November "Drink" of the Month - Bourbon Balls

Is it possible to ever tire of drinking excellently crafted cocktails? While it would be easy to overdo it in one evening... I don't think I would ever turn down an excellent drink if offered one. However, if you should ever tire of drinking fine cocktails and spirits, the good news is that you can also eat fine spirits! There are lots of options: tiramisu, whiskey glazed anything, rum cake, etc. One of my favorites, however, are Kentucky Bourbon Balls - bourbon infused fudge coated with chocolate and usually topped with a pecan half.

Since Thanksgiving is the time for cooking, baking, and an overdose of deserts, we decided to make bourbon balls this past weekend. Because I'm a prude, and dislike chocolate (I know, I'm the worst), we coated our bourbon balls with white chocolate instead of milk chocolate. We followed a recipe, but worked mostly with found objects - so we were a little light on chopped nuts. The result was a fudge that was a little runny, which made coating the fudge balls with chocolate quite difficult. I've included a picture of my one perfect ball, but the rest were a mess. While they were not the most visually appealing, they were delicious... and boozy as heck. Should you make your own bourbon balls, make sure not to skimp on the nuts, and remember that the freezer is your best friend. Keeping bourbon balls out at room temperature will lead to a runny mess, so your finished product should remain in the fridge/freezer.

Below is the recipe for bourbon balls. I've combined the Imbibe magazine recipe that we used with some helpful insight from the Food Network recipe. Since this is my recipe, I'm going to use white chocolate, but feel free to sub for semi-sweet/milk chocolate chips instead. Here is my recipe for bourbon balls:

Finely chop 3/4 to 1 cups of walnuts. Place in a mason jar, and cover with 5 tbsp of bourbon. Allow

the nuts to soak in bourbon overnight.

The following day, combine the following in a mixing bowl:

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

3/4-1 cups bourbon-soaked chopped walnuts

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix using a hand-mixer until smooth and elements are fully combined. Place in refrigerator and allow to cool for 1-2 hours.

Form fudge mix into small balls (between 1/2-3/4" in diameter), place balls on wax-paper lined cookies sheet. Freeze balls for 1-2 hours.

Melt one package of (white) chocolate chips in double boiler or similar. Dip balls into melted chocolate using a toothpick. Spin to coat. Place coated balls back on wax paper, cover toothpick hole with pecan half. Return to freezer until ready to serve.

 

I hope you enjoy your bourbon balls!