Bourbon Balls

This recipe comes from my friend Michelle Willingham, who makes them every year at holiday time. Not only could these be made with rum, amaretto, brandy, etc, they could also be made with orange juice (I love the combination of orange and chocolate!) or anything else that tickles your fancy. The principle here is to soak the crushed nuts in a flavored liquid, so don’t be held back by the bourbon if you prefer to not cook with alcohol. Just substitute it with something else.

Attribution Link

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: dozens

Prep Time: 4 hours   Cook Time: none  

Ingredients

Directions

Soak pecan in bourbon three hours or overnight. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, vanilla, and salt until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk. Stir in pecan mixture and powdered sugar until well blended.

Once you stir all the powdered sugar in, shape into 1-inch balls. Place on baking sheets. Chill until firm. I actually just stuck them in the freezer to speed things up, then piled them up in gallon-size plastic baggies until I was ready to coat them.

Melt chocolate coating and drop the balls in the pot one at a time. This is where it helps if the balls are frozen and therefore very firm. I used a toothpick to draw them out of the chocolate and set them on parchment sheets to set.

Store covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator. (Tip: These are a great make-ahead gift when you can because they taste even better when allowed to “age” for two weeks.)

Categories: Candy

Submitted by: suzanne-mcminn on November 29, 2010