Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Ultra chocolate-y.
Texture: Fudgy, chewy, thick, and wonderful.
Ease: These are hands-on but would be fun to make with kids.
Appearance: Anything that is chocolate and rolled in sprinkles looks mighty good to me.
Pros: Fun alternative to chocolate truffles, these have a more fudge-like consistency.
Cons: The saucepan isn’t super fun to clean after making these (I just let mine soak in soapy water for a while before cleaning).
Would I make this again? Yes! Next time I’ll roll these in coconut or nuts. They would be great for the holidays.
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Chocolate Brigadeiros are an ultra rich, fudgy, and chocolaty Brazilian treat. Rolled in sprinkles and perfectly bite-sized, they’re perfect for any party.
In my 20 Things post I mentioned how my boyfriend Jared is in a band that tours quite a bit. Recently they traveled to Brazil and a fan was nice enough to give Jared a Brazilian cookbook to give to me (thanks Natashia!). A few days ago I asked Twitter for recipe ideas that would satisfy a major chocolate craving I was having. A lot of people mentioned brigadeiros and I remembered seeing a recipe for them in the Brazilian cookbook. Curious as to what brigadeiros even are, I cracked open the book to realize they are fudge-like chocolate candy balls rolled in sprinkles. My mouth was officially watering so I went ahead and tried the recipe out and I’m glad I did because these brigadeiros are fantastic! If you’ve never been to Brazil or never tried these little chocolate treats I definitely recommend you do.
Chocolate Brigadeiros
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Ingredients
- 2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5 ounces good-quality chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine the condensed milk, butter, cream, and corn syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.
- Once the mixture starts to bubble, add the chocolate and cocoa powder, whisking to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is dense and fudgy, about 8 to 10 minutes. The mixture is done when you swirl the pan and the mixture slides as one soft piece, leaving a thick residue on the bottom of the pan.
- Slide the mixture to a medium bowl (without scraping the bottom) and cool to room temperature. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Place the sprinkles in a shallow dish. Roll the mixture into teaspoon-sized balls then roll in the sprinkles. Store the brigadeiros in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 1 month in the refrigerator. Serve at room temperature.
I am Brazilian and recipe here is quite different.
1 can of condensed milk, a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of butter to a white brigadeiro. And no corn syrup!
For a dark one, place cocoa powder (the amount you prefer) or chocolate (whichever you prefer).
You can make in a microwave or in saucepan stirring constantly until it begins to release the fund.
i love your recipe rundown.. such a good idea.
i had never heard of brigadeiros before, but they sound/look delicious!
I am brazilian and I am glad I came across this post because Brigadeiros are one of our hidden treasures. However, for a quick fix we usually just keep it really simple: condensed milk, coco powder and buter…mix it in a pan on medium heat and you know its done when its starts “unstickking” from the bottom of your pan. Take it out, let it cool and roll it up (butter you hands before you do). This might fix it for those that have issues with the sweetness since its doesn’t take corn syrup. There are endless variations to these so honestly just have fun with it. You can take out the chocolate and use a egg yolk..and you’ll have white brigadeiros… melted dark chocolate also works.
Wow! There’s a lot of ingredients here, I usually make brigadeiro with just 3 of them, haha.
Cheers all! I’ll give it another go with real dark chocolate 🙂
I’m actually writing from the UK so hopefully I’ll be able to find some slightly less sweet condensed milk if I look further afield than Carnation!
x
I had a Brazilian student last year and she would make these for student get-togethers. They are great, but as I’m not a sprinkles fan, I’d try nuts or coconut as well.
I love homemade fudge and this looks like a delicious alternative to it! I’m thinking these would be a great way to use that condensed milk I’ve got in my pantry!
@SarahRolls – I don’t know the answer to your question, but I live in Brazil right now and the sweetened condensed milk here is not as sweet as in the US. So the authentic brigadeiros down here are a bit less sweet and they are yummy!
Never heard of these, but they look terrific!!!
Argh, I would love these so much but when I made them they were just too sweet.
Do you have any idea if different brands of condensed milk have different sweetness levels? I didn’t use any corn syrup or extra sugar and everyone still commented they just tasted of sugar. Even my super delicious dark-as-night cocoa powder and a generous sprinkle of cayenne didn’t really help.
Any advice? My sweet tooth is apparently not that sweet after all, who knew!
Sarah x
Actually this particular recipe is a little different from traditional brigadeiros since it uses real dark chocolate. I often find regular fudge too sweet but I didn’t find these brigadeiros too sickly sweet. I actually compared the two brands of condensed milk sold at my grocery store (Carnation and Eagle Brand) and they had the same exact amount of sugar. I think Nestle La Lechera makes a sweetened condensed milk with half the sugar – you might be able to find it in the Spanish food aisle of your grocery store. Or perhaps you could find a European or non-American brand that isn’t as sweet.