Some of my earliest Christmas memories include Aunt Dolores’ Rum Balls. They were a bit of crunchy, boozy goodness rolled in messy powdered sugar. I got older, got the recipe from my Mom, and started making them, myself… For a bit of background, Aunt Dolores was my Grandmother’s youngest sister – she was born in 1898.
Fast-forward about 50 years, and I’m still making them – albeit, slightly (vastly) different than the Rum Balls Auntie made! The concept is the same, the execution is different.
When I first started making them, they were pretty similar to Aunties – rolled in a mixture of powdered sugar and cocoa. One year – when Trader Joe’s was selling 10 pound bars of Ghirardelli Chocolate for $9.99, I decided to chocolate dip them. They came out like a truffle. I never went back to powdered sugar.
Over the years, with a better food processor, I’ve blended the nuts almost to a butter consistency and the filling is now really smooth – very truffle-like!
I also use a chocolate cookie in place of the vanilla wafers (Trader Joe’s Chocolate Cat Cookies), and add a bit of grated 72% chocolate to the mixture,
It’s candy – no question about it!
I do 3 times Auntie’s original recipe for about 6 dozen balls…
Aunt Dolores’ Rum Balls
- 3 cups chocolate cookies (like Trader Joe’s Chocolate Cat Cookies)
- 3 cups chopped walnuts
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 6 tbsp cocoa powder
- 5 tbsp light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup shaved 72% chocolate
- 3/4 cup rum (I always use Meyer’s Dark Rum)
Blend walnuts until they begin to get creamy. Add cookies and keep blending. Then add the cocoa, chocolate, corn syrup, and rum and make it pasty. Add powdered sugar and blend until smooth.
Scoop out using a small scoop. Roll into smooth balls and freeze.
Dip in melted chocolate tempered with a bit of neutral oil.
Drizzle chocolate design on top.
Refrigerate or freeze until set.
I have dipped them in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, drizzled with white, milk, or dark…
No matter how you do it, they’re going to come out great!
So have some fn!