Rum Balls
Quick and easy Rum Balls bring tons of jingle fun to the holidays, made with vanilla cookies, nuts, cocoa, sugar, and lots of delicious rum!
Why We Love This Recipe for Rum Balls
- Rum Balls are sweet nostalgic bites of holiday memories that are so delicious and fun!
- This recipe comes together in just a few minutes, and it makes a lot. So you can make tons of treats to eat and gift with only a little work!
- Crushed vanilla cookies, cocoa powder, walnuts, powdered sugar, corn syrup, salt, and rum are all you need to make these incredible truffle-like, traditional rum ball sweets!
- The flavor of spiced rum is a great compliment to the chocolate and nuts in these rum balls. These treats are for grown-ups thanks to their booziness, so don’t share them with kids are leave them unattended on a platter at an all-ages NYE party.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make This Easy Rum Balls Recipe
COOKIES: To make these chocolate rum balls you will need crushed vanilla wafer cookies. You can crush these in a food processor or place them in a sealed ziplock bag and use a roller to crush them.
PANTRY ITEMS: You will also need powdered sugar, light corn syrup, cocoa powder, and a little salt.
NUTS: This recipe uses walnuts but you can also use pecans if that is what you have on hand. These will also need to be finely crushed.
RUM: Pick up your favorite spiced rum for this recipe. You can also use regular rum, coconut rum, or Bourbon in this recipe if you like.
OPTIONAL COATINGS: Once you have made the rum balls you can roll them in coatings like powdered sugar, crushed vanilla wafers, finely chopped nuts, cocoa powder, or sprinkles to coat them.
How to Make Rum Balls
Jump to RecipeSTEP 1 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set that aside for now. Combine the crushed vanilla wafers, chopped walnuts, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
STEP 2 Add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder to the bowl and mix to combine.
STEP 3 Whisk the rum and corn syrup together in a small bowl until the syrup dissolves. Pour the rum and corn syrup mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until a dough starts to form. Finish mixing the ingredients by hand to prevent smashing the mixture until it reaches a cookie dough consistency. I highly recommend gloves for this part.
STEP 4 Scoop the dough using a small cookie scoop (1 tablespoon) and place the scoops on the prepared baking sheet. Then roll the dough into balls (again, gloves are recommended) and then put them back on the baking sheet.
STEP 5 If you are using coatings to decorate the rum balls, place each coating option in its own bowl. Then roll the rum balls through one coating each before returning them to the baking sheet.
Tips & Tricks
- Rum Balls are not cooked so the rum is front and center of these treats. This means these balls are for the grown-up (21+) crowd only.
- You can use honey or dark corn syrup in place of light corn syrup.
- Be sure there are no large cookie or nut pieces after crushing the cookies and nuts. You want them to resemble fine sand so that everything mixes well and has a great texture.
- When rolling the balls, hold one flat in your hand and if it seems to slowly melt, your mixture is too soft. You can add more crushed cookies, ¼ cup at a time until the right consistency is reached. If the dough seems too dry before rolling, add ½ tablespoon of rum at a time until the consistency is better.
- The rum balls are best served the same day, but you can store them in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days. You can store the balls in the fridge, but the coatings may get gooey from the added moisture. Do not freeze.
Rum Balls Recipe FAQ
Do Rum Balls get you drunk?
The alcohol in this recipe does not get cooked out but the small amount of rum in the recipe gets divided by a large number of rum balls so there’s not much in each ball. There is about 3/4 tsp of rum in each rum ball so 10 rum balls equals about 1 shot of rum. When enjoying rum balls it’s more about a person’s tolerance. If you’re more concerned about the kids grabbing them, one rum ball isn’t going to have a big effect. You can substitute the rum with 2-3 tablespoons of rum extract to make these rum balls non-alcoholic but you’ll need to add about 6 tbsp of water to make up the difference in the amount of liquid used.
What is a good substitute for Nilla wafers in rum balls?
There are a few other cookies that you can use in place of vanilla wafer cookies when making rum balls. Graham crackers, golden Oreos, or gingersnaps are all delicious alternatives. You can also use shortbread cookies, like Walkers, or buttery homemade Scottish Shortbread Cookies! There’s usually a variety of cookies around during the holidays so go with what you have on hand if that’s easier, and enjoy all the holiday goodies!
Other Recipes You May Like
- Crock Pot Maple Bourbon Candied Pecans
- Salted Buttered Rum Caramels
- Bourbon Fudge
- Irish Cream Pistachio Fudge
- Mini Baileys Cheesecakes
Rum Balls
Equipment
- Food Processor (see note)
- Nitrile Gloves (optional)
Ingredients
- 5 cups Nilla wafers (2 boxes)
- 1 cup walnuts or pecans
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup spiced rum
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Coatings
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup Nilla wafers finely crushed
- ½ cup walnuts or pecans finely chopped
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- Use a food processor to crush the Nilla wafers until they look like sand (you may need to do this in batches). Then transfer the crumbs to a large mixing bowl. Add the nuts to the processor and pulse until they are very finely chopped, and then pour them into the bowl with the cookie crumbs. Add the salt and stir until evenly combined.
- Add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder to the bowl and stir until combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the rum and corn syrup until completely combined. Pour this mixture into the bowl with the cookie crumbs. Mix until a thick dough starts to form.
- Continue to mix the dough by hand trying not to smush the dough too much. (I highly recommend wearing gloves.) *Pro Tip: If the dough seems dry, add 1/2 tablespoon of rum at a time and then mix until it has a better consistency. If it's too wet, add 1/4 cup of crushed Nilla wafers at a time to adjust.
- Use a small cookie scoop (1 tablespoon) to portion the rum ball dough. Place each scoop onto the prepared baking sheet. Then roll each scoop into a ball (recommend gloves for this too).
- Arrange each of the coatings in its own bowl. Roll each of the rum balls in one coating and then return it to the baking sheet. Serve the same day or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature (do not freeze).
Notes
- Nutritional information is for rum balls without garnish on the outside.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can crush the Nilla wafers in a large food storage bag with a rolling pin and chop the nuts by hand. The goal is to have them be a similar size so the ingredients mix evenly. The cookie crumbs should be a sand consistency and the nuts chopped as small as possible.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.