One of my favorite Christmas memories are Aunt Dolores’ Rum Balls.  Auntie made them every year and every year we would be allowed “one” and then we would sneak a whole bunch more.  Well – maybe one or two more.  The Rum Balls were really good – but so was all of the other stuff.  Lots of candies and cookies we only saw at Christmas.  It was fun going over to their high-rise apartment.  Running up and down the stairs, dropping noisy bottles down the trash chute, pushing every button in the elevators.

We were darling children.  Really, we were.

But back to the Rum Balls…

The recipe is extremely easy to make and it doesn’t take much time to dip them, either.  And they are so worth the time!

Aunt Dolores made hers with Vanilla Wafers and always rolled them in powdered sugar.  They were little snowballs with a kick.  My mom gave me her recipe and one year I decided to chocolate dip them. They were fabulous!  Rum Ball Truffles!  I’ve been chocolate dipping them ever since.

For the past few years, I’ve also been making them with chocolate cookies instead of the traditional vanilla wafer.  I’ve also made them with ginger snaps and graham crackers.  I’ve also used Bacardi rum (Auntie always used Bacardi) and I’ve made them with Meyers Rum (really good) and with Jack Daniels (also really good!)  This year, I used Bacardi because we already had it in the house.

Aunt Dolores’ Rum Balls

• 1 cup ground vanilla wafers
• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 cup chopped nuts – pecans or walnuts
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 1 1/2 tbsp white corn syrup
• 1/4 cup rum or bourbon

Mix all ingredients. Mix syrup with bourbon.  Mix with fork. Roll into ball – then roll in powdered sugar. Store in tight container. Put wax paper in between layers.