Vegan Rum Balls Recipe

makes 40 1-tablespoon portions

I know that it is a little late to be publishing a recipe for rum balls but I just HAVE to show you my mums amazing creation. I really don't think that it has to be Christmas time for you to indulge in the rummy deliciousness of rum balls and you should make them all year round. On Christmas day my mum brought these AMAZING vegan rum balls for us all to eat and omg they are delicious. I think I ate about 10 of them! We had a really nice and relaxing vegan Christmas at the river and we set up a tent and towels and swam all day, used the bodyboards and played volleyball. The weather was so so so so hot and it was lovely to swim around the cool water with the cute little fishies. Instead of doing a massive Christmas lunch we had a really good idea for each of us to bring one salad and then just eat a little bit of everything... with the hot weather, the salads were nice and light so that we could still run around in the sand. Anyway, these rum balls are absolutely amazing because they are nearly made completely from raw fruits and nuts so they are really filling and really dense. So amazing! The only naughty things are the rum and the dark chocolate, but they aren't too naughty... especially for Christmas day. :) 

   3 cups dried dates

   4 tablespoons rum
   1 teaspoon vanilla extract

   1/2 cup raw walnuts

   1/2 cup raw cashews

   1 cup raw brazil nuts
   2 cups desiccated coconut (plus more to roll in)
   100g dark 70% cocoa chocolate. melted

1. In a food processor, add the dates, rum, vanilla extract, walnuts, cashews and brazil nuts and pulse three times or so until roughly chopped.
2. Drizzle in the melted chocolate and pulse a few more times until the chocolate is evenly combined throughout the mixture and the nuts and fruit are finely chopped.
3. Spoon out the mixture into a bowl.
4. Add the coconut to the bowl and stir or use your hands to incorporate the coconut into the rum ball mixture.
5. Once combined, dampen your hands if needed and use a heaped-tablespoon measure of the mixture and roll it into balls and then into the desiccated coconut. (It should make approximately 40 rum balls.)
6. Refrigerate for an hour or so to allow them to harden and then eat immediately.

• Feel free to use any types of nuts that you have on hand... just make sure you use 2 cups of raw nuts. 
• If you like a more rum-ish taste, add more rum! 
• If needed, dampen your hands to help roll the mixture.
• Use a dark chocolate that has 70% or more cocoa content to ensure that dark chocolatey taste. Feel free to add more chocolate if desired. 
• I think that they taste even BETTER the next day!

• These look beautiful served in a nice jar or in a cute little box with a little bit of twine.
• Serve on a large platter with other truffles for that delicious surprise.

The nutrition information above is an approximate guideline. 

Jerome, Sherman, Pickle, Mr Sniffles and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you the best for the new year!