These gluten free rum balls begin as gluten free chocolate pizzelle wafers or other gluten free chocolate cookie crumbs. These make ahead treats come together quickly and are great for the adult cookie plate after the festive meal.
Rum balls are one of the simplest Christmas treats to make. But they are usually out of bounds for those who must avoid gluten or grains. These gluten free rum balls begin as gluten free chocolate pizzelle wafers or other gluten free chocolate cookie crumbs. These make ahead treats come together quickly and are great for the adult cookie plate after the festive meal.
You can make up these rum balls from scratch or start with a batch of pizzelle wafers or other gluten free chocolate cookie. Gluten free rum balls can even be made with leftover chocolate cake. (Is there such a thing?)
Here’s the steps for these easy truffle like rum balls:
Step 1: Make a batch of gluten free chocolate pizzelle wafers or other gluten free chocolate cookie
Step 2: Using a blender or food process turn the batch of 24 gluten free chocolate pizzelles into 3 cups of cookie crumbs.
Step 3: Make confectioners sugar by adding 3/4 cups granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of tapioca starch in the same blender jar, and processing for 20 seconds until the mixture is silky and uniform.
Step 4: Stir pecans and butter in a cast iron frying pan over medium heat until the pecan are fragrant and the butter is absorbed. Cool. Process in a blender jar or food processor until the pecans are uniform crumbs.
Step 5: Combine cookie crumbs, confectioners sugar, pecan crumbs, rum, and vanilla in a bowl. Mix together until the mixture forms a mass that sticks together when squeeze.
Step 6: Roll into rum balls the size of a walnut. Roll in cocoa powder and then in chocolate sprinkles. Set aside. Repeat with remaining mixture.
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Gluten Free Rum Balls for Your Holiday Cookie Tray
- Prep Time: 15 minutes + 30 minutes to bake pizzelles
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 30 1x
- Category: Gluten free baking
- Method: Truffles
Description
The make ahead gluten free rum balls are a must have adult treat on your Christmas cookie tray. This is one confection that actually tastes better when it’s made gluten free.
Ingredients
- 24 Gluten-free Chocolate Pizzelle Cookies or 3 cups Gluten Free cookie crumbs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons tapioca starch
- 1 ½ cup pecans
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons Maple syrup
- ½ cup rum
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor process pizzelle cookies – 8 at a time to make cookie crumbs. Add 3 cups cookie crumbs to a 2 quart mixing bowl, approximately 1 batch of chocolate pizzelle crackers like these.
- Place granulated sugar and tapioca starch in a blender. Blend until sugar become uniform and silky, like icing sugar. Add to mixing bowl with cookie crumbs.
- Place pecans and butter in a heavy skillet. Place over medium heat and cook stirring frequently until pecans are fragrant and golden brown. Remove from heat. Cool. Place toasted nuts in a blender jar and blend until crumbly and uniform. Add to mixing bowl.
- Add maple syrup, vanilla, and rum to the mixing bowl. Mix well until the crumbs are completely damp and a uniform mixture is formed. Wait 10 minutes.
- Take 1 tablespoon of mixture and roll in to ball in your hands. Roll ball in cocoa powder. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture. Wait 10 minutes.
- Then roll each piece in chocolate sprinkles. (The chocolate sprinkles won’t stick to the rum balls until the cocoa powder has been absorbed.)
- Place in airtight container and store in a cool place or in the fridge. These need 24 to 48 hours for the flavors to meld before serving. Make ahead. These do not need to be refrigerated.
Rum balls are especially simple to make since these no-bake treats begin with cookie crumbs. If you are baking for a special diet you will want to start by baking the gluten free cookies from scratch before you start. I simply make a double batch of chocolate pizzelle cookies for these gluten free rum balls, and reserve half the batch for rum balls and serve the other half batch — about 24 pizzelle wafers — for the cookie tray. You’ll get 3 cups of gluten free chocolate cookie crumbs from 24 gluten free chocolate pizzelle wafers, enough for 1 batch of 30 rum balls. That seems like a fair trade, don’t you think?
Once you’ve got your cookie crumbs your more than half way to these delicious gluten free truffles.
The quality of chocolate sprinkles makes a huge impact on the flavor and texture of these rum balls. Splurge on the best Belgium dark chocolate sprinkles you can find. Of course, choose gluten free chocolate sprinkles to ensure that there is no cross contamination. I used this brand.
A word about the rum
Use real rum for these rum balls rather than rum flavoring. Rum flavoring often has a bitter aftertaste that would spoil your rum balls. There is so little alcohol in each rum ball that the you will want to use good quality. Choose the rum that you like the flavor of best. But ensure that your rum is gluten free and wheat free. Most distilled alcohol is gluten free but for those who must also avoid grains due to severe allergy, rum is a safe choice, generally distilled from sugar cane, rather than grains. Avoid flavored rums or spiced rum though as these may contain gluten.
How long will rum balls keep?
Rum balls have a long shelf life due to the added alcohol. You can easily make these 3 weeks ahead and store them in the fridge until you serve them. They can be kept at room temperature but I prefer to serve them cold on the cookie tray. These also make wonderful neighbor gifts or teacher gifts. These gluten free rum balls have the taste and texture of “normal” treats and don’t signal gluten free on a cookie plate.
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