It’s the #FreakyFriday Winter Edition! These Black Forest Rum Balls are full of chocolate and cherry flavors. It’s the perfect little dessert bite.
It’s the #FreakyFriday Winter Edition! Me and a group of bloggers participate in this event we call Freaky Friday. You remember that movie, right?
The original movie came out in 1976 with Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster. Then there was that remake in 2003 with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. You know the one. It’s where they swapped lives for the day?
Anyway, this is sort of similar to that. Freaky Friday the blogger edition is one day where we swap blogs for the day. Meaning, we make something from another blog and all share what we made on the same day. It’s fun!!
So, for this go around, I was assigned Life Currents. Deb has been a vegetarian for over 20 years, but recently introduced sustainable seafood into her diet. Her blog is about her healthy cooking, healthy eating, and the currents of life she flows through. I love that image of life currents. You can either go with the flow or steer your path and take a small tributary.
She was also included in the book How to Grow Your Blog. How cool is that? It’s full of information, tips, and tricks to help make your blog successful. It’s not just fluff stuff you can find on the internet. There are meat and potatoes to these tips and tricks. I can’t wait to read it.
And then there’s the recipes! Since this edition is about holiday baking or something you’d bring to a cookie swap, I headed to the desserts section. I’m all cookied out, so I was looking for something different to make this go around. Stay tuned next week when you see why I’m all cookied out.
I was looking for something small, simple, and delicious! At first I thought about these nuts & berries clusters. I can’t pass up a delicious bite of dark chocolate like these. Especially if you put some tart, dried cranberries in there with a little crunch from pistachio or almond. Mmmmm.
If you know me, you know I can’t pass up anything with peanut butter in it! So I thought about these no bake peanut butter cookie truffles. I may still make those for the holiday party. We’ll see. Along the same lines, I found these chocolate peanut butter pretzel rods. Yeah. That has my name written all over it. This salted caramel chocolate pretzel bark does, too. It looks like it tastes similar to Mom’s matzo crack.
Finally, I found the perfect recipe! You see, we were talking the other about rum balls. Then I chimed in about my bourbon balls. I’ll have to share that recipe at some point, but not today. So, that put either rum balls or bourbon balls in my head to make for the holidays. You can imagine my delight when I stumbled on these boozy black forest rum balls.
However, much to my dismay I couldn’t find black forest rum. So, I had to make a few alterations to the recipe. I used cherry rakia, or a cherry wine almost like a cherry brandy. I had to omit the coconut. The hubs doesn’t do coconut. To enhance that black forest flavor, I put a maraschino cherry in the center of each of the truffles. I have to say, I think I found me a new crack.
I know, that word gets used a lot, but I couldn’t help but eat these delicious gems of chocolate and cherry goodness. Black Forest cake is on of my absolute favorites. The chocolate and cherry combination are almost as delicious as chocolate and peanut butter. I said ALMOST!
I hope you scroll down and see what the other bloggers are sharing today. And please make sure to follow Life Currents on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Stumble Upon.
Black Forest Rum Balls
These Black Forest Rum Balls are full of chocolate and cherry flavors. It's the perfect little dessert bite.
Ingredients
- 2 cups vanilla wafers
- 1 cup toasted almonds
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup Black Cherry Rum (or cherry brandy, cherry juice, or maraschino cherry juice)
- 16 maraschino cherries
- 24 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
Instructions
- Place the cookies, almonds, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder in a food processor. Process until the ingredients are finely ground.
- With the processor running, slowly drizzle the rum (or brandy) onto to eh crumb mixture. Continue to slowly add the liquid until the crumb mixture comes together and will hold its shape when formed into a ball.
- Scoop 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture. Place a cherry in the center and form the cookie dough around the cherry. Place on a plate and continue scooping and forming balls until all the crumb mixture is used up. Place the plate in a refrigerator to chill at least 1 hour.
