Kentucky Bourbon Balls Recipe

This is how I fixed them. The only thing is I roll them out and put tooth picks in them then freeze for an hour or so until very hard. Then I just peel them off the paper and dip in the chocolate one at a time. After they cool I take out the tooth picks. If they get soft just pop back in the freezer.

I doubled the butter (unsalted) and confectionary sugar and used 2 cups of ground pecans and one cup of 100 proof (or higher)KY bourbon . Mixed the pecans and bourbon in sealable glass container and refrigerated for at least 24hrs or more. Mixed all ingredients in a stand mixer. Roll balls out and freeze before dipping. Perfect and lots of compliments from consumers of this treat. KY gal here!

Ok... i am about to share a GAME CHANGER tip. take the Pecans and toast them in a toaster oven before you do anything else. Pick the best ones out for the top. the rest get a blip or 2 in a blender/chopper to even out sizes. The toasting changes the flavor entirely! Well worth the extra step

I have used this recipe for over 40 years and they are always perfect. I use dipping chocolate because using paraffin is not supposed to be consumed (read the warning on the box). I purchase my dipping chocolate at a cake/candy store or you can purchase on-line. Wilton makes dipping "melts" in milk chocolate, white chocolate, semi-sweet and dark chocolate and is available at Wal-Mart. I chop my pecans very fine, cover with bourbon and do not put a nut on the top. Good quality bourbon, butter and powdered sugar insure a good product. My dipping chocolate is melted at half power in the microwave (stirring often because it will scorch) since even one drop of water ruins your chocolate.

Made multiple batches for an organization event. They came out lovely and the flavor was spot one. You can get about 25 one-inch balls per recipe. I put 5 cups of chopped pecans into a quart jar, adding 5 tablespoons of bourbon after each cup of pecans. I rotated the jar for 2 days so the nuts absorbed al the liquid. Making a double batch per heavy duty mixer worked great. I coated the first 100 with semisweet chocolate & a pecan then coated the last 50 with unsweetened ghirradelli cocoa. The stronger bourbon flavor came through with the cocoa, although the chocolate were fabulous. Considering the work and mess involved with melted chocolate, I'll have not problem coating them all with cocoa in the future.

WOW!! First time making but definitely not the last. I did soak the nuts in a mason jar. Add enough bourbon (Willett) to just cover them then just rotated the jar throughout the week. Used a slotted spoon to remove from the jar into the butter/sugar mixture. Came out perfect. Put rolled balls in freezer for 30 minutes. I used melted chocolate almond bark (used 1/2 of a 24 oz package) and a fork to coat. They are so creamy and delicious!!

Super easy to make(bourbon,butter, pecans and chocolate best combination EVER). After I soaked the pecans overnight I blitzed them in a food processor to make them a more consistent size. I used a small cookie scoop to make the balls, and also froze the balls so they were easier to dip in the chocolate. Will become a much used recipe

If you make the recipe as given into 3/4 inch balls ,then count on having more. I doubled the recipe meticulously sticking with the 3/4 inch size. I ended up with 7.5 dozen balls. I suggest that you make each ball as small as possible (1/2 inch). Also, I recommend soaking the pecans longer than one night; especially if you like bourbon (who wouldn't!). I did add about 2 T. of bourbon to the BUTTER mix thinking it was too dry. This was a great idea! I then put the butter balls in the freezer since I had an errand to run. DO NOT ADD BOURBON to the chocolate. Rookie mistake! It will set up your chocolate in the double boiler like a rock in two seconds. (Can you tell I like the bourbon taste) I read that many folks say using toothpicks work, but I found that a dinner fork is faster. Keep a rubber spatula in the chocolate using it to scrape off excess chocolate. My maternal grandparents are from Kentucky so this will be a great Mother's day gift!

Perfect recipe and easy, use the whole 16 oz box of powdered sugar and don’t drain the nuts! The sugar and butter looked very dry (still like powdered sugar) after mixing. I was going to drain the nuts after reading some of the reviews that said to, BUT DON’T. That tiny bit of extra liquid brought it together perfectly. I used my stand mixer and a cookie scoop for the balls. The scoop eliminated the mess of rolling the balls and they looked perfect! And they are delicious! The photo is before dipping.

I have made these for years only I have always used unsweet chocolate. The contrast between the sweet and unsweet is great. And we store and eat them from the freezer. I use 1 stick butter per 1 lb of sugar with a tad of burbon poured in. stir till it looks like play dough then we take a pecan that is soaked in burbon and form a ball of dough around that, freeze anywhere from an hour or a few days (depends on when I have time to dip them) then we dip them. I make anywhere from 500 to 2000 for christmas. My husband owns a business and he gave them away as a gift one year and people always ask when were gonna make them. We use a fork to dip let the chocolate run off the tines of the flat fork.

Taste was phenomenal, filling was a little hard to work with. I doubled the recipe. For those having a hard time with the butter and sugar, it's just like making a buttercream frosting--make sure your butter is nice and softened, then stir it a bit until it's smooth, then stir in the confectioner's sugar a cup at a time or so. I did it by hand, but a mixer would make it much easier. It was REALLY stiff until I added the bourbon-soaked nuts, at which point it became really soft--to the point that I stirred in a bunch more confectioner's sugar to try to stiffen it up. Didn't work, so I threw the bowl in the freezer for an hour. After that, I was able to shape the filling into balls (working quickly, with well-greased hands, and sticking them back in the freezer the moment I had a tray completed!). Froze for ~15 min, then would take out a tray, dip a few in chocolate, then put the tray back in the freezer for another 15 min when they got too soft. Added a couple Tbls of canola oil to the chocolate to thin it out, but the chocolate coating still ended up being REALLY thick--it kind of overpowered the bourbon flavor. Definitely make the filling balls smaller than you think you need to, though--mine turned out massive after adding the chocolate coating!

So good, I’m speechless!

We liked this , but will tweak it next time. I wanted more bourbon flavor, so will add more . Also wasn't a fan of how much butter was in it. Will substitute half the butter for coconut oil, and half the powdered sugar for pecan flour, because it was very sweet. I didn't dunk the whole cookie in the chocolate, but rolled them in powdered hot chocolate mix, chilled them with the toothpick in, then dipped them on one side in the melted chocolate, and then into pink sugar crystals or other candy decorations instead of the pecan half. Overall, a tasty bite. Thank you for sharing!

I’m soaking whole pecans in peanut butter whiskey to garnish the tops after I dip them.

Kentucky Bourbon Balls are a delightful treat, combining the rich flavor of bourbon with chocolate and nuts. Perfect for holiday gatherings or as a unique dessert! 🥃🍫

So much flavor, I’m impressed.

Trying it out this weekend.. but replaced the regular bourbon with Honey bourbon…. The pecans and honey should pair well together…

I have been making bourbon balls for 60 years. I've found that black walnuts work best for complimenting the bourbon. Regular walnuts just don't cut it.

Made these last Christmas and plan to make them again this year. I make them essentially like buckeye balls. Make sure the nuts are chopped finely and when added to the sugar and butter to make the balls, freeze them immediately. Just like I do with the buckeye balls I melt the chocolate chips and add some paraffin to make it easy to dip. Stick toothpicks in them before dipping. Lay them out on wax paper and when the chocolate is hard, put them back in the freezer. Doesn’t take long to thaw out at room temperature and then eat as many as you want whenever you want.

They tasted really awesome but I had a challenge with the chocolate dip. We are going to keep working at it to develop a good technique.