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This ‘Southern all the way around’ recipe for Fudgy Pecan Bourbon Balls may well be the quintessential symbol of Christmas in the South. These creamy, chocolatey balls taste like fudge but in a truffle shape. I’ve been making these no bake treats every Christmas for 15 years, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!
Enjoy these little bite sized treats with other Christmas desserts like cranberry orange cake and pineapple cherry nut cookies.
Quick Look: Fudgy Pecan Bourbon Balls Recipe
- ⏲️ Prep Time: 45 minutes
- ⏲️ Cook Time: 15 minutes
- ⏲️ Total Time: 4 hours (including 3 hours of chilling time)
- 👨👩👧👦 Servings: 24 balls
- 🌽 Cuisine & Heritage: Classic American Southern
- 🍽️ Calories: 95 calories per serving (more nutritional info in recipe card)
- 🥦 Dietary Info: Gluten Free, Vegetarian
- 🟢 Difficulty: Easy
- 🔥 Cooking Method: Stovetop
- 🍫 Flavor Profile: These fudgy bourbon balls have a creamy chocolatey texture with a hint of bourbon and a wonderful crunch from the pecans.
- 🔑 Top Tip: Use good quality ingredients. Use a spoon dipped into hot water and dried to scoop the chilled mixture easily.
- 🍷 Drink Pairings: Pair with coffee, hot chocolate, mulled wine, or even a glass of your favorite bourbon.
- ❄️ Storage: Keep in the fridge for up to 1 week, or freeze them for up to 3 months.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Perfect Amount of Bourbon: I use just enough bourbon to perfume the mixture and deepen the chocolate and pecan notes, not overwhelm them. Some of it get cooked off as well.
- Fudgy Texture (Not Dry or Crumbly): These bourbon balls stay soft, dense, and almost truffle-like inside, thanks to the balance of melted chocolate and butter.
- No Bake Dessert: This is a quick stovetop recipe that comes together quickly, making it ideal for holiday trays, gifting, or last-minute entertaining.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“So, I found this recipe a few years ago and have made it a lot of times since then. I used a mix of milk and semi-sweet chocolate and use a wheated bourbon like Makers cask strength or Makers 101. The high proof bourbon and mix of chocolate works well together and I’ve made these as gifts for coworkers and friends with a lot now making special requests for more.”
Table of Contents
Ingredients
These chocolate bourbon balls are real honest to goodness chocolate enhanced by a very small amount of bourbon, and made satiny smooth with the use of heavy cream. The crushed pecans are also an added sweet finish. This ‘Southern all the way around’ recipe may just be the quintessential symbol of Christmas in the South. So… bourbon pecan balls are four ingredients folks. FOUR. They NEED to be the best you can get your hands on.
- Chocolate: Use good quality chocolate for the absolute best flavor! I highly recommend using Ghirardelli (or Lindt or some other good brand) and one that is at least 60% cacao dark chocolate. Milk chocolate will also work.
- Bourbon: The amount of bourbon required is minimal, but it should be smooth and fragrant and something you want to drink. Cooking the bourbon before any other ingredients are incorporated burns off a wee bit of the alcohol. Beyond heating the bourbon, this is the extent of the cooking in this recipe.
- Cream: The heavy cream should be just that – heavy cream. Don’t skimp and use half-and-half here; you need all the fat you can get!
- Pecans: You’ll need less than a cup. When you shop, if chopped and/or pecan pieces are more economical than pecan halves, buy those. Just as long as they are meant for baking and are unsalted. The chocolate mixture is chilled before being rolled in the chopped pecans, so have plastic film on hand also. It becomes necessary while the chocolate is cooling down.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Fudgy Pecan Bourbon Balls
Scroll down for the full printable recipe or stick around for the step-by-step breakdown with photos to walk you through every delicious detail.
1
Bourbon, Cream, & Chocolate
Bring the bourbon to a simmer in a small saucepan, then pour in the heavy cream and bring to a simmer again. Pour into a bowl along with the chocolate and let the mixture stand for 1 minute.
2
Stir & Chill
Stir well until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Cool the mixture for 15 minutes, then press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface and chill until firm; at least 2 hours.
3
Scoop & Roll in Pecans
Dip a teaspoon into a bowl of hot water, then dry it off. Use the hot spoon to scoop the chilled mixture into 2 teaspoon sized balls. Place each ball on a bed of chopped pecans, then roll each ball in the chopped pecans.
4
Chill & Serve
Chill for 1 hour, or freeze for 10 minutes, to firm them up. Enjoy right away or store in the fridge for up to a week. These are like eating a rich and creamy fudge, and are something between a bourbon ball and a chocolate truffle.
Recipe FAQs
Bourbon balls, a beloved Southern holiday treat, were invented in 1938 by Ruth Hanly Booe and Rebecca Gooch of the Rebecca Ruth Candy Company in Frankfort, Kentucky. Even with the challenges of Prohibition and the Great Depression, they found success with their chocolates, creating a confection that quickly became iconic. The candies were so popular that even government rationing during World War II couldn’t slow their loyal fans from enjoying these treats!
