Cooking
Whenever my sister-in-law comes to visit, she tries to sneak in rum balls. There's a deli near Union Square that sells them and it must be sending out a homing signal. A rum ball beacon. It doesn't matter what we're doing or where we are, it's only a matter of time before she says "who wants to go get rum balls!" It's not really a question so much as a rallying cry.
So this holiday season I decided to make them. Not having eaten very many of them makes it hard to know if I have duplicated the version my sister-in-law likes so much. Lee says they are actually better than the deli version. All the recipes I could find are fairly similar. You can use rum or bourbon, cocoa or chocolate, walnuts or pecans and vanilla wafers, chocolate wafers or graham crackers. The crucial element in the beloved rum balls seems to be that they are covered in chocolate sprinkles (or jimmies as they are sometimes known). Making them stick presented a problem but not an insurmountable one.
If you are DONE baking cookies, but still want a nice hostess gift, I think rum balls fit the bill. They are bite sized, boozy, a little nutty, chocolate-y treats. I like a combination of pecans and walnuts so the flavor is the right nutty combination of bitter and buttery. Using a food processor really makes them easy, I can't imagine all the chopping and crumbling without one. Another key to the recipe is to let the rum balls "age". I think a day or two is fine but some recipes advise a week.
Rum Balls
makes 15
Ingredients
2 cups graham crackers, finely crushed
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup rum + 3 tablespoons, separated
Chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
Place the graham crackers into a food processor (about 9 whole crackers). Add the nuts and pulse until finely crumbled. Sift into the food processor the powdered sugar. Add the honey and the 1/4 cup rum. Pulse until well combined. The mixture should be sticky and crumbly.
Pour the remaining rum in a small cup. Place the chocolate sprinkles in a small bowl. Grab a handful of the mixture and squeeze into a compact ball shape. Dip the rum ball into the rum and press into the chocolate sprinkles. When completely coated, place on a cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator. Let them sit in the fridge for a couple of days, then bring to room temperature to serve.
Enjoy!
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Cooking
San Francisco Rum Balls Recipe
Whenever my sister-in-law comes to visit, she tries to sneak in rum balls. There's a deli near Union Square that sells them and it must be sending out a homing signal. A rum ball beacon. It doesn't matter what we're doing or where we are, it's only a matter of time before she says "who wants to go get rum balls!" It's not really a question so much as a rallying cry.
So this holiday season I decided to make them. Not having eaten very many of them makes it hard to know if I have duplicated the version my sister-in-law likes so much. Lee says they are actually better than the deli version. All the recipes I could find are fairly similar. You can use rum or bourbon, cocoa or chocolate, walnuts or pecans and vanilla wafers, chocolate wafers or graham crackers. The crucial element in the beloved rum balls seems to be that they are covered in chocolate sprinkles (or jimmies as they are sometimes known). Making them stick presented a problem but not an insurmountable one.
If you are DONE baking cookies, but still want a nice hostess gift, I think rum balls fit the bill. They are bite sized, boozy, a little nutty, chocolate-y treats. I like a combination of pecans and walnuts so the flavor is the right nutty combination of bitter and buttery. Using a food processor really makes them easy, I can't imagine all the chopping and crumbling without one. Another key to the recipe is to let the rum balls "age". I think a day or two is fine but some recipes advise a week.
Rum Balls
makes 15
Ingredients
2 cups graham crackers, finely crushed
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup rum + 3 tablespoons, separated
Chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
Place the graham crackers into a food processor (about 9 whole crackers). Add the nuts and pulse until finely crumbled. Sift into the food processor the powdered sugar. Add the honey and the 1/4 cup rum. Pulse until well combined. The mixture should be sticky and crumbly.
Pour the remaining rum in a small cup. Place the chocolate sprinkles in a small bowl. Grab a handful of the mixture and squeeze into a compact ball shape. Dip the rum ball into the rum and press into the chocolate sprinkles. When completely coated, place on a cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator. Let them sit in the fridge for a couple of days, then bring to room temperature to serve.
Enjoy!
- Perfect Brownies Recipe
Everyone likes their brownies just so, and so it comes as no surprise that there are untold thousands of brownie recipes. How do I know this? The web site Recipe Source has 569 recipes alone for brownies. The recipes on that site include such varied...
- Ott "over The Top" Oatmeal Cookies:recipe
Who doesn't like cookies? It's hard to imagine growing up without them. They were a staple in my lunch bag year in, year out. But in Italy cookies are less of an everyday thing and more of a fancy treat to be served to guests with dessert wine...
- Oven Baked S'mores Recipe
S'mores. Did you know you can make them in the oven? I admit from the outset I saw this on the Food Network recently and have had it in my mind to make them ever since. I believe s'more are to many Americans what madeleines were to Proust, the...
- How Do You Measure, Measure A Cookie Platter?
After compiling my cookie list, I then started on the ingredients. Final total? Eggs (27) Butter (16 sticks) Flour ( 26 c.) Sugar (16, 2/3 c.) Evaporated milk (3 cans) Brown sugar (2 1/4 c.) Canned pumpkin, (1 1/3 c.) Cinnamon Walnuts (2 1/2 c.) Cream...
- Sugar High Friday #10---oh, Honey!
Graham Cracker Honey Ice Cream/S'Mores Sundae So many options! One of the reasons I love Sugar High Fridays so much is all the choices...this month's food fest is hosted by the always-charming Nic of bakingsheet I finally decided to make ice...