Make these Kentucky Chocolate Bourbon Balls by dipping a bourbon-infused buttercream frosting in dark chocolate! and topping each with a pecan for a party-perfect look. They’re sweet with a little kick. Great for enjoying during the holidays or while watching the Kentucky Derby!
If you love bourbon recipes, make sure to check out this Bread Pudding with Bourbon Caramel Sauce and these Maple Bourbon Candied Pecans!
What Are Kentucky Bourbon Balls?
Kentucky Bourbon Balls were invented in 1938 by Ruth Booe, the confectioner behind Frankfort, Kentucky’s Rebecca Ruth Candies. The company still sells her original Bourbon Balls candies made with a bourbon-infused cream center that has been dipped in dark chocolate and topped with a whole pecan.
How to Make Bourbon Balls
This Bourbon Ball recipe is similar to Ruth Booe’s. Which means unlike other recipes, it doesn’t include chopped pecans, vanilla wafer crumbs, or corn syrup.
Instead you’ll use electric mixer to combine butter, powdered sugar, bourbon, salt, and vanilla extract together into a cream filling. Roll these into 1-inch balls and let those harden in the freezer. Finally, dip each bourbon ball in dark chocolate and top it with a whole pecan.
If you don’t like chocolate, you can take the hardened cream balls and roll them in powdered sugar or cocoa powder, but it’ll change the whole taste and I haven’t tested this. (If you do this, let me know in the comments how it goes!)
To make this recipe easy and accessible, I didn’t temper the chocolate, so you’ll need to store them in the fridge, but if you wish to temper the chocolate, you can store them at room temperature. Unless it’s really hot out in which case they’ll melt. Also, if you don’t have parchment paper, you can use waxed paper instead. I just have 200 pre-cut sheets of parchment on hand, so it’s my go-to.
What Kind of Bourbon Should I Use?
Everyone always says, don’t use the good stuff when you bake! But, since these are no-bake balls, I think it really behooves you to use your favorite bourbon as you’ll be adding a 1/4 cup of bourbon and the flavor will come through. That said, if you want to call them Kentucky Bourbon Balls, you should use Kentucky Bourbon.
A few Kentucky Bourbons to consider for this recipe:
- Buffalo Trace
- Blanton’s
- Evan Williams (what Rebecca Ruth’s use)
- Maker’s Mark
- Weller
- Woodford Reserve
What If I Don’t Like Bourbon?
Uh, try a different recipe? Or, you could swap out the bourbon in the recipe for rum and make rum balls. I’d like to find a way to make tequila balls as tequila and absinthe are my other two favorite spirits, but experimenting with one liquor at a time seemed wise so I didn’t end up like this tipsy music note.
Kentucky Bourbon Balls Recipe
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 3½ cups powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp. coarse kosher salt
- ¼ cup Kentucky bourbon
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
- 40 whole pecans
Instructions
- Combine butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in electric mixer on medium speed until it is fully combined.
- Add salt and bourbon and mix until combined. Place mixing bowl in fridge for 30 minutes.
- Scoop into 1-inch balls and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper or waxed paper.
- Place baking sheet in freezer for 30 minutes.
- Melt chocolate and coconut oil in microwave for up to 3 minutes at 50% power. Stir every 30 seconds until fully melted.
- Use dipping fork or toothpick to dip frozen balls in chocolate. Place each on parchment paper and top with a pecan.
Notes
Rebecca Swanner
My background is in publishing (I've worked at Parade, Men's Journal, Us Weekly, Stuff, Blender, Beachbody, and more), mostly with a focus in health, fitness, and entertainment. I've also run my own baking company and competed on Cupcake Wars, so hit me up with your baking questions!
For more details, check out my full bio or follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
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These look delicious!
YUM! These truffles look and sound so delicious! The bourbon addition must be so good and I bet these smell amazing too!
Wow, bet the flavour of these is incredible! Definitely going to have to give these a try as a different dessert option one day!
These look so yummy, great for a party or as a gift!
Talk abut decadent!
I’m thinking these will take front stage at next year’s Kentucky Derby party!
Great recipe … Made a batch of bourbon balls and liked it so much I decided to experiment and replaced the bourbon with Diplomatico Rum and made rum balls with an almond on top. These will be a holiday staple from now on.
I’m so glad you liked those! Rum balls sound pretty incredible… might have to try them!
I followed the recipe but they were too creamy to roll into balls. It tasted good though when I licked the goo off my fingers. Then I added more powered sugar and they were too crumbly to form into balls. I triple checked that I measured correctly. Any suggestions?
Hi Dana! Thanks for leaving a comment. Did you freeze them for 30 minutes?
try adding more butter. or use your favorite butter cream recipe
I tried twice to make these and both times the consistency was not firm enough to roll in balls or even dip in the chocolate. The first time I added more butter like a previous commenter suggested. The second time I added more sugar. Freezing them longer didn’t work. I wasted a lot of time and ingredients. I’m sorry to give this such a poor rating but I’m just giving my honest review of this.
Oh no! I’m so sorry! We will test the recipe one more time and try and sort what’s up.
Can you use milk chocolate instead of dark?
Definitely!
How long will they last in refrigerator?
Hi! You can definitely use milk instead (I just prefer dark as they’re pretty sweet as is.) They should last at least a week in a sealed container in the fridge.
These look beautiful and taste fantastic! I do prefer the double boiler method over microwave for melting chocolate, that way I can keep chocolate warm as I work. Followed the recipe otherwise and they were perfect, thank you!
I often find that the frosting interior is too soft to roll into balls, so I’ve tried a different method-I use a wide frosting tip to pipe the filling into long ropes, then once they’re firmed up in the freezer I use a sharp knife dipped in hot water to slice them into thick medallions (think Rolo sized) before dipping them. The finished product is slightly less rounded on top, but it’s much easier and saves a lot of mess!
I’m making your bourbon balls and bought melting chocolate instead of chocolate chips. Would I still need to add the coconut oil?