It’s time for the holiday cookie making season to begin! As excited as I am to make absurd numbers of cookies and give them to people who already have absurd numbers of cookies or are trying to lose weight or can’t eat that many cookies, this week the temps are in the low 80s. It is not oven friendly down here in Houston so I’m going to start with a no-bake “cookie.”
This is a reimagining of my family’s rum balls recipe and I need to warn you it is alcohol forward. My dad used to tell us that the alcohol evaporates but we were storing these in pretty airtight tupperware containers. So if you’re giving these to children or are worried about bringing them in to work I would boil the bourbon to cook of the alcohol and let it cool before you make these.
Some of these ingredients I buy at Fiesta, so depending on where you are in the country they may not be readily available. You can order Maria cookies online at Amazon or Walmart, among other major retailers. They have a helpful page of where you can find their products here. You can also order Klass Horchata mix from Walmart, MexGrocer.com and I assume Amazon.
Texas Bourbon Balls Recipe
Makes 2 Dozen
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter
- 6.5 ounces (156 g) Maria cookies
- ½ cup (47 g) chopped pecans
- 1 cups (130 g)confectioners sugar plus ~½ cup for dipping
- ¼ cup (57 g) bourbon
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) horchata mix
- 1 teaspoon (7 g) kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons (39 g) evaporated milk (unsweetened)
Instructions
- In a very small pot over low heat melt butter. Allow to cook until milk solids are browned and butter smells nutty. Remove from heat.
- In a food processor, pulse together Maria cookies and pecans until texture resembles clumpy sand. This is easier if you break up the cookies before processing them.
- Transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Add confectioners sugar followed by remaining ingredients (including browned butter) and mix until fully combined. The order is very important so that all of the other ingredients suppress the confectioners sugar explosion that happens when you just throw powdered sugar into something. It will seem dry at first but as you mix it will fully hydrate.
- Scoop out tablespoons of mixture, roll into balls and toss in powdered sugar. If you want to add festivity you can add sprinkles or cinnamon to the powdered sugar. The bourbon balls will seem soft but as the melted butter comes down to room temperature they will solidify slightly. To store, layer in a tupperware with wax or parchment paper separating the layers. These are best if they sit for at least 24 hours to absorb all the flavors.
vtx kitchen 