Yes, it’s best to store these balls in the refrigerator, especially if your house is warm. They can soften or become sticky when stored in too warm of a place.
Yes, these bourbon balls are safe for kids to eat. The alcohol content in these balls is very low, as the recipe calls for only one-quarter of a cup and the bourbon is also briefly simmered to cook off some of the alcohol.
This recipe calls for only one-quarter of a cup of bourbon for the whole recipe (makes 24 balls). This means that there is very little alcohol in each ball. In addition, the alcohol is briefly simmered, so some of the alcohol is reduced.
Serving Suggestions
As a child, the tempting chocolate balls on my grandparents’ cookie trays were strictly “for adults only,” which of course meant they fascinated me endlessly. If I wanted a cookie, Grandma would help me to select one by bringing the tray down to my level, but one time I was able to sneak one when no one was looking. Ever since, these chocolate balls have lived rent-free in my foodie memory.
Fast forward a few decades, and these little fudgy bourbon balls are now non-negotiable in my holiday gift tins. (I’ve been making them every single year for more than fifteen Christmases!) I love this particular method because it’s approachable, affordable, and quick, yet still delivers big flavor. Serve along with other Christmas treats, like apricot walnut rugelach, buttery whipped shortbread cookies, and no bake peanut butter cookies.
Expert Tips
- Use good quality ingredients. This recipe has only four ingredients, so it’s important that each one is good quality for the best flavor.
- Chill thoroughly. Let the chocolate mixture chill for at least 2 hours before scooping and rolling into balls, then chill the balls before eating to firm them up.
- Roll the balls in pecans twice if you want more nuts and a more even coating. Chill for a little while before doing the second roll in the nuts.
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Fudgy Pecan Bourbon Balls
Ingredients
- 8 ounces 60% cacao dark chocolate, I am using Ghirardelli
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup bourbon, I am using Blanton's
- ¾ cup pecans, finely chopped
Instructions
- Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring bourbon just to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat until it begins to steam. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer once again. Remove from heat, and pour cream mixture over chocolate. Let stand 1 minute.
- Stir vigorously until cream and chocolate are thoroughly blended. Let mixture cool 15 minutes. Cover the surface of the chocolate with plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 2 hours. (If you cannot make the truffles immediately, the mixture will keep, covered, in the fridge up to 1 week.)
- Place chopped pecans on a shallow plate. A pie plate works great for this step. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Working quickly and using a small warmed teaspoon (dipped into hot water and then dried), scoop chilled chocolate mixture by 2-teaspoon portions, and shape each into a ball. Place each ball on the bed of chopped pecans. Once the plate is filled, wash hands and roll balls in pecans to completely cover. Transfer balls to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chocolate mixture and pecans until you have finished the chocolate.
- Chill balls until firm, about 1 hour. (Or freeze until firm, about 10 minutes.) Enjoy them now, gift them, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 week.
Notes
- Use good quality ingredients. This recipe has only four ingredients, so it’s important that each one is good quality for the best flavor.
- Chill thoroughly. Let the chocolate mixture chill for at least 2 hours before scooping and rolling into balls, then chill the balls before eating to firm them up.
- Roll the balls in pecans twice if you want more nuts and a more even coating. Chill for a little while before doing the second roll in the nuts.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe comes to us courtesy of Southern Living Magazine!
Hello: these look delicious and I’ll be making them for our adult cookie exchange next Christmas. Do you think I could substitute Peanut Butter whiskey for the Bourbon?
Hey there, Cheri. Traditional bourbon balls have a distinct mix of bourbon and chocolate, with a buttery sweet crunch from the pecans. The bourbon brings a rich, earthy flavor that really complements both chocolate and pecans. Now, swapping in peanut butter whiskey sounds quasi-interesting. It would add an element that could really mesh well with the other ingredients. I read your question yesterday and couldn’t answer you because I had never tasted pb whiskey before. I drove to two liquor stores near here to find it. Bottles carried one brand of it. The guy there told me it’s sweet; he said “super sweet.” There’s no traditional rule saying you can’t mix up the alcohol, so I’d give it a shot. Since this recipe is quite adaptable, I’d suggest starting with a small batch, especially due to the sweet profile he indicated it had. That means your whiskey measurement may need to change. A small batch means you can tweak the amount of whiskey to make sure the peanut butter flavor enhances rather than overwhelms. I’d love to know your result if you try it. Flavor profile, how much whiskey you used, etc. GOOD Q, CHERI! 🙂 Jenny
I followed the recipe to a T. The truffle mixture is very soft even after an overnight in the frig. How can I thicken the mixture?
