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How to Make Holiday Rum Balls

Make this classic holiday treat using leftover brownies! See more

READY IN 40 mins

Holiday Rum Balls

Read Reviews (12)

"A proper rum ball should be a fire hazard. I hope you give these a try on your holiday dessert table!" — Chef John

Ingredients Edit and Save

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Original recipe makes 20 chocolate rum balls Change Servings

8 ounces stale chocolate brownies, crumbled
1/4 cup dark rum
3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

1 ounce dark chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon cocoa powder, for dusting

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Directions

Place crumbled brownies in a bowl. Pour rum over brownies, let soak for 1 minute; stir until mixture forms a paste-like consistency.
Using a 1-inch sorbet scoop or melon baller, scoop out balls of chocolate-rum mixture and transfer each to the plate lined with plastic wrap. Place the plate with chocolate balls in freezer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until firm enough to roll. Remove from freezer, roll each into a smooth ball; return plate to freezer.
Melt 3 ounces chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring frequently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching. Remove from heat. Add remaining 1 ounce chocolate; stir until chocolate is melted and combined.
Remove chocolate balls from freezer; place one ball in melted chocolate and gently move around with a fork to coat completely. Transfer to baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat. Repeat for remaining chocolate balls.
Dust chocolate rum balls with cocoa powder and serve.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 5 mins
COOK 5 mins
READY IN 40 mins

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Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

May 10, 2012

Looks like a terrific recipe. My problem is that there are never stale brownies around in our house!

—MLSMITH1260

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Jan 01, 2013

Very time consuming but they were alright, need to make sure you have a good consistency with the brownies I accidently over poured so that batch wasn't that great but another with Kalhua was good

—Miss Sarah

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15 Ratings

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May 14, 2012

I put wayyyy toooo much alcohol.... I had to use cognac instead of rum because that's what I had. It really knocked me on my .... . I guess this dessert was more difficult than I expected it to be because things just didn't seem to go right. Used powdered sugar instead of cocoa powder - it balanced out the alcohol. I will probably not make this again for a while though it was quite good. Ridiculously indulgent though.

—max

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Nov 10, 2012

I got addicted to these the first time I made them! I used 8oz. of Chef John's chocolate chili cookies - took from freezer & let them dry out for a couple hours after crumbling up. They tasted fantastic! The raisins & chocolate chips really added to the flavor, and I'm craving them ever since. I'm making more now (same way) but will use brownies next time - which I will bake & dry out especially for these. (I bet any cookie or cake would work). I hope I'm not making the Chef mad - I swear I'll actually follow the recipe soon!! LOVE Chef John, his videos & recipes!! Thank you SO much!

—scootersandi

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Dec 27, 2012

OMG! They were soooo goood! I did just as the recipe said and tada! This has instantly become our new Holiday treat for "grown ups". Hic !

—FrancineL

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Dec 26, 2012

I loved these rum balls much more than the traditional ones. I used spiced rum as that's what I had, I did use quite a bit, closer to 1/3c rather than a 1/4c. I agree that 4 ounces wasn't quite enough to coat them, although that could be me as I made a right mess of the coating. The key with it is to make them about 3-4 days ahead of time so the rum has a chance to mellow out a little in taste. The amount of rum in it seems more of an approximation, how much you use depends on how stale your brownies are, that may be why another reviewer had quite liquid ones, it should be a soft paste but not liquid at all. Mine weren't very stale so I crumbled them up and left them uncovered in the fridge overnight which did the trick.

—Pooch656

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Jan 06, 2013

Made the recipe as is and had problems getting the balls to harden up enough to roll. Kept them in freezer for over 2 hours with no luck. Altered recipe to 10 oz of prepared 3 day old bownies and just a smidge less than 1/4 cup rum. Worked like a charm. Also added some orange extract to the chocolate coating to add some flare. They were gone before I coud get them on the serving plate. Very easy to make with the adjustments. Thanks Chef John!

—wgordon1

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Dec 05, 2012

My boyfriend and I are celebrating our first Christmas together and since our families will be visiting we were trying to come up with new and exciting things to serve at dinner..... At first we were thinking of making a rum cake but of course we were looking for a way to kick it up a notch! We always use recipes from this site and when we saw the video for this one we just had to test it out so it would be perfect by the 25th,we added 1/2c of rum and the paste already tastes soooo good! I will let you know how they came out soon enough!!!!

—Jadey Baby

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Nutrition

Calories
87 kcal
4%

Carbohydrates
9.6 g
3%

Cholesterol
8 mg
3%

Fat
4.8 g
7%

Fiber
0.4 g
2%

Protein
1 g
2%

Sodium
40 mg
2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Holiday Rum Balls

Serving Size: 1/20 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 20
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 87
Calories from Fat: 43

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 4.8g 7 %
Saturated Fat 1.7g 9 %
Cholesterol 8mg 3 %
Sodium 40mg 2 %
Potassium 41mg 1 %
Total Carbohydrates 9.6g 3 %
Dietary Fiber 0.4g 2 %
Protein 1g 2 %
** Sugars 0g
Vitamin A 2 %
Vitamin C < 1 %
Calcium 1 %
Iron 4 %
** Thiamin 2 %
Niacin 2 %
** Vitamin B6 < 1 %
** Magnesium 3 %
** Folate 2 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.