Yep, that’s right. Rum is in these beautiful candied balls (that sounds so funny but I’m going with it). They are so easy to make and no oven is needed! Just a bowl and a refrigerator. Simple simple. Another great thing about rum balls is that they last a long time so if you have a lot of holiday baking, you can do these like a week before and they will still taste delicious. They also make a great gift, so find a cute, festive box to put them in and you have homemade chocolates to give somebody (adults only). So let’s get to it…

What you will need:

1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans (you can also use walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts)
1 1/4 cups crushed vanilla wafer cookies
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup rum

For the topping/coating:

You can roll the balls in cocoa, powdered sugar or chopped nuts. But I like to cover them in melted chocolate:

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
Crushed nuts
1 oz melted white chocolate
Note: I used 8 oz of chocolate and 4 tablespoons of butter because I covered all of mine, but I’ll explain more later.

To make the balls:

In a large bowl, mix together nuts, cookies, sugar and cocoa. Add in corn syrup and rum and mix until everything sticks together. Cover and refrigerate about an hour (or overnight).

Once chilled, make 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

To make the chocolate:

Place 4 ounces of chocolate and 2 tablespoons of butter in a heat proof bowl. Over a pot of simmering water, stir until melted. Pour into shallow bowl and dip balls into chocolate. Place back on cookie sheet.Tip: If you need more chocolate, melt another 4 ounces and 2 tablespoons of butter. Once you have all the balls you want covered in chocolate, you may want to sprinkle some chopped nuts on some of them like I did. Then, stick in refrigerator until hardened. 

Once hardened, melt some white chocolate and drizzle over some of the balls. I like to do this because it makes them look fancy and they all look different 🙂 Enjoy!