Gluten Free Chocolate Bourbon Balls

Today was all about Thanksgiving preparations! A little bit of holiday decorating before Thanksgiving and some prepping in the kitchen for the big feast tomorrow really left me feeling like the holidays are officially here. I made bourbon balls this afternoon and thought I would share this great recipe with you. I am drawn to all things chocolate and flourless because it usually means it will be a rich bittersweet dessert. These chocolate balls are everything I love about chocolate desserts with the added touch of bourbon to kick them up a notch. I based this recipe off of Stephs' Bourbon Balls from Allrecipes.com, and the biggest change I made this year was to substitute gluten free vanilla wafers for traditional wafers. We have a friend with a gluten allergy, and I was pleased to find these wafers at the local grocery. They are every bit as delicious, if not more, than regular vanilla wafers. The best part about this dessert (other than the bourbon) is that they can be made a day ahead and require no baking.  I also cut back on the amount of white sugar since I found I never used the full amount called for in the original recipe (1 cup) to roll on the outside of the finished balls.

a yummy and easy to make a chocolate bourbon treat

This recipe is for 40 1" balls, and it takes about 40-45 minutes to make the batch

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 5 cups vanilla wafer crumbs ( I crushed up Schar's gluten free vanilla wafers)
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 cups chopped pecans
• 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup bourbon whiskey

Place white sugar in a bowl and set aside.

Mix crushed vanilla wafers, pecans and confectioner's sugar in bowl.

Heat chocolate chips in microwave 1-2 minutes to melt. Stir in bourbon and corn syrup.

Slowly add the chocolate mixture to the vanilla wafer mixture until blended.

Shape the dough into 1" balls and roll in sugar.

Place on a wire rack to firm.

 

• We used Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey for this year's batch. Using a good tasting bourbon makes all the difference with this dessert since you are not baking it. I found in the past when I've used a really cheap bourbon the aftertaste ruined their flavor. Michael is excited to finish the bottle! 



finding a bourbon with a good flavor makes all the difference

Bean dragged his bed in to keep a close eye on the kitchen

Lily took a nap and admired my decorations on the mantel

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!