Spiced Rum Balls

Spiced Rum Balls are so easy to put together and are the most tastiest holiday treat! Made with spiced rum, cookie crumbs and pecans and sweetened with honey, these sweet confections don’t require any baking.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one and buy something, Feast + West receives a small commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are our own. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Spiced Rum Balls recipe

Spiced rum balls are usually a confection served at Christmas, but they’re one I usually enjoy… in July.

One of our favorite spots to vacation is the Outer Banks of North Carolina. They are beautiful beaches on barrier islands and I’m always thinking about going back.

Whenever we go, we always make sure we stop by Outer Banks Distilling, a rum distillery, for a rum tasting and a cocktail. (And maybe a bottle, too!)

I also usually snag a box of their Kill Devil Rum Balls to snack on at the beach. These sweet delicacies are boozy and full of spiced flavor.

These pecan-crusted homemade treats are what I had in mind when making these rum balls, and I know you’re going to fall in love with them.

Why you’ll love this recipe

Each bite of a Spiced Rum Ball is both crunchy and soft, with the flavors of nuttiness, dark chocolate, cinnamon and sweet vanilla hitting your taste buds in waves.

• Spiced Rum Balls are so easy and require absolutely no baking whatsoever!
• You don’t need any special equipment to make this recipe.
• Rum balls are always a welcome addition to a cookie tray, cookie exchange or any holiday party menu.

Enjoy them alongside some Spiced Hot Buttered Rum or an Apple Cider Moscow Mule.

What are Rum Balls?

Rum balls are bite-size confections that can come in different shapes, sizes and flavors, but usually feature a mixture of dry and wet ingredients to form a sweet, boozy dough that’s shaped into spheres.

The recipe below features a base of Biscoff cookie crumbs, powdered sugar, cocoa powder and finely-chopped pecans for the dry ingredients.

They are then mixed with spiced rum, vanilla extract and honey to form a dough that can be rolled into balls and topped with your favorite toppings.

Rum balls are similar to bourbon balls, which were invented in the 1930s in Kentucky. However, traditional rum balls have a much older history.

History of Rum Balls

Rum balls were invented in the mid-nineteenth century by Danish bakers, who wanted to find a way to reuse their leftover baked goods each day.

They rolled the crumbs with cocoa powder and rum to make a sticky dough and rolled them in coconut and chocolate.

Called romkugler, these treats were sold at a low price, so they were especially popular with kids. Today, they’re enjoyed year-round in Denmark.

Rum balls are popular all over the world. German rum balls are known as rumkugeln. Rum balls are Christmas traditions in Austria, Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. They’re a popular treat for holiday parties in England and the United States as well.

Ingredients

For this recipe, you will need to pick up the following simple ingredients at the grocery store:

• Biscoff Cookies or Speculoos
• powdered sugar
• unsweetened cocoa powder
• chopped pecans
• vanilla extract
• honey
• spiced rum

Instead of honey, you can use corn syrup or maple syrup instead.

Don’t forget to stock up on things to roll them in, too. Rum balls look gorgeous on their own, but you can pretty them up further by rolling them in different toppings.

About Biscoff Cookies

Also known as airplane cookies, Lotus Biscoff Cookies are sweet and spiced cookies are crunchy and wonderful. They have the flavors of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice. Dare you not to eat one before you make the crumbs!

If you can’t find them, you can use another type of spiced cookie instead, such as speculoos, cinnamon graham crackers, gingersnaps or gingerbread cookies instead.

You can also use crushed vanilla wafers, graham crackers or chocolate wafers (to make chocolate rum balls).

Rum Ball toppings

You can leave your rum balls undecorated or you can dress them up with a number of pretty toppings. If you roll them in 3-4 different toppings, these pretty truffles will look really gorgeous on a cookie tray!

Here are a few suggestions to try:

• shredded coconut
• chopped pecans
• colored sprinkles
• chocolate sprinkles
• cocoa powder
• powdered sugar
• granulated sugar
• sanding sugar
• cookie crumbs
• melted chocolate coating (with whole pecans on top)

Best rum for rum balls

If you are making rum balls, you will want to stock up on the right kind of rum to give them the rummiest flavor.

Rum is distilled from the fermented juices of pure sugarcane, sugarcane syrup, molasses, and other sugarcane byproducts, so it naturally has a sweet flavor.

Silver rum (AKA light rum or white rum) is the most common type of rum and is unflavored. Gold rum is similar but has added caramel coloring. Dark rum is also typical and gets its color from either aging or molasses additives.

However, most rum balls are made with spiced rum, which has been infused with spices like cinnamon, ginger and cloves. In fact, it’s very easy to make homemade spiced rum yourself by infusing white rum with whole spices.

You can use any type of rum (silver, gold or dark) to make rum balls, but they won’t be as flavorful as if you use spiced rum. If you don’t use spiced rum, make sure you use the Biscoff cookies to get that perfectly spiced flavor.

If you have a favorite spiced rum brand, feel free to use it in these rum balls. I like trying different brands, but you can’t go wrong with Bacardi, Captain Morgan, Sailor Jerry, Cruzan or Kraken.

Variations and substitutions

Rum balls without nuts: If you need to make a nut-free version, substitute an additional 1 cup cookie crumbs for the nuts.

Non-alcoholic bourbon balls: Try them with a non-alcoholic rum such as Ritual rum alternative.

With other nuts: These would work with walnuts instead of pecans.

Different cookie base: Instead of the crumbs of Biscoff cookies, you can use other types of cookies, such as ginger snaps, vanilla wafer crumbs (Nilla wafers), chocolate wafer crumbs or graham cracker crumbs.

Gluten-free bourbon balls: Use crumbs from your favorite gluten-free ginger cookies. (I’ve enjoyed the Partake brand recently.)

How to make Bacardi Rum Balls

Spiced rum balls are a super simple, no-bake recipe.

First, you’ll need to finely chop pecans and the cookies to get crumbs. I used a food processor, but you don’t have to have one.

To chop nuts without a food processor: Chop them with a sharp knife or pastry cutter until you have a fine crumb. You can also crush them in a sealable bag with a meat mallet or rolling pin.

To make cookie crumbs: Place them in a sealable bag and crush them with a meat mallet or rolling pin until you have fine crumbs and no cookie chunks.

Then, place the cookie crumbs, powdered sugar, cocoa and chopped pecans in a large mixing bowl.

Add the rum, vanilla and honey. Stir together until combined and a thick dough has formed.

Use a 1-2 tablespoon-sized cookie scoop or spoon to form evenly-sized balls. Roll them together in your palms until nice and round and place on a baking sheet.

Roll in your favorite toppings, such as desiccated coconut, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, sprinkles or more chopped pecans. (See the section above about toppings for more ideas.)

Store them in an airtight container in the fridge. The flavor will become even more pronounced after a day or two in the fridge!

FAQ

More boozy dessert recipes

• Moscow Mule Cookies
• Bourbon Ginger Ale Cake
• Bourbon Rice Krispie Treats
• Lemon Drop Cookies with Vodka Glaze
• Chocolate Guinness Cake