Rum balls

judithcrns asked for my rum ball recipe. I vary it a lot. Here goes.

6oz chocolate chips (1 cup)
1/2 cup sugar
3tbs light corn syrup
1/2 cup rum
2 1/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers

Melt the chocolate chips.
add sugar and corn syrup. Stir
add booze.
mix thouroughly with cookie crumbs.
form into balls and allow to ripen in an air tight container at least several days.

This parsimonious recipe makes barely enough for one serving. And once your friends taste these, they'll be begging for them. So, I buy giant bags of chocolate chips at Costco, wipe out the Nabisco 'nilla wafers in my local cookie aisle, quadruple the recipe, and experiment with flavors.

First, I open the boxes of cookies and throw the sealed bags of wafers on the floor, then put on my wooden-soled shoes and stomp around a lot, chanting "Tank-itty Tank-itty, Tank! Tank-itty, tank-itty Tank!" and pretending to crush all the ills of humanity under my terrible treads. Then I pick up the bags, being careful not to spill the bits if the bag has popped open, and dump the broken wafers into the cup of my meat-grinder. The meat grinder is what makes it possible for me do make several double quadruple batches.

When all the cookies are fine crumbs, I then get a giant Tupperware bowl, measure in chocolate chips, and stick it in the microwave on high for a minute or so. Ever so much easier than messing with a double boiler. Quick mix in the corn syrup so the chocolate doesn't seize!

Now dump in the sugar, then the booze. Dark rum is classic, as is bourbon, but Grand Marnier, Chambord, Drambuie, Kahlua, Creme de Menthe, and Amoretto are also delicious. One of my favorite variations is to add a tablespoon of cinnamon per double-batch of rumballs. Chili powder might be good if you like that sort of thing.

Measure in the cookie crumbs, stir it up, and let it set up. Then I sit down in front of the tv with the bowl of cookie stuff, a little melon-ball sized ice-cream scooper, and a cookie tin lined with plastic wrap to ensure an airtight seal. If you're in a hurry, you can just scoop and plop. If you want the rumballs to look nice, roll them between your palms before stacking them in the tins. If you don't have a scooper, use a regular spoon. If you are doing a double-quadruple batch, put on a long movie and realize that your hands will be a sticky chocolatey mess very soon.

I seal the tins shut with cellophane tape and let them ripen, then, come Christmas shipping time, I open the tins and seperate the batches into baggies (a dozen of one flavor in a baggie)which get tucked into mixed assortments and shipped to friends and family all over! I collect cookie tins at estate and garage sales all year long, so I have lots of shipping containers. Usually, I just pack the goodies into a tin, slap on a lable, tape everything down, and take it to the post office. (And a baggie of cookies for the postal people, too.)

Oh, if you like coconut, use shredded coconut instead of cookie crumbs. This is quite nice with white chocolate.

Who wants some?