Rum Balls

Rum Balls are the perfect bite-sized holiday treat, featuring a rich chocolate, cake-like texture with a warm boozy kick from rum. These easy no-bake rum balls are festive, impressive, and make a cherished gift or standout dessert for any holiday gathering.

Try my easy rum cake with cake mix, sugar cookie truffles or pecan snowball cookies next!

Easy Chocolate Rum Balls For The Holidays

These holiday boozy chocolate rum balls are one of the best food gifts to give and as I have found out people start counting on and look forward to getting them!!

You just want to pop these bite-sized Christmas rum balls in your mouth don’t you? Rum truffle balls really are a special treat to look forward to on the holiday dessert tray.

Ingredients

• Vanilla Wafers
• Pecans – ground
• Powdered Sugar
• Cocoa – for chocolate rum ball recipe
• Salt
• Rum
• Vanilla Extract
• Corn Syrup
• Nuts – for coating
• Additional Powdered sugar – for coating
• Sprinkles – for coating decoration

Substitutions

What is the best rum for rum balls? I used Bacardi gold rum in this rum recipe, some people prefer using spiced or dark rum. Many types of rum could be used as substitutes:

• Spiced rum
• Dark rum
• Light rum
• Vanilla rum
• Coconut rum

Step by Step Instructions

You can find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this page. I also have a handy ‘jump to recipe’ button at the top of every recipe post.

STEP ONE – Stir together wafers, pecans, sugar, cocoa and salt until thoroughly combined.

STEP TWO – Add rum, vanilla, and corn syrup, stir until thoroughly combined, and no dry bits remain.

STEP THREE – Roll into tablespoon size balls, or weight 20 grams of mixture and roll, place on parchment lined baking sheet until ready to coat.  Coat balls in your choice of powdered sugar, cocoa, ground pecans, or sprinkles. Enjoy!

Sandra’s tips for making the best rum ball recipe

• Using the best high quality ingredients will make a difference in flavor
• Use a food processor to get nuts and wafers finely ground
• Make this recipe ahead of time by using our storing instructions in the fridge for 2 or 3 days, let them sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving. This also helps to meld the flavors
• Toasting the nuts before using them on a cookie sheet in the oven can enhance the flavor (toast in oven at 350°F for 5 to 7 minutes)
• If your mixture is too wet add come cocoa powder or more crushed vanilla cookie to help soak up the moisture.

Can you make tradtional rum balls without vanilla wafers?

Yes you can, substitute the Nilla wafers using graham crackers or shortbread cookies. They will have different flavors and textures than the vanilla wafers.

What is the rum balls alcohol content?

You should not get tipsy from eating rum balls, as the whole recipe only has of 1/2 cup or 4 ounces of rum in it, for a serving size of 36 rum balls.

Storage and freezing instructions

Rum balls can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days in an air-tight container, or up to 10 days in the refrigerator.

We like them best stored in the fridge, as they stay together better and the flavors meld together giving better flavor after two days.

You can let them to sit out at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.

Rum balls freeze very well and can be frozen for 1 to 2 months, by placing in a freezer zippered plastic bag or freezer safe container. Thaw at room temperature before serving.

They may need to be recoated before serving if not using immediately.