Snack · 45 min · caribbean

Coconut Drops

Fresh grated coconut does the heavy lifting here, with brown sugar rounding it out. A Caribbean snack that takes 45 minutes, start to finish.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 3 cups Fresh grated coconut
• 1.5 cups Brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Fresh ginger
• 0.5 cup Water
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 0.25 tsp Nutmeg

Steps

1. Combine the coconut, brown sugar, grated ginger, and water in a heavy pot. The ginger is essential — it’s what makes a coconut drop Jamaican rather than just sweet.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 20 to 25 minutes. The mixture will go from wet to thick to glossy as the sugar caramelizes.
3. When it pulls away from the pot and a spoon dragged through leaves a trail, stir in the vanilla and nutmeg.
4. Drop spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet and let them cool completely — they firm up as the sugar sets.
5. Store airtight. Chewy, gingery, coconutty — the Jamaican sweet that tastes like childhood for an entire island.

Build my plan — free

← All recipes