These holiday goodies taste better when allowed to “ripen” overnight so that the bourbon flavor can permeate the cookie. They make a nice little Christmas gift when packaged in a decorative, airtight tin. As their name implies, these ball-shaped cookies contain real bourbon whiskey, so they're not for teetotalers. Use a high-quality bourbon for the best results. Added bonus: no baking is required!
Ingredients for Cookies
1 eleven-ounce box of vanilla wafers
1 ¼ cup finely chopped pecans
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons dark corn syrup
1/3 cup bourbon whiskey
Ingredients for Rolling Cookies
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
Directions
Pulverize the vanilla wafers in a food processor, or put them in a gallon freezer bag, zip it closed, and crush them with a rolling pin. Chop the pecans into very small pieces. Put the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and slowly add the dark corn syrup and the bourbon. Mix the ingredients well until the dough holds together when formed into small balls. Set the cookie mixture aside and combine the cocoa and powdered sugar for rolling the cookies. Mix well. Form the dough into balls about 1 to 1 ¼ inch in diameter. Dust your hands (or your gloved hands) with powdered sugar, and roll each ball in the cocoa-powdered sugar mixture until it's completely covered. Store in an airtight container. Let the bourbon balls sit to “ripen” for at least 24 hours before serving them.
Makes about four dozen bourbon balls.