Martha Washington Candy

My mother-in-law made these when Farm Boy was a child. Unfortunately for him, as that time he refused to try anything with coconut, so he missed out.  If I had known him then, I would have gladly volunteered to take his share!

MIL's recipe calls these Chocolate Candy Balls, but I have mostly seen them called Martha Washington Candies.  With the two names, I feel like I should call them Washington's Balls.  Mostly because I want to say that while my brother-in-law is eating one.  He gets really discombobulated when someone uses the word balls.  Obviously there are a lot of conversations about balls when we get together.

I didn't have any paraffin on hand and didn't feel like driving to get any, so I took my chances with straight chocolate chips.  The paraffin would have made the coating smoother, so I rolled some of the less-smooth ones in unsweetened shredded coconut to cover up some of the lumps.  It never hurts to have more coconut.

Martha Washington Candy aka Washington's Balls (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
2 cups chopped pecans
1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 pound semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cakes paraffin wax

unsweeted coconut for decoration (optional)

Directions
In a large bowl,  combine the powdered sugar, butter, coconut, pecans and sweetened condensed milk.  Stir with a wooden spoon until well-combined. Refrigerate until firm.  Roll into balls and place on waxed paper.  Refrigerate again until firm.

Melt the chocolate and the paraffin wax in a double boiler.  Using a toothpick, dip each ball in the chocolate.  Roll in unsweetened coconut, if desired.  Place on waxed paper.  Keep refrigerated.