This year I was unable to participate in the family holiday rum-ball spectacular. I was in Italy, and also had the stomach flu. That is indeed as unpleasant a combination as it sounds.
So now that I’m stateside and better, Christmas Eve I did some pickup cookie assembling. I popped on A Very Murray Christmas (which I love but my parents can’t stand) and made my own twist on Jan’s Christmas Rum Balls. Only, I used bourbon and scotch whiskeys. The base is the same, the boozy variations follow.
Use Jan’s Christmas Rum Balls II cookie base mix
Ingredients
2 cups crushed graham crackers (4 cups for 2 batches)
1 cup finely ground almonds (2 cups)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar (2 cups)
1/8 tsp. salt (½ tsp.)
Directions
1. Crush or grind the graham crackers into a fine meal. We use a rotary grater at my folks house, but I have a run of the mill food processor that worked fine for both graham crackers and almonds.
2. Once the crackers are turned into meal, measure out 2 cups per batch and place it in a large bowl.
3. Crush or grind the nuts into a fine meal. Measure out 1 cup per batch and place it in the large bowl.
4. Add the sugar and salt to the bowl and mix well to evenly distribute the ingredients.
Miriam’s Xocolatl Bourbon Balls
Ingredients
4 cups cookie base mix
1/4 cup Dagoba Xocolatl Drinking Chocolate mix
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 Tbs Honey (warmed)
1/4 cup (2 oz) straight Bourbon whisky (I used Buffalo Trace)
1 tsp cinnamon
Chili powder to taste (Dagoba has a little cayenne pepper in, but another teaspoon worth of chili arbol, ancho, and cayenne mix gives it a nice kick) and Powdered hot chocolate mix for rolling (I used 365 Organic Drinking Cocoa)
Directions
1. Place the Base mix in a medium bowl, and mix in the spices and chocolate. Pour the honey over it and add the bourbon. Mix by hand until the batch is moist, but crumbly.
Tip: You may need to add just a bit of extra base mix (or booze) to get the consistency just right.
2. Take about 1½ to 2 Tbs. of mix in your hand. Squeeze and roll it into a 1 inch ball.
3. Place hot chocolate mix on a tray for rolling finished balls.
Miriam’s Rusty Nail Scotch Balls
Ingredients
4 cups cookie base mix
Zest from 1/2 medium lemon, divided
1 oz Scotch Whiskey (I used Chivas Regal Blended)
1/2 oz Drambuie
1/2 oz Meyer Lemon Brandy or other lemon liqueur or infusion
Directions
1. Place the Base mix in a medium bowl, and mix in 2/3 of the zest. Pour the honey over it and add the liquors. Mix by hand until the batch is moist, but crumbly.
Tip: You may need to add just a bit of extra base mix (or booze) to get the consistency just right.
2. Take about 1½ to 2 Tbs. of mix in your hand. Squeeze and roll it into a 1 inch ball.
3. Mix the remaining zest with confectioner’s sugar on a tray for rolling finished balls.
karllueck
Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 