Make your holiday a little extra with bourbon balls

I have been told that I can be a little “extra” at times. My decision to make bourbon balls may fall into one of those times.

I was reminiscing with Amy about the various sweet treats our mothers used to make during the holidays, and I suddenly remembered these really tasty bourbon balls one of our coworkers would bring into work when we worked together at The Leaf-Chronicle. That was years ago, but I remember those bourbon balls like it was yesterday.

I never got the recipe for those delicious bourbon balls, but Google is a magical tool when you are trying to find a recipe.

The recipe calls for vanilla wafer crumbs. The easiest thing to do would have been to go to the store and buy a box of Nabisco Nilla Wafers and crush them into crumbs. So here is where the extra me started thinking: “I don’t really like Nilla Wafers. I should just bake some vanilla wafers. How hard can that be?”

Time consuming, yes. Hard, no. A little extra, probably.

I found a recipe by one of my favorite extra people in the world, Alton Brown. Instead of regular sugar, his recipe calls for vanilla sugar, which I had on hand.

SIDENOTE: Amy would like to know why in the world I have vanilla sugar “on hand?”

I sprinkled each cookie with some turbinado sugar, which gave them some extra crunch and they were delicious.

Vanilla sugar is not the easiest ingredient to come by, so I also have included a recipe for vanilla butter cookies that will work just as well in the bourbon balls. Or make it easy on yourself and use the store-bought Nilla Wafers.

KENTUCKY BOURBON BALLS

SOURCE: https://www.thespruceeats.com/kentucky-bourbon-balls-3051734

1 cup vanilla wafer crumbs

1 cup toasted pecans, finely chopped

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup bourbon

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Combine vanilla wafer crumbs and chopped pecans, 1 cup powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

In a separate bowl, mix together bourbon and corn syrup.

Stir bourbon mixture into vanilla wafer crumb and pecan mixture. Mix well. Mixture will be a bit loose.

Cover and chill in refrigerator for two to three hours.

Once mixture is chilled it will become firm and ready to shape. Sift remaining powdered sugar into a shallow bowl.

Place a bowl of cold water to wet hands when forming the bourbon balls. With wet hands shape about a teaspoon of mixture into a ball and toss in powdered sugar to cover.

The bourbon balls can be served right away, but will taste better if chilled in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. The bourbon balls will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

ALTON BROWN’S VANILLA WAFERS

SOURCES: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/vanilla-wafers-recipe-1920909

7 ounces all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

3 1/2 ounces vanilla sugar

1 large egg

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon whole milk

Position one oven rack in the top third of the oven and another in the bottom third. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Cream the butter and vanilla sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl after 1 minute. Add the egg and incorporate on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl. Add the vanilla extract and milk and blend on low speed for 15 seconds.

Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just to incorporate.

Chill the batter in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes before scooping.

Scoop the batter in teaspoon-sized balls and arrange them on two parchment paper-lined half sheet pans, approximately 35 cookies per pan.

Use the heel of your hand to slightly flatten each ball.

Bake, 2 pans at a time, rotating the pans halfway through the baking, until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove the pans to a cooling rack to cool completely before removing the cookies from the pan.

VANILLA BUTTER COOKIES

3 cups unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.

Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and combined.

Divide dough in half and roll each half between two sheets of parchment paper to 1/4-inch thickness. Place in refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.

Remove top piece of parchment paper, reserve paper, and but desired shapes.

Collect scrapes and press between reserved parchment paper, roll to 1/4-inch thickness and repeat.

Put cutout cookies on a parchment-lined sheet pan, sprinkle with turbinado sugar if desired and bake 10-12 minutes until edges are tinged with brown.