Homemade Danish oat balls (havregrynskugler) – an easy and inexpensive batch of Christmas sweets (julekonfekt) that doesn’t call for a long list of ingredients.
Although oat balls are mostly associated with Christmas and Christmas sweets, they taste just as good all year round – and there is really nothing particularly Christmassy about them.
Oat balls can be mixed together in a matter of minutes and enjoyed straight away or after a spell in the fridge, where they keep well for the best part of a week.
Recipe for easy homemade oat balls
My recipe for oat balls is very easy and uses just a handful of ingredients.
As well as butter, you also need a little liquid to make them soft and squidgy. Like me, you can use a combination of rum essence and a splash of water, or you can use coffee, orange juice, a little jam or similar.
I make my oat balls at about 20 g each – that’s the size we prefer at home. It’s roughly the same size as a Ferrero Rocher.
You can easily make them smaller, even half the size, so they’re just a small mouthful. If you do, you will of course get twice as many.
Store your oat balls in an airtight container in the fridge.
Danish oat balls (havregrynskugler)
Ingredients
- 150 g porridge oats (fine rolled oats)
- 125 g softened butter
- 75 g icing sugar
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1 tbsp rum essence (optional)
- 2-3 tbsp water, coffee, juice or similar
Coating
- Desiccated coconut
- Chopped roasted hazelnuts
Method
- Put the oats, butter, cocoa, vanilla sugar and icing sugar in a bowl and mix well.I put on a glove and squeeze everything together until the mixture is even throughout.
- Then add the rum essence and adjust the consistency with a little water, extra rum essence or coffee until you have a soft, pliable mixture.
- Roll the mixture into balls – I make them about 20 g each.I put on a pair of disposable gloves to roll them, so the mixture doesn’t stick to my hands.
- Roll them in desiccated coconut, chopped nuts or similar, and keep them in the fridge until serving.
Nutrition
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