The Best Ever Rum Balls – these are the best way to bring some holiday cheer to your friends and family! Chocolatey and boozy, this no bake holiday favourite will be the perfect treat to have on hand for the holidays.
Alright so, I don’t normally like to claim one of my recipes as the “best ever”. But you guys, these are seriously the best ever rum balls! I have tried many, many different versions in my twenty-six years on this planet, but not one other has ever come close to beating out my mothers rum ball recipe.
That’s right, this is a “Mama Russ” classic recipe! She has been making these for as long as I can remember and they have forever been my favourite Christmas treat.I have fond memories of sitting at the kitchen table as a child and helping her roll these into balls and then into either sprinkles or coconut. I also remember always “helping myself”, or rather sneaking samples as we went along… (sorry mama!).
In my mind, without rum balls, there is no Christmas! They are a true staple for me this time of year and I can still often be caught sneaking into the freezer and munching on one or two or three.
Back in elementary school, one year we made a recipe book for mother’s day where every kid had to bring in a recipe of their mom’s to include. Guess what recipe I brought – yup, you guessed it, these rum balls. These are really one of her specialties and I am so thrilled that she has allowed me to share this recipe with all of you as well.
I’ve done some research and I’ve noticed a few unique things about my mama’s recipe. I’m talking the cream cheese, the butterscotch chips and the maraschino cherries. These ingredients all together in one rum ball recipe seems pretty uncommon. Some of them may be found separately in other recipes but not all together like in this one. I believe it is due to this combination that her recipe is the best.
I mean c’mon. This is like the mixture of my dreams right here! The richness of the cream cheese, the silky sweetness of the melted chocolate and butterscotch chips, the hint of cherry… absolute heaven.
What’s also fun is that you can decide what to roll on them based on your preferences. Here I used a combination of chocolate sprinkles, red and green sugar sprinkles, and toasted fine shredded coconut so that I would have an assortment. You can also substitute the rum for some rum flavouring + water if you are wishing to make a non-alocholic version to share with the kiddos.
If you’re going to make one holiday goodie this year, let this be it. Let me tell you why.
ONE. They are ridiculously easy. They don’t take very long to whip up and guess what – no baking required! Holiday baking without actually having to bake? Oh hell yes.
TWO. You will become everyone’s favourite person if you share these with them. Or maybe don’t share and keep them all for yourself and you will become YOUR favourite person. You’re winning either way.
THREE. They have chocolate and booze in them. Need I say more?
Be warned, these are crazy addictive – you can’t go with only having one. But then again, who doesn’t love a boozy treat or two at Christmas?
Let me know what you think!
If you try this recipe for the best ever rum balls please let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, post on the Zest & Simmer Facebook page or share photos on Instagram using the hashtag #zestandsimmer. Iād love to see it and I always love hearing from you guys!
The Best Ever Rum Balls
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese , softened
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
- 1/8 cup rum (or use 1 tbsp rum extract + 1/8 cup water for non-alocholic version)
- 2 1/2 cups chocolate graham wafer crumbs
- 1 cup chopped maraschino cherries , well drained
- chocolate sprinkles, red & green sprinkles, or fine coconut (toasted or not) for rolling
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese using an electric mixer until smooth.
- Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips in the microwave at 30 second intervals until smooth. Beat into cream cheese.
- Mix in rum, graham wafer crumbs and maraschino cherries.
- Chill mixture for 30 minutes in the freezer.
- Roll chilled mixture into balls and roll in fine shredded coconut or sprinkles.
- Store rum balls in freezer. Enjoy!
Vanessa, this is such an easy and delicious recipe! I made them for the holidays and they were a huge hit. I loved that they made a large batch, so I had plenty to share and plenty to keep for myself! Hope you had a great Christmas!
I am thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying it out. We had a wonderful Christmas and hope that you and your family did as well!
Vanessa this recipe may have been difficult to make but well worth it because everyone I gave it to all loved the rum balls! Thank you so much for suggesting the recipe!!! ššš
Hey Sindu! I’m sorry you found this difficult to make as it is one of my easier recipes (especially a no bake one!), but I am so glad to hear you and everyone who tried these rum balls enjoyed them! I hope you can enjoy further recipes on my blog and learn even more about cooking/baking as you did with this! š
Found these to be quite wet. I added twice the crumbs and another tablespoon of rum and they seemed the right texture. Perhaps the difference was in the brand of crackers or something like that??? Tasted marvelous!
Hi Monica! I do find it can depend on the type of crumbs you use and even the chocolate! Sometimes I have to freeze mine a bit longer, or depending how long I take rolling them out the mixture may get soft and wet again and require some freezing. It should be like a cold cookie dough. Iām so happy you enjoyed the taste though! Thanks for trying my recipe!
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