Klepon

Sweet treats with a surprise inside!

Get ready for a cooking adventure! These chewy green treats from Indonesia are rolled in coconut, but the best part is hiding inside. Take a bite and you’ll discover a gooey center of melted palm sugar. Yum!

But first, you have a mission: Find the ingredients. You might need to hunt beyond your usual grocery store, so ask a grown-up to explore an Asian grocery store or search online for what you need. Think of it as an ingredient scavenger hunt!

We promise your taste buds will thank you later.

¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1 ½ cups glutinous rice flour. Make sure it is glutinous rice flour, not regular rice flour. It's what makes klepon so deliciously chewy!

1 cup coconut milk

1 tsp pandan paste, extract or flavoring

100 g palm sugar, cut into small pieces (about 1-2 cm each). Look for palm sugar called gala melaka or gala Jawa. Don't use liquid palm sugar.

½ tsp salt

Adult help needed. Mix the shredded coconut with the salt. Steam it for 15 minutes or until soft and fluffy. Cover with a tea towel to keep it moist.

Warm the coconut milk, pandan flavoring and salt over low heat, mixing as you go. Once combined and warmed through, remove from heat.

Mix the glutinous rice flour in with the warmed pandan coconut milk. Stir until combined, then knead until the dough is soft and smooth. Cover the dough so it doesn’t dry out.

Time to get rolling! Scoop out a heaping teaspoon of dough and roll it between your hands to make a smooth ball.

Make a little dent in the middle and tuck in a piece of palm sugar. Pinch the dough around the sugar until it’s completely hidden, then roll it into a ball again. No cracks allowed — you don’t want that sweet surprise escaping!

Place your finished ball on a tray and keep it covered with a dish towel while you make the rest.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Carefully add the klepon to the boiling water. After about eight minutes, they should float to the top.

Carefully scoop out the klepon with a slotted spoon and gently shake off the extra water.

Roll each warm klepon in the shredded coconut until it’s covered all over.

Now for the best part — eating them! Klepon are best enjoyed warm, but let them cool a little first. The melted sugar hiding inside can be very hot!

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.