- Melt the chocolate by placing in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Stir and heat at additional 30 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
- Carefully dip each of the balls into the chocolate and place on parchment on a plate. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
#FreakyFriday Cookie Exchange
- An Affair from the Heart – Mocha Rum Balls
- A Dish of Daily Life – Cherry Pie Cookies
- A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures – Black Forest Rum Balls
- Bacon Fatte – Mexican Wedding Cookies
- The Devilish Dish – Rosé Meringue Cookies
- The Foodie Affair – No Bake Cookie ~ Copycat Samoas
- Full Belly Sisters – Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Hostess at Heart – Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars
- LeMoine Family Kitchen – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dippers
- Life Currents – Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies
- Mildly Meandering – Vanilla Bean Pizzelle Cookies
- Pic Nic – Lemon and Blueberry Bars
- Plattertalk – White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Take Two Tapas – Savory Pecan Cornmeal Biscotti Bites
- Seduction in the Kitchen – Orange Snowball Cookies
- Who Needs a Cape? – Almond Raspberry Thumbprints
Michele @ Bacon Fatte says
I just love the thought of these black forest rum balls… Can’t wait to make them!
Chris says
They were delicious! I still have some of the mix to make balls. I see what I’m doing the rest of the afternoon.
Michelle says
These are so perfect for holiday entertaining!
Chris says
Absolutely!!
Michaela Kenkel says
These are perfectly Christmasy in EVERY way!! <3
Chris says
Thank you! They are quite festive with the cherry in the middle.
Madi says
What a delicious dessert! I can’t wait to make these!
Chris says
I hope you enjoy them!
Julie says
These are the perfect treat for adult holiday gatherings and would be perfect for gifting.
Chris says
Oh yes! Perfect for gifting! For the virgin version you could use the maraschino cherry juice instead. But, I like the cherry brandy. So good.
Sandra says
The extra chocolate coating on these rum balls make these look like they’re from a bakery! Great recipe choice!
Chris says
Thank you! I had such issues coating them. You have no idea. LOL
Angela says
Wow! Whats not to love about these!!! That cherry in the center is perfection! I need to make a batch or two of these soon! What a great idea for a cookie swap party!
Chris says
Thank you! They would a great swap recipe. They’re super simple and delicious.
Lori Vachon says
Black Forest Cake and rum are both amazing let alone combined!!! YES!
Chris says
That’s what I said! They’re so delicious together.
justine says
These are a gorgeous holiday treat!
Chris says
Thank you!
Nicole says
Oh my!! YES PLEASE!! I loooove black forest so I’m all over these. Love the cheeky cherry in the middle there 🙂
Chris says
Me, too! That’s why I made them. And the cherry is the cherry on top so to speak. LOL
Deanna says
Ohhh these look so good!!! YUM!
Chris says
Thank you!
debi at Life Currents says
Grandma’s recipe was always fun, and everyone loved it! I like your twists on her basic recipe. In fact, I think the recipe is really fun to play around with. I need to make these again soon! Great job!
Chris says
Thank you! I had fun making them. It’s definitely a basic recipe you can alter to your likes and flavors. In fact, I have another similar recipe inspired by these that’ll be shared soon.
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness says
These rum balls look so good! I have actually never made rum balls before, but it looks like you took them to the next level!
Chris says
I gave two lucky people at work a sample. They LOVED them. This recipe is a keeper for sure!
Dan from Platter Talk says
What a perfect job you have done in making these tasty little treats of all things DELICIOUS! It’s really hard to say which part of them that I like the most but I don’t think I would be dwelling on that factor as I popped a handful of these into my mouth, fantastic job as always!
Chris says
HAH! I most certainly popped a handful in my mouth as I was making these. They’re fabulous and so simple. And dangerous! Because you can make these any time.
Candi says
I love the addition of the cherry! These look fantastic!
Chris says
Thank you! Thanks to the MIL we always have cherries in the house.