Simply Southern Bourbon Balls

My mother-in-law has never been one to give great gifts. But every now and again she knocks one out of the park. Several years ago she gifted me a Southern Living cookbook, which normally I would be excited to have but this was a dessert cookbook. My initial thought was “What in the hell am I going to do with this?”.  Well sister, let me tell you……

That book sat on my shelf for several months before I actually tried one of the recipes. I was floored at the great variety of desserts and in usual Southern Living fashion, they were not overly involved but they were reliable. In retrospect, I am not sure how I made it all these years without this book.

On to the real point of this post….Bourbon Balls! I made a couple of six or eight batches of these last year, one for fun and the rest by request. They are seriously that good and that easy to make.

Start by crushing one 12oz package of vanilla wafers. I got ambitious and busted out the food processor to make this batch!

Next, pulse or chop 1 cup of pecans or walnuts. You can always go crazy and use black walnuts….now that would be awesome!

Measure out 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. Yes, this is a test….don’t rub your eyes, they don’t deceive you. That is a whole cup and not 3/4 cup. Truth is, I used a grocery brand of vanilla wafer cookies and the box was 16oz so I adjusted the quantity. In the meantime, just be nice and play along. PRETEND that this is 3/4 of a cup, okay?

Add in 2 Tablespoons of cocoa.

Now place all of these items in a large mixing bowl.

Measure out 2 1/2 Tablespoons of light corn syrup into a measuring cup. Bust out a bottle of your favorite Bourbon.

Yep, that will do nicely. Pour 1/2 cup of this liquid gold into the measuring cup with the corn syrup and stir well. Pour over crushed wafer, nut, powdered sugar and cocoa mixture then stir until blended.

Shape into 1-inch balls. The recipe should make about 48 balls. Once all of the balls are made, roll in additional powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. However, I have serious doubts that they will last that long!

Lovely for winter and warming all year round. Just be warned….once you make them and share them, your fan club will be asking for more!