It was a full-color photo that initially brought Brigadeiros—the gooey, chocolatey, caramel-y Brazilian candy treat—to my attention. They were irresistibly cute, all decked out in brightly colored sprinkles. I had to try them.
Sure, you could buy Brigadeiros in specialty bakeries, but as simple confections they’re on the expensive side (especially as a niche trend in the post-cupcake era). Plus, they have the extra cache of looking really fancy, despite a recipe that couldn’t be dead simpler.
Prepared for an inevitably complicated candy recipe at the onset of my DIY project, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Brigadeiros contained only three ingredients, required no candy thermometer, and involved only one cooking technique: stirring. Sweetened condensed milk, cocoa powder and butter are cooked until very thick and poured into a dish, chilled and then rolled in any number of fun toppings. With so few ingredients, you can’t really go wrong. (Consider this my “3 Ingredient Guarantee.” When I was growing up, our local weatherman had a “3 Degree Guarantee” that he would get the temperature within 3 degrees every day. He was surprisingly accurate.) And taste? They are the perfect bite of sweet chocolatey goodness.
Over time I’ve adjusted my recipe to emphasize the chocolate. While upping the cocoa powder derogates from many of the more authentic recipes, I love the extra hit of chocolate flavor.
Step #1 3 INGREDIENT GUARANTEE
Step #2 ▼
How simple is this? You only need to combine 1 (14-ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk, ½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder, and 2 tablespoons butter. It’s practically foolproof—the magic word is stir.
Step #2 STIR IT
Step #3 ▼
If you don’t stir the chocolate frequently while it cooks over medium-low heat, it’s going to burn and you’ll have to start over. You have to stir for a while, about 25 minutes.
Step #4 CHILL IT
Step #5 ▼
Pour the mixture into a greased 8”x8” pan and refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes. The mixture can be chilled up to 24 hours.
Step #5 PINCH IT
Step #6 ▼
Pinch off roughly tablespoon-size (no need to get too technical) pieces of chocolate.
Step #6 ROLL IT
Step #7 ▼
Roll them into 1-inch balls. If they are sticking to you, spray your hands with a bit of cooking spray to make things easier.
Step #7 COAT IT
Step #8 ▼
Now the fun part: sprinkles! Gently roll each brigadeiro in the coating of your choice. Pouring the accoutrements in little bowls makes rolling easier.
Step #8 PRETTIFY IT
I prefer to have as many options as possible. Chocolate sprinkles, colored sprinkles, nonpareils, blinged-out gold and silver sugars… really, the possibilities are endless.
About the Author: Kelly Price
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These look amazing and easy. Can’t wait to make them! How should they be stored???
Hi Laura, you’re so right — “amazing” and “easy” totally hit it on the head. You’ll have to let us know when you end up making them and what bling-sprinkles you rolled them in. By the way, Kelly’s recipe says, “The finished candies can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days.” If they can even last that long without being eaten up, of course.
Christine, thanks so much! Since all the info I needed was right here, I didn’t even bother to check out the recipe.
These were awesome! I made these at home this week when it was too hot to do anything outside. I did the “hot” part over the stove and my five year old daughter did the rest – rolling out pieces and decorating. I have the cutest picture of her holding her “work” – she was so proud of herself. The candy was a big hit at our house. Thanks for this fabulous recipe!
How many times do I need to duplicate the recipe to make 60 pieces? Can I make it all in one big batch or do I need to make each batch individually?
such an excellent treat with a super short ingredient list
toasted coconut is the hands down favorite at our house.
Everybody at home loves them. So easy to make.
When I first saw this recipe I emailed it to a Brazilian friend. She gave her approval and said it’s a good one….and it sure is! So, I made these and rolled some in coconut, Dutch Cocoa & jimmies AKA Sprinkles. Everyone that had them LoVeD them! So easy to make. I kept them refrigerated and when I wanted some I brought them up to room temp so their yummy goodness could be enjoyed.
I am Brazilian and is very funny find recipes for local foods on sites like this, just where I look for American recipes. And you have a great recipe here,congratulations! By the way, I love brigadeiro since I remember my existence.
Oh wow. Do more of these, please! I lived in Brazil for a while and LOOOVED the food! Other things I wish I knew how to make: cheese bread (pao de queijo), coxinha de frango (chicken dumpling thing), kibe, esfiha aberta (open mini-pizza)… so many good things!
Forget techniques and decorations–I want to know how to pronounce this little treats! Brig-ah-DAIR-ohs? Help a girl out! I love making them for people, but hate not knowing what to call them!
Just made these — super easy and not as sweet as I expected. I rolled them in toasted coconut, toasted finely chopped almonds, and rainbow jimmies. Yummy!
I tried to roll them in sprinkled but they didn’t really stick. Any tips on helping the sprinkles stick?
Cathy. The right way to say is BRI GA DEI RO. I hope I could help you !
The photo you can see in my profile is BRIGADEIRO…;-)
Annbakun, probably you cook to much. Also, You can trie to put some butter in your hand before you roll then
There is no Brazilian birthday party without them…
I am a traditionalist so I only use chocolate sprinkles to roll mine, as with most Brazilian sweets, they are very sweet and usually you just need a couple (socially acceptable exception: your boyfriend broke up with you, only than one is allowed to sit in front of the TV with a full container of unrolled brigadeiros and a spoon)
Although I had a few setbacks, these were so simple and easy to make! I loved them! The first thing I did wrong was that I accidentally made mine too big. I recommend that you have someone help you with the last step. Once rolling them, you want to immediately cover them with your sprinkles/toppings so they stick better (rubbing your hands with butter helps the truffles not stick to your hands). I rolled mine and then I immediately plopped them in sprinkles. But then the sprinkles stuck to my hands (because of the butter). So then I rolled them all at once and then decided to add my toppings after all of the truffles were rolled. They didn’t stick to the toppings very well. I’m gonna make another batch tonight and hopefully I will do better with help.