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My Grandma always made these Rum Balls and they’re definitely a favorite in our family. Best of all, they need only 4 ingredients and no baking required!
Spread some holiday cheer to your adult friends. These treats pack a punch that makes the cookie tray season just a little bit brighter!
This rum balls recipe is definitely a tradition that I look forward to every holiday season. My Grandma made legendary rum balls, known far and wide by everyone that loved her.
The secret is how easy they are with just 4 ingredients (plus sprinkles). They’re so good and last for a couple of weeks in the fridge making them perfect for gifting too.
Just 4 Ingredients!
- The base of this recipe is Oreo cookies (including the middles).
- Walnuts are crushed and added to the mix. If you can’t use nuts, swap in some graham crumbs (or crushed vanilla wafers) but you’ll need to add some extra cream. (Even if you don’t like walnuts, I’d recommend giving them a try in this recipe). Pecans would be a suitable substitution.
- Rum is what gives these rum balls a slightly boozy spiced flavor. Use dark rum for the best results (and use the leftover rum to spike your eggnog). (Swap out the rum and make bourbon balls if you’d prefer).
- Heavy cream gives these just the right consistency.
How to Make Rum Balls
1. Crush the Oreo cookies and walnuts per the recipe below. I pulse them in a food processor (which makes this super fast and easy) but you can place them in a freezer bag and crush them with a rolling pin. They should be crushed quite fine.
2. Add in cream and rum to get a consistency that sticks together. Keep in mind that the mixture will soak up the liquid and thicken a tiny bit more as they sit.
3. Roll into balls and then roll in sprinkles. Use a small cookie scoop to make even 1-inch balls. Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate at least 48 hours before serving (longer is better).
To Make Rum Balls WITHOUT Rum, substitute the rum for 1 teaspoon of rum extract. You may need a little bit extra cream.
Tips & Tricks
When making Rum Balls for the holidays, here are a few tricks to make them taste almost as good as my grandma’s (the only thing that is missing is the love she poured into hers).
- Use dark rum for rum balls, it adds the best flavor.
- Make sure you crush the ingredients before measuring for accuracy
- Chop or process the nuts so they are fairly fine but still have a few little chunks. You don’t want them too fine (or to turn into a peanut butter consistency).
- To make these alcohol free, substitute the rum for 1 teaspoon extract (add extra cream if needed).
- Once all of the ingredients are combined, ensure they form a ball that holds its shape and isn’t too soft. If you find your mixture to be very soft, crush a few more cookies (any kind o hard cookie if you run out of Oreos) and stir them in.
- IMPORTANT: To decorate, place just a small amount of sprinkles in a bowl and roll the rum ball pressing to stick. The sprinkles can get oily and won’t stick so work in small batches.
While we’ve always had them dipped in chocolate sprinkles, you can dip them in anything you like from coconut or cocoa powder to sprinkles or chopped chocolate. Don’t skip the 2 days of sitting, it adds a lot of extra flavor to these!
More No Bake Christmas Desserts
- Cookie Balls
- Caramel Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods
- Ritz Cracker Thin Mints
- Chocolate Cashew Clusters
- Fantasy Fudge
- Hot Chocolate Bombs
- Pecan Christmas Crack
- Easy Microwave Caramels
Did you enjoy these Rum Balls? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Easy 4 Ingredient Rum Balls
Ingredients
- 3 cups crushed Oreos whole cookies including the middles
- 1 ½ cups finely chopped walnuts
- 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- ¼ to ⅓ cup dark rum
Optional Coatings
- sprinkles cocoa powder
- coconut flakes chopped nuts
Instructions
- Pulse Oreos in a food processor until you have 3 cups. Set aside.
- Pulse walnuts in a food processor until you have 1 ½ cups.
- Combine crushed Oreos, walnuts, cream in a medium bowl and mix well.
- Add rum starting with ¼ cup and adding more if needed to create a consistency that holds its shape when rolled. (If you add too much and they are too soft, add in more cookie crumbs to get desired consistency, note that the crumbs do soak up the liquids as they sit).
- Using a small scoop (or melon baller) scoop dough and roll into balls.
- Roll in sprinkles. Refrigerate 2 days before serving.
Notes
- Use dark rum for rum balls, it adds the best flavor.
- Make sure you crush the ingredients before measuring for accuracy
- Chop or process the nuts so they are fairly fine but still have a few little chunks. You don't want them too fine (or to turn into a peanut butter consistency).
- To make these alcohol-free, substitute the rum for 1 teaspoon extract (add extra cream if needed).
- Once all of the ingredients are combined, ensure they form a ball that holds its shape and isn't too soft. If you find your mixture to be very soft, crush a few more cookies (any kind o hard cookie if you run out of Oreos) and stir them in.
- To decorate, place just a small amount of sprinkles in a bowl and roll the rum ball pressing to stick. The sprinkles can get oily and won't stick so work in small batches.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
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Great and easy recipe!
I used a family pack of oreos, added a little just a little bit more nuts than the recipe calls for as well as 1/4 and a splash of Bourbon and the balls rolled GREAT! I am going to dip them in chocolate! My family is going to LOVE these! Next time I will try them with Rum (but I only had Bourbon this time ) Thank you for this GREAT recipe!!
You’re welcome Christa! It’s a family tradition!!
