Traditional Rum Balls
Traditional Rum Balls- a No-Bake, boozy holiday confection of pecans, rum and a splash of bourbon.

All about Rum Balls- and why you need to make a batch now-
Rum balls or bourbon balls are a no-bake sweet treat served around the holidays. they are made of crushed cookies, sugar, light corn syrup, cocoa powder, alcohol and nuts. Then they are rolled in powdered sugar to make them look like little snowballs.
This recipe is very booze forward so only eat one or two at a time. They taste best two days after shaping, so they are a perfect gift to share at the holidays- make up a batch, freeze, thaw the day you want to give them away, roll in the powdered sugar, wrap and enjoy!

Ingredients in Rum Balls:
- Nilla Wafers- you can substitute with graham crackers
- Pecans
- Salt
- Vanilla Extract- buy Premium Pine & Palm Kitchen Vanilla Extract HERE.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Powdered sugar
- Light corn syrup
- Rum
- Bourbon

Equipment needed for this recipe:
- Food Processor
- small (1.5 oz) ice cream scoop or melon baller- buy the one I used HERE
- air tight container for storage
- fine mesh strainer or sifter for confectioners sugar- Buy my favorite HERE
- chef’s knife
- stationary boxes or tins for using as gifts- I like these.
- parchment paper for lining the boxes- optional

All About Pecans:
Buy here for the freshest nuts:
- Millican Pecans-Texas Pecan growers since 1888
- Comel Pecan Farm- Texas 5th generation farmers
- Swift River Pecans- Texas Hill Country- they sell honey and pecan wood as well
- Double Q Pecans– over 100 years growing pecans in Ft. Valley, GA
- Adcock Pecans– Tifton Ga- everyone’s must stop off I-75.
- Hudson Pecan Farmers– This family has been farming in Ocilla, Georgia since the 1700’s

Common Questions About Rum Balls:
You can substitute graham crackers, digestive crackers ( like Hobbs)
YES! I just like the sweet caramel of rum and the smokey notes of bourbon combined.
Use a non-alcoholic beverage like ANON Spiced Cane or Free Spirits Spirit of Bourbon.
Yes- Walnuts are a perfect substitute.
Yes- Confectioner’s sugar, or powdered sugar or 10X sugar and icing sugar are all the same thing.

Other Holiday Recipes to enjoy:

My Rum Ball Origin Story:
This recipe was handed down to me by my best friend’s mother- Sue Dixon. She shared this recipe with me last year after a lovely visit to her home on the Florida East Coast. I have known Sue for almost 45 years. She was a wonderful home cook, making everything from scratch. Sue recommended using Mount Gay Barbados Rum.


Ingredients
- 2 cups Nilla wafers
- 3 cups pecans
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 TBSP heaping unsweetened cocoa
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 2 TBSP light corn syrup
- ¼ cup rum
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 TBSP bourbon
- Extra powdered sugar for decorating
Instructions
- Pulse Nilla wafers, pecans and salt in a food processor until the mixture resembles sand. Pulse in cocoa, powdered sugar rum, bourbon, vanilla extract and corn syrup until mixture comes together in a ball.
- Remove from food processor and pinch off 1 TBSP at a time, roll into a ball and dredge in extra powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container up to one week.