Maple-Pecan Bourbon Balls
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 8ounces/225 grams vanilla wafers
- 1¼cups/125 grams pecan halves, toasted
- 6tablespoons/90 milliliters maple syrup
- ⅓cup/30 grams cocoa powder
- ¼cup/60 milliliters bourbon
- 1teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓cup/40 grams confectioners’ sugar, plus about ¼ cup/30 grams for coating (optional)
- 1½cups/255 grams chopped semisweet chocolate (not chips)
Nutritional analysis per serving (30 servings)
131 calories; 7 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 12 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 58 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the vanilla wafers and pecans and process until fine crumbs form. Add the maple syrup, cocoa, bourbon, vanilla, salt and ⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar and process until completely combined and the mixture holds together when shaped into a ball.
- Step 2
Portion the dough into 1 tablespoon scoops and transfer them to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once all the dough is portioned, roll the scoops into neat balls.
- Step 3
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler on the stove or in short bursts in the microwave. Using two forks, dip each ball into the melted chocolate, and rotate to cover completely in chocolate coating. Tap each of the covered balls over the edge of the bowl to release excess chocolate and transfer to the prepared sheet. Alternatively, roll the uncoated balls in the ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar until coated.
- Step 4
Transfer the sheet to the fridge to set for at least 20 minutes. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.
Private Notes
Comments
Fortunately for all of us my husband is a mathematician! The amount if vanilla wafers you need here is 60 wafers (“Nilla Wafers”). The recipe is confusing because it is 8 oz. in weight measurement 225 grams. Everything else is in cups except the cookies so we a tually did the math and figured it out. It’s about 3/4 of the box, not and 8 oz. cup!
Love this recipe -- fabulous result! Note: I found the yields to be off. I could see right away that one-TBS scoops would yield far less than 2 1/2 dozen, so I made them smaller (more like the size of a typical chocolate truffle) and got 26. But I was left with enough melted chocolate to make another half-batch. (I weighed ingredients rather than using cups, so couldn't have been off.) I used half 72% cacao chocolate & half 85% -- perfect sweetness! A 100-g bar of each should suffice. Thanks!
I did mine with graham crackers instead of vanilla wafers and that worked just fine. I doubt the difference is noticeable. Wouldn't recommend rolling in powdered sugar until DIRECTLY before serving because the dough is moist and soaks through the sugar in a couple hours, leaving a sticky light brown residue on the outside. Tastes just fine that way! Just an FYI if you care about the appearance.
I made this for the first time to take to my neighborhood annual Christmas Cookie Exchange. Everyone liked them, and I liked that I didn't have to bake them in the oven. But I don't understand the comment about the coating in confectioners sugar being absorbed; I did not have that problem. I made some with the melted chocolate coating and some with the powdered sugar coating and they all tasted fine and looked nice.
These came out very yummy. Like another comment said I, use about 60 nilla wafers for the amount of wafers needing to be processed Personally I thought the bourbon was a bit harsh for me especially the amount needed, so I made them again but substituted for 2 1/2TBSP of banana rum and I personally liked the flavor of that better. I found using two forks to dip the balls into the chocolate to be difficult so I just used silicone covered tongs.
These are a big hit, especially for the holidays. Easy to solve the chocolate chip problem if that’s all you have- just add a little coconut oil into the chips when you melt them. Makes it runny enough to coat them and hardens nicely. Also great with a little flaky sea salt on top! So many layers of flavor!