The Best Rum Balls Recipe

5 from 12 votes

These easy, chewy cookies are a combination of crushed vanilla cookies, nuts, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, honey, dark rum, and cinnamon.

Prep Time40

Total Time40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: (more or less depending on size)

Calories: 165kcal

(Optional) To toast nuts: Preheat oven to 350° and spread pecans (or other nuts) on a baking sheet in one layer. (Don’t overcrowd them.) Bake them for 6-8 minutes, until browned and fragrant. Cool them down before adding to the food processor.
Pulse vanilla wafers in a food processor until all crumbled and transfer crumbs into a large mixing bowl.
Pulse nuts in the food processor next, until all crushed and crumbled, and add them to the mixing bowl.
Add the remaining dry ingredients and whisk it all together until evenly combined.
Whisk rum and honey together until smooth and add it to the cookie mixture.
Use a spatula to mix the dough together. (If the dough it a little warm, pop it in the fridge for about 30 minutes before rolling out. It will make it easier to roll it into the balls.)
Scoop cookie dough with a cookie scoop and roll it into balls. (I use either #40 or #50 cookie scoop but you can use even smaller one to make more.)
Roll each ball in powdered sugar, cocoa powder, or crushed nuts. (You can choose to roll all cookies in one kind of coating or make some of each.)

Gluten Free Notes: Instead of vanilla wafers, use gluten free graham crackers, gluten free shortbread cookies, or gluten free sugar cookies instead. Just make sure to use hard cookies without any filling, not soft cookies. (Double check the rum.)
Nut Options: Choose between pecans, walnuts, almost and hazelnuts for the rum balls.
Rum Options: It’s best to use a more flavorful rum like spiced rum or dark rum. You can even use 151 rum for a higher alcohol content.