Homemade Holiday Gift: Rum Balls

These deliciously decadent chocolate-flavored balls have been a family favorite for decades. Whip them up this holiday season for the ones you love.

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rum balls

These deliciously decadent chocolate-flavored balls have been a family favorite for decades. Whip them up this holiday season for the ones you love.

Food Safety Note

These rum balls have been modified from the version my mom made when I was younger. The original version calls for a raw egg (the batter isn’t cooked). To make these rum balls kid-friendly and adhere to prevent salmonella, I use a pasteurized whole egg and swapped in rum extract for the real stuff. This means the egg was heat treated to kill pathogens, though it looks like any other raw egg. Many markets carry them—look for the word “pasteurized” on the label.

rum balls
Rum Balls
Yield: 28 balls
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 large pasteurized egg
1 ½ cups plain bread crumbs
1 cup orange juice (with pulp)
2/3 cup raisins
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup oat bran
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon rum extract or vanilla extract

Optional toppings:
Rainbow sprinkles
Mini chocolate chips
Grated 60-70% dark chocolate
Shredded coconut
Directions

In a large bowl, combine butter, egg, breadcrumbs, orange juice, raisins, pecans, oat bran, cocoa powder, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Cover and place in refrigerator for 2 hours until slightly hardened.

Remove dough from refrigerator. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the dough into wet hands and roll into a ball. Roll in optional toppings if desired and place in mini cupcake tins. Repeat with remainder of dough. Store rum balls in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Nutrition Info (per ball without optional toppings):

Calories: 108
Total Fat: 7 grams
Saturated Fat: 3 grams
Protein: 2 grams
Total Carbohydrates: 11 grams
Sugar: 4 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
Cholesterol: 20 milligrams
Sodium: 46 milligrams

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