Chocolate Walnut Rum Balls

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…”

Yes, the holiday season is upon us and after eating a few of these festive and boozy rum balls, you might start singing Christmas carols to friends…and strangers on the web too!  Just kidding–they’re not that strong, although Graham says they are still good enough to make you sing a song or two anyway…

For me rum balls are somewhat synonymous with Christmas.  When I was growing up we would exchange small gifts with our closest neighbors around the holidays.  My mom would bake up some of her special Cranberry Christmas Cookiesand in exchange one of our neighbors would give us a batch of her delicious and slightly sinful rum balls.    From what I remember, my sister and I were not allowed to have any of the rum balls, but every year we managed to pop a few into our mouths without anybody noticing…

While the thrill of eating these “off limits adult cookies” is not exactly the same as it was when I was underage, I still think they make for a pretty darn good dessert.  There’s nothing like a dense little chocolate ball spiked with rum to put you in a more festive mood!  Since they are such rich little things, we usually only eat one in a sitting, and because there’s not much rum in just one of these balls we don’t have to worry about them making us too tipsy – but you’ll definitely taste some holiday “spirits!”

Chocolate-Walnut Rum Balls

Adapted from Bon Appetit

You can use a double boiler on the stove to melt the chocolate, but I find that melting chocolate in the microwave is much quicker and easier.   Melting times for chocolate will vary depending on the strength of your microwave.  Make sure to keep a close eye on the chocolate, because it can burn quickly.  I microwaved it in 30-second intervals, mixing the chocolate between each interval.  It only took a few intervals before the chocolate was fully melted.

• 2½ cups of finely crushed vanilla wafers
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• ½ cup rum
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts

Use a food processor or put the vanilla wafers into a large re-sealable plastic bag and use a rolling pin or other cylindrical object to crush them.   Set aside crushed wafers.

Put the chocolate chips in a medium sized microwave safe bowl.  Microwave the chocolate for 30 seconds or so and remove from the microwave and stir.   Continue to microwave and stir the chocolate in intervals.   Adjust the interval times depending on the strength of your microwave.  You may only need a few intervals to melt the chocolate.

Once the chocolate is melted, stir in ½ cup sugar and the corn syrup until fully incorporated.  Once incorporated, slowly mix in the rum.

In a large bowl, stir together the crushed wafers, walnuts and the chocolate mixture.  Once fully incorporated take a heaping tablespoon of the mixture and using your palms roll it into a ball.  Roll the ball in the remaining ½ cup sugar until it is coated.  Repeat with remaining dough.   Cover and refrigerate the cookies for several hours to allow the flavors to develop.

Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings: