Oh Nuts Pistachio Rum Balls

I still remember the day I tried my first rum ball. It was part of a Christmas cookie package and the aroma of the rum permeated the tin. It was chewy, strong, and delicious.

Immediately afterward, I looked up recipes and was amazed by how simple rum balls are to make. It's almost like a Larabar in texture, though very unlike a Larabar except for the nuts. Do you think they'd ever make a rum ball Larabar?

Oh Nuts had sent me these roasted, unsalted pistachios back in December. I had thrown ideas around, never settling on anything. Time eventually flew by and I still hadn't made anything with them. As New Year's approached, I decided the proper use for them would be in a rum ball.

Rum balls are classified as a no-bake cookie. All you do is finely grind the nuts, finely grind vanilla wafers (or puffed rice cereal, shortbread cookies, etc.), and mix the two with confectioners' sugar, a bit of cocoa powder. The dough is made by stirring in rum and corn syrup. I hadn't finely ground the nuts enough, or the wafers, so I think it affected the consistency. I added a little extra water, corn syrup, and rum. I wanted to add more rum, but I hoped the amount I did add (1/3 cup total) would become stronger as the dough refrigerated overnight.

When I started rolling them out, I tasted a bit of the dough. There was a little bite of rumminess in the back of your throat, but it wasn't as strong as I remembered. I ended up liking the flecks of pistachio and was glad I didn't grind them more finely after all.

You can coat these in anything you want, like melted chocolate, chopped nuts, sprinkles... I chose cocoa powder mixed with confectioners' sugar.

It's a good thing I didn't add more rum or else nobody would have enjoyed them. I'll have to make myself a stash of rum balls some other time.

The texture on these was great. They held their shape, but it was very soft and chewy. They're addictive, though I only managed 5 over the course of the night. I bet these would be great to fuel a run, don't you think?

If you're interested in the recipe, check out the recipe at Joy of Baking.