Bourbon Balls

My mom used makes bourbon balls every Christmas and I always ate one at the big Christmas party they would throw and be disappointed every year. And then once I formed a happy memory with the taste and smell, I loved them! Now they are one of my very favorite parts of Christmas.

Ingredients

• 1 cup pecans or walnuts
• 1 box vanilla wafers (12 oz)
• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tbsp bittersweet cocoa
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup OR 1.5 tbsp honey

TO-DO:

Eat a vanilla wafer to make sure they are good

Then pulse wafers in a food processor until they are crumbs.

Toast nuts in the oven until fragrant, about 4 minutes at 400*, or toast in skillet, being careful they don’t burn

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp really good cocoa

Pulse nuts, sugar and cocoa in with wafers to combine into a nice crumb mixture:

The Good Guy

The Bad Guy (or another good guy is honey!)

Combine bourbon with corn syrup or honey. Add to crumbs. Use hands to combine like so:

Begin to roll into balls. I find it helpful to squish a blob of dough back and forth between my hands 6-7 times to mush it all together before I begin rolling

I like to make 10 at a time and then powder them to let them dry slightly

Form pretty rows

Recipe makes about 50-60 balls, depending on how big you make them and how many you eat!

Tin ‘em up for serving

Celebrate your hard work with a swig of the Good Guy