Rum Balls

Dude, with the TSO earlier this week, I have been just over flowing with headbanging-laser-show Christmas spirit.

I knew I had to go big with this week's Christmas cookie - so I'm bringing out the Rum Ball.

It's good. It's oh-so-good. It's so good, it might be bad.

The best part? This is the easiest cookie of them all. You don't even turn on the oven! These cookies are best made a few days in advance, even. They improve with a little tightly-lidded ageing. Rock!

Here we go.

Rum Balls

1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus more for rolling)
3 tbs light corn syrup
1/2 cup rum*
2 1/2 cup finely crushed Nilla Wafer cookies (or generic equivalent) (1 box is enough for 2+ batches of cookies)
1 cup walnuts

Grind up your Nilla wafers in the food processor (measure after you grind) I find it takes about 2 food processor bowl-fuls to get 2 1/2 cups Nilla wafer crumbs. Put your crumbs into a large mixing bowl and add in your walnuts.
Get everything else measured out and ready to go - you have to move kind of quickly once the chocolate is melted.
Melt the entire package of chocolate chips in a small sauce pan on the stove top. You know the deal with melting chocolate - start low, go slow, and stir a lot. Go for the double boiler if you like to roll that way.
Once it's melted, turn off the heat and add your sugar, corn syrup and rum. Stir to combine and then pour into the bowl with the cookie crumbs. Stir to combine.
Allow the mix to cool until you can handle it. Roll into golf ball sized balls, then roll in the granulated sugar. Allow to set for 30 minutes to an hour and then roll in sugar again.
Store these in an airtight container for a few days for the utmost deliciousness.
*Utilize any rum you like, also feel free to substitute bourbon.
**For my non-imbibing friends - I think you could substitute a wee bit of your favorite baking extract but I haven't tried it - if anyone tries this please let me know.




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