These soft & fudgy Chocolate Rum Balls are deeply flavored with chocolate cookie crumbs & toasted pecans and a kick of rum. Easy, quick, & delicious!
A favorite treat
This week is my mom's birthday, and I wanted to send her something she would like. Something that would ship well across the country, and would surprise and delight her.
Then I remembered...she loves Chocolate Rum Balls. Score!
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Recreating a memory
When I used to get rum balls for my mom, I remembered them having a soft and fudgy core surrounded by chocolate sprinkles. The traditional rum ball recipes I found used crushed vanilla wafers as the base, and that just wouldn't do.
Searching around, I came across Smitten Kitchen's Fudgy Bourbon Balls recipe. That recipe called for chocolate cookie crumbs as the base, and it sounded much more promising.
Even though Bourbon Balls sound delicious, I used rum this time. That's not to say that next time I won't use bourbon!
The rest of the ingredients were what you'd find in a recipe for rum balls: powdered sugar, pecans, cocoa powder, and honey.
Rum Balls come together quickly
Having never made these before, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy chocolate rum balls are to make. I did have a cheat though.
I had previously made homemade chocolate cookie crumbs (seriously, so easy to do!), and had enough to use them for this recipe. No need to run out and buy chocolate cookies!
If you have chocolate cookies, pulsing them into crumbs wouldn't take more that a snap, but if you don't, making chocolate cookie crumbs yourself is simple. There is a bit of baking though, giving this no-bake chocolate rum ball recipe an extra few minutes of work.
Making the rum balls themselves is a matter of pulsing the cookie crumbs with the toasted pecans, mixing the rest of the ingredients together, then pulsing them into the crumb mixture.
Let the dough rest a bit to let the cookie crumbs soak up the liquid, which makes for a fudgier texture and easier rolling. Then it's time to scoop the dough into balls and roll them into whatever toppings you'd like.
I used colored sprinkles and pink coarse sugar (this is a birthday gift, after all). Other choices could be finely chopped nuts or more cookie crumbs.
Unlike like with chocolate truffles, I wouldn't recommend powdery toppings like powdered sugar or cocoa powder because the rum balls can get gummy.
This recipe made 15 balls using a small cookie scoop, about 1 Tbsp (although I made a slightly small batch than the amounts given below). The recipe can easily be doubled if you want more. I'd approve!
Rum balls can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge. If at room temperature, you can leave them covered for moister balls or uncovered if you like them a little drier (hint: they travel better that way).
Making substitutions
Here are some common questions about altering this chocolate rum ball recipe:
- Can you replace the chocolate cookie crumbs with vanilla wafers? Sure. It won't be quite as fudgy, but that's your call.
- Can you reduce the amount of rum? If you'd like, although you should reduce the amount of crumbs to compensate.
- Can you substitute a different spirit or replace it with a non-alcoholic choice? Yup, something like bourbon, Kahlua, or another strongly flavored spirit would work well, or replace it with strong coffee, tea, or juice.
I'm so happy with how my Chocolate Rum Balls turned out! Soft and fudgy, with deep chocolate flavor and a kick of rum. Just as yummy as I remembered them!
Here's wishing my mom a wonderful birthday. I hope she enjoys her treats!
Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!
Tammy
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📖 Recipe
Easy Chocolate Rum Balls
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups Chocolate Cookie Crumbs, see Recipe Notes (3¾ oz, 106g)
- ¾ cup pecans, toasted and cooled (3 oz, 85g)
- ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted (2 oz, 57g)
- 1½ Tbsp cocoa powder, sifted (¼ oz, 7g)
- ¼ cup rum, see Recipe Notes (2 oz, 57g)
- 2¼ tsp honey, (½ oz, 15g)
- toppings, as desired, see Recipe Notes
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cookies crumbs and pecans. Pulse them together until the nuts are finely ground. Set aside.
- Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder together into a small dish. Add the rum and honey and whisk until smooth. Add to the food processor bowl and pulse until just combined.
- Set the food processor bowl aside at room temperature, uncovered, for 30 minutes to 1 hour (up to 4 hours is fine), so the cookie crumbs can absorb the liquid and soften. This will make them easier to roll into balls.
- Using a small cookie scoop, portion the dough into balls about 1-inch wide. Roll the balls in your hands to get it smooth, then roll it in topping of your choice.
- Rum balls can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge. If at room temperature, you can leave them covered for moister balls or uncovered if you like them a little drier. They should keep indefinitely.
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