Hi Nancy! This may seem silly, but I need to ask in order to assess; ‘soft like cake frosting’ or ‘soft to where it’s runny like half-melted ice cream?’ It is correct if it is closer to cake frosting or even room-temperature peanut butter. Anything looser than that may be difficult to roll. If it’s too difficult to roll, there are several remedies, but I like this one the best. Load the mixture into a plastic zipper bag and snip a corner tip. A small snip so you can control the amount you are about to squeeze out. Pipe small mounds about a tablespoon in size onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, then “dust” with VERY FINELY CRUSHED pecans. Freeze for 15 minutes or until firm to the touch with just a small amount of ‘give.’ Once firm, use a narrow or off-set spatula to remove each mound from the parchment into individual paper wrappers as I show in my photos. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
I will email you personally about this, too, so look to read from me shortly. I want to see the method through along with you 🙂 Jenny
So, I found this recipe a few years ago and have made it a lot of times since then. I used a mix of milk and semi-sweet chocolate and use a wheated bourbon like Makers cask strength or Makers 101. The high proof bourbon and mix of chocolate works well together and I’ve made these as gifts for coworkers and friends with a lot now making special requests for more.
Rich, until people taste these, they don’t believe me about how good they are. I showed my dad your comment (he’s a bourbon guy!) regarding the Maker’s. Since he hates me using his Blantons, he’s going to hit Costco for Maker’s after Thanksgiving. I’m going to try your method mixing dark and milk chocolate, too 🙂 Thank you for leaving this comment, Rich! Jenny
Something is missing?
Not enough liquid to mix with 8 oz chocolate. To bitter. No sugar?
Roger, I am trying to think what questions I want to ask you first. I think I will begin with the specific ingredients you used. What Bourbon did you use? Bourbon is a powerful liquor and among the remarks it receives when flavor profiles are described, bitter is one of the attributes. Since there is no sugar in the recipe, using a smooth Bourbon, one that you’d also personally sip, is very important. The first time I assembled these I used Wild Turkey and it damn near killed me.
All told, there is 3/4-cup liquid (1/4 cup bourbon and 1/2 cup heavy cream) for the 8 ounces of chocolate, so most definitely enough. Was your Bourbon and heavy cream mixture hot enough to melt the chocolate I wonder?
Also, what chocolate did you use? 60% cacao dark chocolate is going to be bitter all on its own. It’s specifically paired with Bourbon though because of the buttery and caramel-like notes in a really great Bourbon.
These little treats are not your average sweet chocolate confection, rather a true chocolate and Bourbon connoisseurs’ heaven. I do think they require a certain palette as not everybody is a huge fan of dark chocolate or even Bourbon.
Sorry your experience assembling these was not successful, Roger. Jenny
Hi Jenny! This is my first time on your website and I just HAD to say THANK YOU for posting this recipe for Bourbon Balls! I have been trying to find a recipe like the one my Aunt Pat made when I was a kid-just like you-trying to sneak a ball from the bowls that she had placed strategically around the house…in a high window…on the fireplace mantel…to keep us kids from getting our hands on them! One year I remember my siblings and I somehow getting our hands on them and the family swore that we were drunk!!!! Every.single.other.recipe that I’ve found has Nilla wafers as the base, and now I’ve found this! THANKS AGAIN, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
KayDee, thank you SO MUCH for your lovely comment! I woke to this message from you today and feel I am off to my best possible start due in part to your kind words! I’d have to say, it seems there was an entire generation ahead of us (our parents and grandparents) that made these Bourbon Balls as popular with our generation as they are – tell a child (you and I) they can’t have something and not only do they want it, but it also then becomes somewhat iconic, don’t you agree? MERRY CHRISTMAS KAYDEE! x – Jenny
A couple pieces and a shot of that bourbon? Oh man – heaven!! Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party! Hope your weekend is fabulous.
Helen, right?!!
These would be so good as part of a dessert platter! Thanks for joining the fiesta
Oooohhhh! A dessert charcuterie platter! I just saw some inspiration for something like that, so maybe worth assembling in the coming days! Thanks for having me!!
Hi Jenny! Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I’m wondering if rum could be substituted for the bourbon or do you have another recipe just for rum balls. I use to get them from a family business in MD until their grandmother passed away without leaving them the recipe. They were cake like and delicious and I would like to make a mix of the bourbon and rum balls. Thank you!
Sherry, thanks for this GREAT question! I am glad for having the chance to address it. First, do not substitute rum in the Bourbon Ball recipe you are referencing. Why not? Not all liquors are created equal, so the supporting ingredients for each are very specific.
There are two rum ball recipes I like. Below are the links. Why these two? Because you will often times see me recreate or modify recipes from Southern Living Magazine and also from The New York Times here on Not Entirely Average, I will happily steer you in both their directions! I TRUST THESE PUBLICATIONS. It’s that simple.
The New York Times recipe for Gingerbread Rum Balls is a favorite here. The recipe calls for both rum AND bourbon and the confection is utterly divine. Southern Living Magazine tips a bow with their Rum Balls which incorporate vanilla wafers and chopped pecans. I find this method appealing as a northern gal documenting my attempts at Southern recipes and traditions. BOTH will make you smile upon first bite 🙂
https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/rum-balls-recipe
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019810-gingerbread-rum-balls (note!) NYT ONLY allows you to open the link ONE TIME before requiring you to join/pay. Be prepared to print, copy and paste, or hand write this recipe before clicking off of it, lest you will not be able to go back.
Are you planning to gift the mixed confections for the holidays? If you prepare and package them, I would LOVE to see the pretty pictures of your labor!
Good luck, and happy cooking 🙂 – Jenny