Week 48: Boozy Bourbon Balls With a Shot of Joy

‘Tis the season to reflect.

I’m pretty sure that the Ghost of Christmas Past will be visiting with a vengeance this year. And, while I’m hoping to keep my cool with the Ghost of Christmas Present, the Ghost of Christmas Future needs to leave me the f—k alone!

I desperately wanted to find my mothers bourbon ball recipe, because it brought with it the fond memories of making Christmas gifts together. Alas, the bourbon ball recipe eluded me, but I did find a DIY book gift she gave me right after I got married, and I’m sharing it as a perfect example of how she instilled the value of making gifts with care and love.

Year after year (although, not every year, especially once I became a teenager), we’d work together, while listening to holiday music, to make sand candles, ice candles, bourbon balls, cookies, candy, pumpkin bread, banana bread, little painted cards, ornaments, and other handcrafted gifts that we would deliver to family and friends.

Sure, I grumbled a bit (after all, I was a kid), but mostly I remember that quality time together. My mother displayed genuine happiness during those few weeks that lead up to Christmas. She’d sing along to Bing Crosby or Andy Williams, snap her fingers, and even dance a little bit, which in all honesty completely embarrassed me. But, it offered me a glimpse of my mother’s happy spirit, which was often covered in the shroud of depression the rest of the year. What a gift!

I’ve carried on the tradition of creating and delivering homemade joy throughout my adult life, and made sure to pass it on to my kids from an early age. When my brood were little, they even got into the spirit by helping to bake cookies, paint wrapping paper, or (one of my favorite kid-friendly homemade gifts) stuffing plastic ornament balls with torn crumpled Christmas wrap (I have fond memories of Alex taking special care with this task).

Back then, Santa’s workshop cranked up right after Thanksgiving and stayed busy making candles, fudge, peanut brittle, homemade ornaments, photo frames, and the like. Now, my children have carried on this tradition with their own children…in fact, my six-month-old grandson made his first ornaments, this year!

I know my mom would be proud to see her legacy continue.

OK mom, let the merry-making begin!

Original Recipe

I am not going to give up on finding my mother’s recipe.

The Process
As I said before, I couldn’t find my mother’s original recipe for Bourbon Balls. But, this one here looked very similar.

Naturally, vanilla wafers and corn syrup were the first ingredients to get tossed out in this boozy recipe revamp, but it was imperative that the balls remain sweet, which got me thinking. I remember that a few years back I used dates to make truffles with no added sugar, so that became my plan of action.

The Results:
While this recipe revamp didn’t taste quite the same as the bourbon balls from my youth, they were very good and gift-worthy. They are definitely stickier than the originals, and I’m not sure they’ll hold up in a jar until Christmas like their inspiration did.

My next experiment will be an attempt to make rum-less rum walnut balls using rum extract with the dates. I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂

Walnut Date Bourbon Balls

Ingredients:
1 cup pitted Medjool dates (about 10-12 dates)
1 cup walnuts or pecans
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup bourbon
3-4 Tablespoons raw cacao powder + additional for rolling
1-2 Tablespoons of Oat Bran or Powdered Sugar (optional)

Toppings:
Raw shredded coconut
Cacao powder
Organic Sugar

Directions
Soak the dates in a bowl of warm water until they soften up a bit (about 10 minutes).
Drain the dates and place them in a food processor with nuts, salt, cinnamon, coconut oil, bourbon and cacao powder.
Process for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture forms a sticky ball. Taste test and adjust seasonings, if needed.

If the dough is too wet, add a little more cocoa powder (or almond flour or oat bran, if you have some). If the dough is too dry, add a little more bourbon or a splash of water.

Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes to set.
Form 15-18 balls with your hands and roll into desired toppings.

NOTES: For extra booziness, soak the nut in an additional cup of bourbon and then drain before adding.

Store in the fridge or freezer in a canning jar.
Decorate with a nice bow and a note, and you’ll have a delicious gift made with love!
At the last minute I tossed these into a rocks glass for the photo and realized it was a perfect gift paring add to that a swizzle stick, and it’s a gift hit!

Week 48 Recipe Pick

I have to get hustling on gift making and baking and will try to make two of these this week. Not sure how much revamping will be occurring…it is the holidays after all 😉

 

Tags: childhood story, Christmas, coconut, from the heart, gifts, holidays, less sugar