Not Your Mother's Rum Balls!

My mother was renowned for her homemade sweets. One of her most popular holiday confections was Bourbon Balls, made with crushed vanilla wafer cookies, corn syrup, confectioner's sugar, and a lot of other ingredients which are not in my kitchen! In her memory, I've come up with my healthier version, and invite you to try these sweet treats with your own favorite alcoholic flavoring. The photo above shows them ready for my holiday buffet, along with some chocolate peppermint bark I also made.

Spiked Chocolate Balls
Recipe type: Candy Treat
Cuisine: Gluten Free, Vegetarian
Makes: About 2 dozen
NOTE: Ingredients in red type are detailed on the "Ingredients" page of this blog

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 c raw hulled sunflower seeds
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 c almond flour
2 T coconut oil, softened
1/4 c coconut palm sugar
1/4 t salt
1/4 c alcoholic beverage*
Coating suggestions:  powdered sugar, sweetened cocoa powder, finely chopped almonds (about 2 T)

* Use your choice: rum, bourbon, scotch, creme de menthe, coffee/orange or other liqueur, etc.

DIRECTIONS:
Put all ingredients except the coating into a food processor. Process until sunflower seeds are chopped into small pieces and the mixture sticks together. Remove to a covered container and refrigerate until the chilled coconut oil hardens the dough. Scoop with a small spoon and roll in your palms to form 24 balls, each about 3/4" in diameter... the warmth of your hands will soften the dough. If making ahead, refrigerate these balls in single layers between wax paper sheets. Before serving, put your choice of coating into a small zipper bag and shake a few balls at a time to coat them. If you roll the coating on too far in advance, it sort of melts into the dough and disappears. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

As my mother always did, I decided to coat mine with powdered sugar. I don't keep 10X sugar on my shelves, and didn't want to buy a box for such a small amount. I stock regular white sugar for my hummingbird feeders. So I put about 2 T of white sugar into a clean coffee grinder and whirled it into just the right amount of white powder. This also works with sweeteners like coconut palm sugar (making a light brown powder) or types of raw sugar.