Bourbon Balls

I've been looking for a while for recipes for Bourbon balls.  My sister got one that has been in the family.  My Aunt Monk (short for Monica) was apparently famous for her bourbon balls.

Aunt Monk's Bourbon Balls

1 lb. confectioner's sugar

1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts are great)

6 tablespoons Old Granddad Bourbon

1 stick butter, less 3/4"

6 squares Baker's Chocolate

Paraffin equal to 1 1/2 squares chocolate.

Finely chop nuts and pour bourbon over them.  Refrigerate overnight.  Mix nuts, sugar, and butter (use hands).  Form into balls.  Refrigerate until set.  Melt chocolate.  Dip balls in chocolate.  Return to fridge.

This weekend I made two batches.  I did change a little bit of the recipe.  I used Buffalo Trace bourbon and chopped up pecans instead of walnuts.  I also used mostly whole pecans and put those on top.  That's just the way that I like my bourbon balls.

First Batch - A Learning Process

The first batch tasted great, but it looked a little shabby.  The bourbon balls didn't set very well, so when I dipped them, they started melting.  So the chocolate had all kinds of extra sugar and pecan pieces in it, making the ones I dipped after very bumpy.  I also used about half milk chocolate, which apparently is more difficult to work with when melted.

 Second Bath Success

These looked much, much better!  I got some good tips from my sister about how to melt the chocolate, and I only used semi-sweet.  The last few I dipped (the three on the left in this pic) were still a little rough, but that was only because I didn't have much chocolate left to dip those.  Still tasted great!

I think this will definitely be a recipe I go back to every Christmas season!