In this photo, my guys and me are making heart-shaped cookies, but the scene would have been similar whenever we teamed up to make rum balls. I’d been making rum balls before they came along using a recipe from Chatelaine 1975 - vanilla wafers and rum or rum extract. A few years ago, son #1 suggested I make some for Xmas. The original recipe rolled in chocolate sprinkles disappointed, so I began to search for a new one. After various experiments, this one gets top marks. I’ve made a few changes to the original Melissa Clark recipe from NYT Cooking.
Getting Ready
I’m guessing you’ll have most ingredients on hand - make sure you have the gingersnaps, fresh ginger, pecans and rum
If you use Nyakers gingersnaps, you’ll need 3 packages
If you want to prep ahead you can prep the cookie/pecan mixture, and the spice mixture
NOTE that the rum balls need to “ripen” for a few days, but they keep for days in a closed tin kept in a cool place.
This yields about 3.5-4 dozen rum balls.
2.5 cups / 360 g gingersnaps
1.25 cups / 125 g pecans
If you buy Nyakers gingersnaps you’ll find that 2 packages = 333 g, so you’ll need 7 more cookies to get to 360 g. Save the leftovers cookies for tea breaks - yummy.
You’re going to pulse these in a food processor, aiming for the nuts to be more coarsely pulsed - which is why I start with the cookies alone. Break the cookies into smaller bits and place them in a food processor. Pulse a few times. Then add the pecans and continue pulsing until pecans bits are still visible - not totally fine.
Transfer this mixture to a large bowl.
3/4 cup / 85 g icing sugar
2 TB unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
Pinch sea salt
Add these to the gingersnap/pecan mixture and stir with a whisk to ensure the spices are evenly distributed.
1/3 cup dark or amber rum, brandy or bourbon (more as needed; see NOTES about rum)
2 vials of Dr. Oetker Rum extract or 2 TB of rum extract
3 TB maple syrup
1.5 tsp grated fresh ginger
Mix these “wet” ingredients together.
Add this mixture to the dry mix until combined. It may at first seem that there is not enough liquid (that may be the case). Be thorough so there are no bits of dry crumbs left. Chances are you may need a wee bit more “wet stuff” so bit by bit, add more rum or maple syrup - I add more rum! :-) Aim for that “sweet spot” between the mixture being too crumbly vs too wet.
I use a small cookie scoop that will result in 1” balls. I plop each scoop on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. No need, at this point to roll them into balls. One at a time, drop a scoop into a bowl of granulated sugar, roll it around until covered in sugar and then shape it into a ball. (You can use icing sugar but I find that sugar gets wet and they don’t look appetizing.)
Reminder - these need to “ripen” for a few days, but they keep for days (two weeks or longer) in a closed tin kept in a cool place. I have even frozen them.
Notes and Tips...
Nyakers - this is a Swedish company. I find their gingersnaps at Fortinos and Denninger’s. Each package is labelled as 150 g.
Variations - the gingersnaps come in various flavours - orange, vanilla, almond, lemon, so play and make your own variation. I once made an orange variation using fresh orange zest, half rum and half Gran Marnier
Rum - aim to use a sweet rum; I have used Rum Punch and Kraken Black Spiced Rum. (Let me know if you have a favourite rum for a treat like this.)
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