you’d like and stir it in as well.

  

• Step 4

  Lower the heat to low (or keep at medium-low if you have a weaker stove) and stir the mixture CONSTANTLY – DO NOT STOP until you can drag your spatula/spoon in the middle and the mixture takes 5 seconds or longer to flow back to the centre of the pot. It should have a similar texture to soft caramels. Depending on how hot your stove can get, this can take anywhere between 10-20 minutes.

• Step 5

  Pour the dough into a greased 8×8 baking dish. Smooth with a spatula to even it out.

  

• Step 6

  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours (30-45 minutes works great). Be sure to let it thaw a little before trying to roll the balls (about 10 minutes).

• Step 7

  While the mixture is cooling, assemble your sprinkles or whatever you want to roll the brigadeiro in. Get creative! You can use sprinkles (chocolate sprinkles are traditional), crushed Oreos, chopped/crushed nuts, other crushed cookies, or cinnamon sugar.

  

• Step 8

  Butter your hands, pinch the brigadeiro dough and roll it into little balls. If the brigadeiro gets too sticky to work with, return it to the fridge for 10 minutes.

  

• Step 9

  Roll the brigadeiro balls in your desired coating.

   

  

• Step 10

  Place in an airtight container lined with parchment/foil or candy cups then an airtight container.

  

• Step 11

  Enjoy your brigadeiro! They will keep at room temperature for about 3 days (if they last that long).