What are havregrynskugler?
The original Nordic energy ball (kinda!), these tasty treats are popular all over Scandinavia, with a burst of coffee and sugar providing a welcome afternoon pick-me-up. Known as havregrynskugler in Denmark and chokladbullar in Sweden, these cocoa and oat balls are the perfect hygge tea time treat for kids to cook themselves as the recipe basically just involves squishing and rolling!
We love them flavoured with coffee (decaf is perfect for children), while a tablespoon of rum also makes a fabulous addition; if you’d prefer you can swap the coffee/alcohol for milk or fruit juice. Coconut is the traditional coating but pearl sugar or chocolate strands also look very pretty if you are batch making them as Christmas gifts; they will last a good couple of weeks if stored in the fridge (although in our house they generally last about 45 minutes).
Ingredients (makes 14)
175g porridge oats
100g caster sugar
100g butter, softened
50ml (2 tablespoons) of strong black coffee, orange juice or milk (or 1 of rum, 1 of milk)
25g cocoa
A couple of drops of vanilla essence
A pinch of salt
To decorate
40g desiccated coconut
- Cream the cocoa and butter together, just to get rid of any powdery lumps.
- Add the sugar, oats, coffee, vanilla and salt and then stir until everything is combined (you can put everything in a food processor and give it a quick whizz if you like, giving a slightly smoother, less oaty texture, or kids can just dive straight in and squidge it with their hands).
- Roll into 14 balls, roughly the size of a ping pong ball (these are a snack, rather than a sweetie!).
- Tip the coconut onto a plate and then roll the balls around until they are coated. If they are very soft you can pop them in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving, but as you can imagine if there are kids about this never really happens!
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