When my dear friend Sherry gifted me with some of her homemade rum balls I had to get the recipe! Not only are they utterly delectable but she told me it was her mother’s recipe, which makes them even more special. My favorite recipes are the ones that have been handed down from our moms, aunties, and grandmothers. There’s family love in those recipes and they are the one’s we seem to make over and over through out the years. Food connects us like almost nothing else does.
Sherry shared the recipe that her mom wrote out by hand for her, what an awesome treasure! Not only did she share the recipe but she agreed to teach me how to make them too! She’s made a few tweaks to the recipe over the years for better results, but just a little. You must give this recipe a try! These are so, so very yummy! Plus you’re going to love how easy they are to make too!
Start by placing vanilla wafer cookies in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until you have a mixture resembling coarse sand. Transfer cookie crumbs to a large mixing bowl.
Place pecans in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.
Our grandmothers didn’t have food processors back in the day. Crushing the vanilla wafers and chopping the nuts would have been a labor intensive process. A food processor makes quick work of getting the wafer cookies and nuts ready to use.
If you don’t have a food processor, place vanilla wafers in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Chop nuts finely with a knife.
Add the chopped nuts to the mixing bowl with the pulverized vanilla wafer cookies.
Add corn syrup, ¼ cup rum, and rum extract.
If you add too much rum the dough will get soggy. No soggy balls please! Add just enough to make sure the dough holds together. Start with a ¼ cup and add up to ½ cup of rum. The addition of rum extract adds more rum flavor without any sogginess.
Use your hands to combine all the ingredients until the dough holds together when pressed into a clump. Add a little more rum (up to ½ a cup) if dough won’t hold together.
Roll the dough into small balls.
Cooking with friends makes holiday preparations so much more fun! Plus all the “balls” jokes had us laughing all afternoon! 😂🤣 Yes my bible study buddies were telling “balls” jokes…shocking, I know! 🤣😂
Roll the balls in powdered sugar to coat them completely.
Store in an airtight bag until ready to serve. These will keep nicely for several days at room temperature.
NOTE: May want to re-roll cookies in powdered sugar again before serving.
Bet you can’t eat just one! Not only are these cookies super easy to make but they are absolutely delicious! I love that you don’t even need to heat up the oven to bake them. A huge thank you to Sherry for sharing her treasured family recipe with us. Not only did we spend a fun, laughter filled afternoon together but we all went home with treats to share with our families for Christmas. These will be on my holiday table every year! They are so pretty! I’ll be making double batches in the future so I have enough to share with friends and family. Give these a try, you’ll love them…guaranteed!
Rum Balls
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 3½ cups vanilla wafer cookies
- 3 cups pecans
- ½ cup corn syrup
- ¼-½ cup rum
- 2 tsp rum extract
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Place vanilla wafer cookies in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until you have a mixture resembling coarse sand. Transfer cookie crumbs to a large mixing bowl.
- Place pecans in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.
- NOTE: Don't over process nuts or you will end up with nut butter.
- Add chopped nuts to the mixing bowl with the pulverized vanilla wafer cookies.
- Add corn syrup, Rum, and Rum extract.
- Use your hands to combine all the ingredients until the dough holds together when pressed into a clump.
- Roll the dough into small balls.
- Roll the balls in powdered sugar to coat them completely.
- Store in an airtight container until ready to serve. These will keep nicely for several days at room temperature.
- NOTE: You may want to re-roll them in more powdered sugar again before serving.
Notes
Merry Christmas!
Be sure to snap a pic and tag it #naturewayblog I love, love, love hearing from my readers! Please, don’t forget to leave a comment and a review below, and tag me on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, or TWITTER!
May I ask a small favor? If you enjoyed this blogpost would you be so kind and like the page? Just click the “like” button down at the very bottom, at the end of the post. It lets me know what you are enjoying the most. It also helps me focus my attention on creating content that will be most meaningful and beneficial to you, my readers. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss out on all the latest that’s happening here at Nature Way. Thank you and God bless!
Our hope comes from God. May He fill you with joy and peace because of your trust in Him. May your hope grow stronger by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
Remember…Jesus ❤️’s you!