Easy Bourbon Balls Recipes
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This is an authentic Kentucky Bourbon Balls recipe. They are rich, smooth, decadent, and delicious! It’s a Southern delicacy of a sweet boozy confection of sugar, pecans, and bourbon.
The smooth, earthy flavor of bourbon pairs perfectly with the luxurious chocolate, creating a decadent treat.
A bourbon ball is a Southern delicacy, invented by Ruth Hanly Booe of Rebecca Ruth Candy in 1938. Bourbon balls are bite-sized confections incorporating bourbon and dark chocolate as an ingredient.
Bourbon Balls
We recently took a trip to Kentucky and did the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. I wasn’t a fan of bourbon until this trip. After learning the process and testing all the different bourbon formulas, I quickly became a fan. Although I prefer Woodford Reserve and Maker’s Mark over the others, every tour offered a unique and interesting experience.
Can eating bourbon balls make you drunk?
While these boozy truffles certainly contain enough alcohol to taste that it’s there, the likelihood of getting drunk off of them is very minimal. Only 3 tablespoons of bourbon is used, which is then dispersed among other ingredients and then divided into 36 different candies.
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Bourbon truffles are the perfect way to tantalize your taste buds with a burst of sweet and indulgent flavors. With the right ingredients and a little bit of time, you can make quality truffles worthy to be served in a five-star restaurant.
If you are looking for a special way to reward yourself or your friends and family, give bourbon truffles a try. After all, what better way to kick off a night of celebration than with a mouth-watering sweet treat!
Every tour allowed you to taste test their product at the end of the tour and most offered their version of Bourbon Balls. I really became a fan of these sugary treats!!
Try my Woodford Reserve Bourbon Cake with Caramel Glaze
You may also like my Martha Washington Candy, Peppermint Bark, Oreo Cookie Balls, and Buckeye Balls.
Bourbon Balls
Ingredients
- ¾ cup chopped pecans
- 3 Tablespoons Woodford Reserve bourbon
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar (aka confectioners) sift and measure carefully
- 16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate Wilton candy melts work best for this
- Optional toppings – pecan halves chopped pecans, walnuts or almonds, cocoa powder, confectioners’ sugar, sea salt
Instructions
- Mix pecans and bourbon in a bowl and allow to soak for an hour.
- Cream (or mix) butter and sugar together in an electric mixer until smooth
- Then add pecans and bourbon to the butter and sugar mixer.
- Chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
- Roll into 1 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper. Refrigerate 2 hours.
- Melt chocolate in the microwave in 30-second intervals until melted, stirring after each interval. Using a fork to hold the bourbon ball, dip each ball in chocolate covering completely. Hold ball over chocolate a few seconds to allow excess to drip off. Place back on waxed paper to cool completely. *If you choose to top with a pecan half, nuts, or salt immediately press on top of the ball before chocolate cools and hardens.
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are important to you, I recommend calculating them yourself.
These were so amazing!
Is the powdered sugar measured before or after sifting?
after sifting
i made some bourbon candied pecans and added those instead of soaking pecans in bourbon yummmmm!!
Are these thick enough to leave plain? I am thinking i want to make some bourban bars ( I hate dipping things in CHoc) But the recipe i have used in the past was too wet to do that I had to freeze them then choc coat them
Yes, they’re are dense and I think they’ll do fine to leave plain
Hi,
If I freeze these, do I do so before or after they are coated in chocolate?
I would freeze before dipping in chocolate.
I’ve made these twice and both times ended up using 1/2 cup of butter. I also like more bourbon flavor so on the 2nd try I added a little extra bourbon after everything was mixed and then “kneaded” it in with a little extra powder sugar. They came out great!!!!
I did as you suggested and they turned out perfect! 1/4 of butter was not enough Then also added a little more powdered sugar and 1more teaspoon of bourbon it made 25 nice sized pieces
Agreed!!!
3 1/2cups of powdered sugar and 1/4 C (4 T) butter do not “cream”. At best, in those proportions they creat a powdery mix. Suggestions? Only two days to Derby!
Add more butter or bourbon if needed to stick together, however be careful of adding too much or they won’t be firm
How much butter did you end up using? Having same problem, just a powdery mix.
You say your recipe is correct. Yet , the cream that you talk about is not on your recipe. So what type of cream????
It is correct. “Cream butter and sugar together in an electric mixer until smooth” as in “Mix butter and sugar together….”
I followed the above recipe measurements and my butter and sugar did not cream either. I ended up using total of 1/2 c butter and added a few tbsp more of burbon and a little more powdered sugar and it finally creamed. It is in fridge now.
To CREAM OR CREAMING, is a cooking term used to blend sugar and butter thoroughly until smooth and creamy. No cream is added, it’s just a mixing term.
In the recipe yiu have 3T of boubon to mix with pecans. In comments 3T cream to be mixed with chocolate. I’m confused if the bourbon amount is correct.
3 T bourbon with pecan. no cream in chocolate
Can these be frozen then thawed prior to use?
yes, I typically make a lot early then freeze for Christmas gifts