Holiday Buzz: An Easy Recipe for Chocolate-Covered Coffee Beans

It’s time! It’s time! You know, that time of year when the kitchen is filled with the mess of homemade gifts. At least that’s always how I want it to go. I start the holiday season with grand expectations of turning my kitchen into a sort of delicious Santa’s workshop, but the reality is if I happen to make one edible gift, that’s about as grand an accomplishment as I can hope for.

And you know what? That’s totally fine, especially if that one gift happens to be these decadent and simple chocolate-covered coffee beans, one of my favorite homemade food gift ideas!

I adore the richness, bitterness and sophistication of a chocolate-covered coffee bean, but making them myself always seemed out of the question since I’ve only seen them sold highly polished and perfectly symmetrical. I just can’t do that without fancy equipment. But then I thought about the organic misshapen form of chocolate truffles — they are pleasantly imperfect. In fact, that’s how they are suppose to look — like an actual truffle, you know, like the mushroom.

So why couldn’t my chocolate-covered coffee beans have that same haphazard look? Well, they can and they do and they are all the more delicious for it.

How to make chocolate-covered coffee beans

This is more about a method than a recipe for chocolate-covered coffee beans, as you can adjust the quantities to suit your needs.

Step 1:

I start by melting some bittersweet chocolate. My preference is around 72%, but feel free to use whatever you like. You are also welcome to use a bittersweet chocolate chip if that’s what you have on hand.

I prefer to melt chocolate in a microwave as the risk of getting water into the chocolate is far less severe. Just be sure to melt the chocolate in bursts of about 15 – 20 seconds and stir well after each heating. Chocolate can easily scorch and once that happens you have to start over.

Step 2:

Once the chocolate is melted throw in a handful of your favorite roasted coffee beans.

Stir the coffee beans around for a couple of minutes. This allows the chocolate to slowly start to set around the bean.

If you prefer a lot of chocolate surrounding the coffee bean, you’ll want to double dip. Dip the bean in then let cool until the chocolate is completely set then dip again into melted chocolate.

Step 3:

Once all the beans are covered with chocolate, add them to a bowl of cocoa powder.

At this point you can break up the coffee beans so they are in small groups or just a single bean. This process is quite messy, and again we’re going for imperfection here.

Step 4:

After the chocolate has completely set, add the chocolate-covered coffee beans to a sifter and let the excess cocoa powder fall away.

That’s it!

Well sealed, the beans will keep for a few weeks. I like to package them in little glassine bags and tie with a nice ribbon. They are the perfect little hostess gift or are great to have around the house when the need for something sweet hits. They also make a great ice cream mix-in when roughly chopped.

Craft delicious culinary gifts, from chocolate bark and limencello liqueur to French onion soup, with unlimited access to guidance from best-selling author Diane Morgan in her online class Sweet & Savory Food Gifts. Printable recipe cards and gift tags included!