Liquor You Can Eat: No-Bake Bourbon Balls
Recent discovery: The way to every man, woman, but not child’s heart is through tiny balls of bourbon. There’s just something about eating liquor that gets people giddy (not to mention being able to say balls over and over again). But those aren’t the only reasons we’re busy making batches upon batches for all of our little lovelies. If your friends and fam live far, far away, these alcohol orbs are the V-Day giftable to send. They last up to two weeks, don’t require refrigeration, and actually get better with age. Meaning, while they’re being shipped around the country, the bourbon is mellowing and they’re getting tastier by the mile. Of course, they’ll only be as tasty as the ingredients, so make sure you go with a good bourbon and a good cocoa power. We’re fans of Buffalo Trace bourbon and Tcho natural cocoa powder.
Ingredients:
– 14 cinnamon graham crackers
– 1 cup walnuts
– 1 cup powdered sugar
– 1/4 cup natural or bittersweet cocoa powder
– 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
– 3 tablespoons honey
– 1/2 cup bourbon
Toppings:
– crushed Fruity Pebbles
– crushed graham crackers
– sprinkles (We used India Tree String of Pearls)
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Toast the walnuts for 7 minutes. Let cool.
2. In a food processor, grind the graham crackers to a dust.
3. When the walnuts are cool, grind them in the food processor, but not so much that they turn into a paste.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine graham cracker dust, ground walnuts, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder. Grate ginger on top, and stir to combine.
5. Stir in honey and bourbon. You might have to use your hands to get the honey and bourbon to fully incorporate.
6. Using your hands, roll the dough into one-inch, bite-size balls.
7. Once you’ve rolled all the dough, grind both the graham crackers and the Fruity Pebbles in the food processor, separately. If you want bigger flecks of Fruity Pebbles to dot your balls, which we highly recommend, take it easy on them in the food processor. Place toppings in three separate bowls.
8. One by one, roll the bourbon balls in your topping of choice to cover. Then eat!
Toasting nuts might seem like a pain. But the additional flavor from heating them up makes it well worth the effort.
Graham cracker dust! That’s what you’re after, but when it comes to the nuts, take it easy. You don’t want to end up with walnut butter.
Grate your fresh ginger on top and then use a spatula to combine all the dry ingredients.
Squeeze that honey bear.
Now we get to the best part. The part where we crack open the bourbon and hand mix the dough. You might feel the need to take a nip off the bottle. You should fulfill that need ;)
Ball rolling time. Shoot for 1-inch orbs. If the dough is too sticky, throw it in the freezer for 10 minutes before diving in.
That’s right. Keep rolling… (and feel free to queue up Rollin’ with My Homies.)
After you’ve food processed the Fruity Pebbles and the grahams, cover your smooth bourbon-y balls in crumbs or sprinkles.
And there you have it, beautiful bourbon balls!
Test one yourself. But take it easy. Those little rounders pack a punch.
Go bourbon balls to the wall sending them to your friends dotted around the country.
And, of course, you’re going to include a beautifully hand-lettered note, because you’re like that.
And that’s why they love you.
Are these the most beautiful balls you’ve ever seen? Let us know in the comments below!
