Cocadas (Bolivian Coconut Candies)

Cocadas are a typical coconut candy or cookie that is served in Mexico, Brazil and over much of Latin America. They are oven baked but are served at room temperature to obtain their chewy and soft texture. Made with egg and shredded coconut, cocadas come in a variety of colors due to the modern use of food coloring, but the traditional ones are golden brown. They are often garnished with almonds, either whole or chopped. There are hundreds of recipes for cocadas which range in texture from the typical hard, very sweet balls to those which are almost the texture of flan. Other fruit, often dried, can be added to the cocadas to create variety. Cocadas are mentioned as early as 1878 in Peru. This is a Bolivian version, from the website BoliviaWeb. In Colombia, cocadas are sold on the streets, and particularly on the beaches, by women who carry them on large aluminum trays