Every Christmas, my Grandma Cay made Rum Balls. My brother, cousins, and I LOVED them. It might have been the chocolate, but more likely it was because they contained rum—”forbidden” for us kids. The taste sent me right back to Christmas at Grandma Cay’s. And yep! You can taste the rum!
Rum Balls get their name from the addition of ⅓ cup of rum. I used Bacardi White Rum—a $10 bottle that I found at Target. You can definitely taste the rum, so I wouldn’t go with a super cheap variety.
They’re also no-bake. That’s a big plus when there’s a lot of Christmas cooking/baking going on!
They start with a mixture of semi-sweet chocolate chips, sugar, rum, and corn syrup. Vanilla wafers and walnuts bind the batter into balls. I used my food processor
They’re also extremely quick to make—the longest step is chilling them for 30 minutes and then rolling them all into balls! The final step is to roll the balls in granulated sugar.
Grandma Cay made Rum Balls every Christmas. The minute I popped one into my mouth, I was transported to Grandma leaning down to hold a tin of Rum Balls at our eye level. She passed away in June of this year, when we celebrated her life and homecoming to heaven.
Her memory lives on in our hearts and through her recipes. My Papa Ben, her husband, gifted me her black recipe book this summer, where I discovered this recipe.
This season, I’m sharing SIX of my grandmothers’ Christmas cookie recipes—three from my dad’s mom and three from my mom’s mom. Check back for more recipes throughout the month. I hope you enjoy them as much as our family has throughout the years!
Other cookies from my grandmothers:
Grandma’s Do Re Mi Cookies
Grandma’s Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread
Grandma’s Cocoa Drops
Grandma’s Classic Ginger Cookies
Grandma’s Snowball Cookies
Grandma’s Rum Balls
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 42 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup rum
- 3 tablespoons corn syrup (light or dark)
- 2 cups (about 50) crushed vanilla wafers
- 1 cup walnuts, very finely chopped
- Granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Place the chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted.
- Stir in the sugar, rum, and corn syrup. Fold in the vanilla wafers and nuts. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar.
- Store in an airtight container.
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If no one in my family likes walnuts, what substitute would you suggest?
Hi Meghan, you could use pecans instead!
Thank you! Also, are the vanilla wafers like the round cookies or the rectangular crispy ones?
The round ones! Nilla wafers or a similar version.
How long can you store in an airtight container? If I send them in a military care package overseas would they still be okay to eat after 2-3 weeks?
Hi Andrea, I’m honestly not sure! I *think* that they would still be good after 2–3 weeks. I’ve kept them as long as a week and they tasted the same and still had the same consistency. Thank you for you and your loved one’s sacrifice to serve our country. <3 Happy holidays to you!
I can’t use nuts of any kind, would I have to increase the vanilla wafers for consistency? Or sub chocolate chips.
Hi Jeannette! You can just leave out the nuts. The recipe won’t yield as many rum balls, but they will still taste amazing! I haven’t tried it, but I suspect mixing in 1 cup of mini chocolate chips would be delicious, too (don’t melt them with the other chocolate chips, just mix them in whole). You do not need to increase the vanilla wafers if you leave out the nuts. Happy baking!
Is the two cups of vanilla wafers before or after they are crushed?
Hi Diana, they are measured after they are crushed.
Will they come out ok if I skip the corn syrup?
Hi Fran! Unfortunately, the rum balls won’t stick together without the corn syrup. I haven’t experimented with any other sweeteners to know if you could substitute honey or agave. If you try it, let me know!
I used this recipe exactly but I had to add one more cup of wafers for them to hold together.
★★★
Hi Shannon, thanks for your comment! Did you measure them after you crushed them? If so, I wonder if the brand of wafers makes a difference. Just guessing here—I’m curious as to why you needed a whole extra cup!
Is the sugar in this recipe powdered or granulated? Want to make these. They look delicious.
Hi Nancy! It’s granulated sugar. I’ll update the recipe now so there’s no confusion—thanks!
Thanks!