RUM BALLS RECIPE AND PHOTOS

One of the things I love is cookies, so at Christmas, I make sure there are plenty of them to be had, always baking at least six kinds, and sometimes more. I used to start in October, putting the dough together and freezing it until December, but now all that baking just get squooshed into the week before Christmas.

I was supposed to do the rum balls Monday, so they'd have a week to sit, and be ready for the first family get-together on the 22nd, but I forgot. Well, the flavors won't be quite as blended and melded as they might have been, but having *hic* tried them immediately after putting them together this *hic* afternoon, I can say probably nobody will be complaining.

Here's what you'll need:

2 1/2 cups crushed gingersnaps
1 1/2 cups finely ground pecans
1/2 cup honey
6 Tablespoons rum
Powdered sugar to roll rum balls in

Crush the gingersnaps. I used a rolling pin and plastic bag, my usual method, but after I did the pecans with the Salad Shooter, I was kind of slapping my forehead. Next time, I'll used the Shooter for the gingersnaps, too.


After crushing the gingersnaps, grind the pecans. Use your Salad Shooter. Or whatever works.


Mix all the ingredients together, except for the powdered sugar, until the dough forms a sticky mass.


Pinch off bits of dough and form into balls, and roll balls in the powdered sugar.


Let the rum balls sit for a week. My cook book doesn't say what sort of container to use for that, but I'll probably put them in a plastic container with a paper towel on top.

This was the first time I've tried this recipe, and the cookies are yummy, but the dough seemed much too gooey to me. I ended up crushing another cup's worth of gingersnaps, and adding them and another 1/2 cup of the ground pecans, too. You may or may not have to do that, probably depending on the brand of gingersnaps you use.

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