Luscious Balls (Bourbon Balls)

Everyone appreciates Lucious Balls!  Chocolate Bourbon balls with Hazelnuts, and Animal crackers- Oh My!

Savor our Adult-only boozy Chocolates! You will be able to taste the Bourbon flavor in our Luscious Balls-  it makes them complex and interesting.  A fantastic recipe you will want to share.

Our Luscious Balls offer up a powerful punch in a small bite. Make these no-bake treats as the perfect treat for your Bourbon-loving friends, or your next Kentucky Derby Party. 

Gift Luscious Balls .  Box them up as a party favor or host gift –  beautiful homemade present (So much better than store bought).

Use Milk-chocolate Melting wafers.  No need to cook your chocolate for long. As soon as you get a silky-smooth mix- you can transfer the ganache to a dish for cooling.

Why would I want to use melting wafers, instead of other kinds of chocolate?

Chocolate wafers,  melting wafers, candy melts, or melting chocolate – are disks of chocolate that are used as a coating on cookies, fruit, ice cream, candy, molded candy and desserts.  Wafers are compound chocolate, with vegetable oil in place of the cocoa butter. As a result, they are easy to melt and mold.

You will find melting wafers easier to use.   Additionally they offer consistent candy making and baking results with no tempering required.  Lastly you will love the smooth-as-silk texture and lustrous sheen this type of chocolate brings to dessert.

Make sure your ganache is cold enough- if it gets warm while you are making the balls, take a break and put it back in the freezer for a while.

Store in an airtight container, in the refrigerator or freezer- These Spiked Chocolate balls are soft and always better chilled.  So impressive to have a batch ready to serve.

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Fun Cuss Kitchen Merchandise 

Which Bourbon is best for Bourbon Balls?

Choose the best Bourbon to make the Best Bourbon balls!  Pick your favorite – Woodford Reserve , Angel’s Envy, 1792, Maker’s Mark, or Elijah Craig.  The taste will come through.  

Some History on Kentucky Bourbon Balls

Is Kentucky Bourbon Special?

Yes it is. Kentucky has 68 distilleries as of 2018, up 250% in the last decade.  More than 7.5 million barrels of Bourbon Whiskey currently sit in Kentucky Rickhouses.  There are more barrels of bourbon  in Kentucky than people!  It’s not an accident that Kentucky Bourbon has become an International sensation.

There is a very specific set of standards to which all bourbon makers must adhere. The Federal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits state that bourbon made for U.S. consumption must be:

• Produced in the United States
• Made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn.
• Aged in new, charred oak barrels
• Distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume)
• Entered into the container for aging at no more than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume)
• Bottled at 80 proof or more (40% alcohol by volume)

Could I get drunk eating Bourbon Balls?

Not likely.  This recipe uses a 1/4 of Bourbon mixed with approximately 1 1/2 cups of chocolate and cream, and 2 cups of nuts and animal crackers.  You would have to consume a whole lot!  On the other hand, these treats should not be served to children, anyone who is pregnant, or has nut allergies.

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5 from 57 votes

Luscious Balls

Bourbon Chocolate Truffles

Prep Time1 hour hr

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Alcohol-infused chocolate, boozy chocolate, Bourbon ball, Bourbon candy, Bourbon-soaked pecans, chocolate and Hazelnut candy, chocolate and hazelnut truffle, Chocolate Bourbon Pecan truffles, chocolate candy, chocolate truffle, gift chocolate, Holiday gift chocolate, Luscious balls, no-bake bourbon balls, no-bake dessert

Yield: 36 Truffles

Author: Tess Tickels

Equipment

• Baking Sheets

Materials

• 10 oz Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Melting Wafers
• ¼ cup Heavy Whipping cream
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• ¼ cup Your favorite Bourbon
• 1 cup Toasted and coarsely chopped Hazelnuts
• 1 cup Animal crackers (coarsely chopped)

Instructions

Prepare Ganache

• Slowly melt chocolate wafers in a double boiler
  
• Add Vanilla, Heavy cream, and Bourbon- and continue to stir until the mixture is smooth
• Transfer the chocolate mix to a pie dish and let cool for 15 minutes
• Cover and place ganache in the freezer for 1 hour

Prepare Truffle Topping

• Toast 1 cup of Hazelnuts for approximately 4 minutes, and then coarsely chop
• Coarsely chop 1 cup of animal crackers, and combine with Hazelnuts
• Put the mixture on a plate

Alternate Truffle Topping(boozier)

• Coarsely chop 1 cup pecans, and place in a small container
  
• Add ½ cup of Bourbon to the container and marinate the pecans.
• Let the topping sit for at least 30 minutes (Pecans should be slightly soft and wet-not bathing)

Complete your Lucious Balls

• Pull ganache from the freezer
• Shape 1 teaspoon of the ganache into a ball
• Roll the ball in the Hazelnut and Cracker mix
• Place on a tray- and repeat (You should get about 36 truffles)
• Place the tray in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
• Remove from the refrigerator and place on a serving tray