Print
Mocha Rum Balls
These no-bake Mocha Rum Balls have a deliciously irresistible combination of flavors and textures!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 40
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (150 grams or 8 ounces) almonds, toasted & finely ground
- 1¼ cups 150 grams vanilla cookies, finely ground
- 1 heaping teaspoon coffee beans, finely ground (see Cook’s Notes below)
- 2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey or light corn syrup
- ¼ cup dark rum or brandy + more if needed
- For the coatings:
- I roll the rum balls in cocoa powder most often because I like the “bitter sweet” finish it gives them. Rolling them in more of the finely ground cookies is good too. You can also roll them in powdered sugar or if you really want to get fancy, dip them in melted chocolate.
Instructions
-
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the almonds, stirring occasionally, and toast for about 10 minutes just until the nuts smell warm and fragrant. Allow toasted almonds to cool completely, and them grind them in a food processor until they’re the texture of fine sand. Do not over-process or they’ll become pasty.
-
Grind the cookies until the texture resembles fine sand.
-
In a large glass bowl, add dry ingredients: ground almonds, ground cookies, ground coffee beans, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Stir with a large rubber spatula to combine ingredients. Then, add the wet ingredients: honey or corn syrup, and rum. Stir well to incorporate. Press ingredients against the side of the bowl with the spatula to thoroughly saturate them. Work the ingredients into a dough. If dough appears too grainy or won’t stick together easily, add more rum – a teaspoon at a time.
-
Form the balls: Using a small cookie scoop or a Tablespoon-sized measuring spoon, scoop portions of dough into your hand and squeeze it together. Gently roll the dough into 1” sized balls, then roll each ball in your choice of coatings (cocoa, cookie crumbs, etc.) right away. If you wait too long after rolling them, the coatings won’t stick as well to the rum balls.
-
Store in the refrigerator in a covered container. Rum balls will keep well in the refrigerator for two weeks or more. The flavor improves over time, so best to make these rum balls at least 24 hours before serving. Serve at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
*NUTS: I measure the nuts whole first. The delicate flavor of almonds works really well in this recipe, but you can use any kind of nuts that you prefer.
*COOKIES: I usually use Nilla Wafers for this recipe. If it’s easier, just measure out about 2½ cups of whole cookies. The amount doesn’t have to be exact.
*VARIATIONS: If you really want to bump up the chocolate and coffee components in these rum balls, do what I do! Omit the heaping teaspoon of finely ground coffee beans, and grind up ¼ cup of dark chocolate covered coffee beans. So good!
*SERVING: Because of the oils in the almonds, these rum balls will “soak through” the coatings – especially the cocoa. If you want, you can re-roll refrigerated rum balls just before serving.