I love this recipe! I am by no means a cook, but I can follow this recipe without any issues. I have brought these to every holiday party I have attended and always get compliments. I substitute candy cane cookies to make them more seasonally festive.
What did I do wrong? I just finished making these and shoving them in the freezer. I’m nervous to try to put these in the fridge.
I doubled the recipe – I used 6 tbsp cream, 1/2 cup of bourbon, an entire family size package of Oreo crumbs (with the middles), and slightly less than 3 cups of walnuts
Originally, I poured in the cream and it wasn’t coming together at all. Then I added 1/2 cup of bourbon (again, double batch), and I realized I should’ve drizzled it in while stirring because it was way too soft. So I added more crumbs and more crumbs and more crumbs, until I added the entire package worth (well over 8 cups of crumbs in all). After sitting for a bit, the consistency was solid enough for me to actually roll them. But even then, they are so soft. I am worried if I try to keep them out of the freezer they’ll just be mush.
They also don’t taste that great, but it’s day 1 so I realize maybe in a couple days they’ll taste better. And maybe rum would taste better but regardless, i wouldn’t consider this “easy”. But also I barely taste the alcohol anyways??
I know if I had drizzled in less than the 1/4 cup I would’ve been better off, but then you really wouldn’t taste any alcohol. Is this just a product of time? What did I mess up??
A family size package (19.1 oz) of Oreo cookies has about 48 cookies which equals 4 cups of crumbs total (12 Oreos will make about 1 cup of crumbs). This would mean that you were likely 2 cups short on crumbs for a double recipe if you used a full package of family-sized Oreos.
Did you crush your own whole Oreo cookies (packaged Oreo crumbs do not have the right consistency)? Did you measure 3 cups of Oreos after they were crushed (or 6 if doubling).
As you changed the alcohol, this will change the flavor. As mentioned in the post, the flavor intensifies as they sit so be sure to let them sit at least 2 days before eating. Hope this helps!
Instead of sprinkles, can these balls be dipped in melted chocolate?
I’ve never tried dipping these rum balls. Sounds delicious though! Let us know if you try dipping them Isabeau!
Have you tried freezing these. I need to make ca large batch for party and wondered how that would work
These freeze perfectly Meredith. They also last for a long time in the fridge (the rum helps :))!
Do you have to use nuts in this recipe
Hi Donna, we have not made these omitting the nuts but other readers have with great success. Let us know how they turn out!
It’s ok. Like the sprinkles for coating. If you don’t have a food processor and use a ziplock bag and rolling pin to crush the cookies it is very messy and the cream from the cookies sticks to the bag.had a lot of wasted cream and crumbs stuck on the bag. The vanilla wafer recipes turn out better and not as messy.
I will be making these for gifts. The serving says 12 – does that mean 12 balls in total approximately? Thank you ❤️
This should make about 48 rum balls.
I made these tonight and they measured out to your exact measurements – 48 rum balls exactly. Thank you so much ❤️
You’re welcome Ivy! Enjoy!
I made these rum balls for my son last Christmas and he absolutely loved them. I will be making them again and again.
Enjoy Jennifer! Lucky son :)
Is there any way to make these Gluten Free?
I haven’t tried making these gluten free. If you used a GF “Oreo” style cookie it might work.
Can you please confirm how many Oreos yield 3 cups crushed?
I’d say about 36-40.
Hi – I’m about to make this for a cookie exchange. Can you recommend a brand of dark rum that would pair well with this? I don’t drink rum so I’ve been reading some brands have too much molasses flavor in the rum etc
Please recommend
Thanks!
Any brand will work just fine, I would use something fairly inexpensive.
what is heavy cream?
It is sometimes also called whipping cream. I hope this helps.
These rum balls are amazing and so easy to make. My mother-in-law passed away and used to make rum balls for the family holidays. She forgot to leave me her recipe, so I had to search for a new recipe and came across this one. It is very flavorful and my daughter suggested trying other oreo cookie flavors to add variety to the chocolate kind. Thank you for posting your recipe.
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Can you make these without the nuts? Would I have to substitute in something else?
I have only tried this as written. I do think that you could increase the amount of cookies to get the correct consistency. It would taste a bit different, but I think it would still be delicious. If you try making the recipe without nuts, please let us know how it works out for you!
We made these for Christmas without nuts. Absolutely delicious. We rolled them in chocolate sprinkled with a few green sprinkles in other mix. Everyone loved them!
We made these for Christmas without nuts. Absolutely delicious. We rolled them in chocolate sprinkles with a few green sprinkles in the mix. Everyone loved them!
I love your pizza and pasta expeshely your cohcolate and orio pizza
So instead of oreos, it’s ok to use other cookies then like the graham crackers or what if I wanted to use a vanilla cookie coukd I use that instead?
I have only made by the recipe, however any other cookie should work. You may need to add a bit more liquid as you will not have the creamy layer inside the Oreo.
Complete success love everything about this recipe
I’m so glad you loved these Lorraine!
I just made rum balls the other day too! I rolled mine in powdered sugar and used graham crackers. I LOVE the chocolatey direction you went in with these – chocolate sprinkles and Oreos – mmm! Sugar + booze in one bite = perfection!
LOL! Thank you Averie, that’s exactly how my grandma used to make them! :)
I wonder what is the extract, that can be substituted for the rum? Is that the vanilla extract? Thank you.
That would be Rum Extract. It’s available online or at most grocery stores in the baking aisle.