Chocolate Bacon Bourbon Balls is a recipe I’ve been experimenting in preparation for football season. Football is only a few months away, so I figured I’d start early with some new ideas and recipes.
This recipe is inspired by a few of my favorite things: chocolate, bacon, bourbon, and college football (go bulldawgs!). Plus, bacon and bourbon seem to go hand-in-hand with football, at least it does here in the south.
I can’t walk out of a college football game without seeing the stadium littered with small empty bourbon bottles.
It’s a tradition, but one I’ve never partaken inside a stadium.
Chocolate Bacon Bourbon Balls are perfect for tailgates for a few simple reasons.
First, they are small and can be eaten with the fingers.
Second, the bourbon balances out the overall sweetness of the sugar and gives you plenty of satisfaction with a single ball.
Third, these can be made well in advance, so there’s one less thing to prepare the day of the tailgate.
Anyways, this recipe is pretty damn simple and flexible.
BOURBON SUBSTITUTE
If you don’t like bourbon, feel free to omit it.
However, you still need to add some kind of liquid to help bind everything together.
You could try using water, honey, fruit juice, beer (like a stout or porter).
Another tip for using bourbon, I sometimes find the 1/4 cup of bourbon to be too much. I’ll sometimes back the bourbon down to 2 tbsp and add another 2 tbsp of water to make up for the lost volume.
If you want to make these kid-friendly, just remove the bourbon all together and replace it with a 1/4 cup of water. They are still delicious.
Cocoa Krispies Substitution
Don’t want to use cocoa Krispies? Replace it with whatever cereal you’d like.
These might be pretty damn awesome with cinnamon toast crunch.
Forming Into Balls
The recipe creates a gooey mess. I recommend wearing nitrile gloves when handling the mixture and rolling out your balls. This will make clean up a little easier.
When forming your ball, you’ll also want to use a good bit of pressure to press the balls into their shape. Too loose of a pack and they’ll crumble before you can get them to your mouth.
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Chocolate Bacon Bourbon Balls
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups Cocoa Crispies
- 1 lb bacon cooked to a crisp, drained, and chopped
- 2 tbsp. cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 2 tbsp. corn syrup light
- 1 tbsp. water
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Chop the cocoa crispies and bacon in a food processor until very fine crumbs are formed.
- Add the crumbs to a mixing bowl and add the cocoa powder, and the one cup of powdered sugar.
- Mix together the bourbon, corn syrup, and water in a small bowl and mix together with the crumb mixture.
- Stir to combine everything thoroughly.
- Roll into one-inch diameter balls. Should yield about a dozen.
- Roll the balls in the remaining 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.
- Place into an air-tight container until ready to serve.
