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    Home » Christmas Party Food

    Granny's Famous Rum Balls made Vegan!

    Published: Dec 8, 2019 · Modified: Aug 31, 2021 by Louise-Claire Cayzer · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads · 13 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    Rum Balls are a classic treat at Christmas time in Australia. It didn't matter who's house it was at, or what the main meal ended up being, Granny would always come with loads and loads of home made sweet treats for us all to share (bicker over!), and I would always hope she would make her rum balls! So when I was thinking about what to make this Christmas, I just knew I had to make Granny's Famous Rum Balls Vegan!

    Vegan Rum Balls on a plate with little glasses of rum beside them. this recipe

    I thought I had her recipe written out in one of my note books that I had diligently put together before moving to the UK, but sadly I hadn't. Help was fortunately at hand when my Mother's cousin Lindel, posted about the Girl Guide recipe book that she had, that had a whole lot of my Granny's recipes in it, which included the rum ball recipe. Yay. The cover is particularly charming, and obviously it has been well loved! A sure sign of a great cookbook.

    I've been told my my Mum, that I'll inherit her copy. Phew!

    The funny thing as, when the recipes were scanned over, we realised that actually, The Rum Ball recipe wasn't attributed to my Granny, but instead had my mother as the author!

    I'm pretty sure it's Granny's recipe though, as it has the hallmarks of her best recipes; a list of ingredients & a super short explanation of how to make it! (see below for the recipe, plus a super wholesome recipe for fruit punch.)

    There are some other gems in the cookbook too,

    In place of the coffee biscuits (which am pretty sure are meant to be plain biscuits) I used a packet of quite plain wholegrain biscuits. These are 'Biscuits' in the Australian and UK sense, as in a small sweet plain cookie. If you are from the USA, please use Graham Crackers or any plain crumbly style vanilla cookie.

    Ingredients for the rum balls laid out

    In these vegan rum balls, I also used dried cranberries in place of the raisins, because I love their tang, but also they seem more Christmassy, but you can use whatever dried fruit you like in it. And I'm not going to lie I've increased the rum quotient significantly. It's Christmas & this is not the time for being stingy with the rum. You can always sub in some orange juice if you don't want to make with rum.

    Rum balls on a platter

    And just in case you were wondering what happened to all the rum balls I made? I took them along to a friends Christmas gathering & they were all gobbled up. So I think Granny's Famous Rum Balls made Vegan were a hit!

    If you love this recipe, please share this post with your friends on Pinterest or Facebook, or tag me on Insta! Don't forget to also please comment and star ⭐this recipe too!

    Love & Vegan Yummies, Louise xx (P.S. Follow me on Insta and Tik Tok!)

    📖 Recipe

    Vegan Rum Balls on a plate with little glasses of rum beside them

    Granny's Famous Rum Balls made Vegan

    Louise-Claire Cayzer
    A classic Australian recipe that I've veganised! Rum Balls are always a hit at Christmas time, so be sure to make extra to take along to any parties you're off to over the festive period.
    4.88 from 8 votes
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 2 minutes mins
    Cook Time 20 minutes mins
    Total Time 22 minutes mins
    Course Cake, sweet
    Cuisine Australian, Vegan
    Servings 32 balls
    Calories 86 kcal

    Equipment

    • Large Bowl
    • food processor

    Ingredients Note:

    For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.

    (Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)

    Ingredients

    • 250 g (9 oz) packet of plain biscuits (graham crackers or cookies) (2.5 cups - make sure they are vegan!)
    • 210 g (1 cup) tin of coconut condensed milk
    • 150 g (1 cup) dried cranberries (or raisins/sultanas )
    • 50 g (⅓ cup) dessicated coconut (plus more for rolling (⅓ cup + more) )
    • 80 ml (⅓ cup) rum ( I used spiced rum, because that's what I had in the cupboard, but plain rum is good too. )
    • 35 g (⅓ cup) cocoa powder

    Instructions

    • Chop the dried cranberries & soak in the rum.
    • Once the cranberries are plumped up, remove them from their rum bath.
    • Blitz the biscuits in a food processor, or bash them up inside their packet with a rolling pin until they are fine crumbs
    • Mix all the ingredients together until fully combined.
      Rum ball mixture ready to mix up
    • Take a teaspoon at a time & roll into balls, then coat with the coconut. It's quite a messy mixture!
      Rum Ball Mixture combined
    • Allow to set in the fridge for at least an hour.
    • These will last a few weeks in an airtight container.

    Notes

    If you don't want to use rum,  you can choose to use a few drops of rum essence in orange juice to soak the fruit. 
    BISCUITS (UK) vs COOKIES (USA) : 
    This recipe calls for plain biscuits, which to my US readers actually means cookies. The closest equivalent in the USA is graham crackers or any other type of pre-made, plain vanilla cookie.   
     

    Nutrition

    Calories: 86kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 2gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 54mgPotassium: 71mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 10mgIron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe and loved it? Follow and Mention @vegan_larder or comment and ⭐ below

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      4.88 from 8 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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    1. Kathy says

      November 06, 2023 at 11:39 pm

      Do you make the biscuits or use the dough before baking?

      Reply
      • Louise-Claire Cayzer says

        November 07, 2023 at 12:04 pm

        Hi Kathy,
        I think there is a confusion about the term biscuits- these use plain pre-made cookies (which in Australia and UK we call biscuits).
        I think in the USA the best alternative would be graham crackers (or another plain, slightly sweet, cookie that comes in a packet)
        I'll update the recipe to clarify!

        Reply
    2. Jess says

      November 17, 2021 at 4:56 pm

      5 stars
      There is nothing better than a tried and true family recipe!

      Reply
    3. Toni says

      November 17, 2021 at 4:38 pm

      5 stars
      These were so good! Totally addictive!

      Reply
    4. veenaazmanov says

      November 17, 2021 at 4:33 pm

      5 stars
      Thanks. Perfect recipe for the festive season. Love the Cranberries combination to this Rum Ball recipe.

      Reply
    5. Tavo says

      November 17, 2021 at 4:17 pm

      5 stars
      So yummy! I loved these babies. It is great to have such delicious vegan snacks!

      Reply
    6. Sally Humeniuk says

      November 17, 2021 at 4:05 pm

      5 stars
      What a great recipe and made vegan is even better! I love the recipe card pictures and that fruit punch is on my list too. Thanks for sharing your grandmother's recipes.

      Reply
      • Louise-Claire Cayzer says

        November 17, 2021 at 5:04 pm

        So sweet right! Granny was famous for her little recipes!

        Reply
    7. Anne Gibbons says

      December 15, 2020 at 9:36 am

      4 stars
      I use GF weet-bix, they make it less sweet and absorbs the rum!

      Reply
      • Louise-Claire Cayzer says

        December 15, 2020 at 6:32 pm

        That's a really great idea! Thank you 🙂

        Reply
    8. Sarah Green says

      November 14, 2020 at 8:00 am

      Are you meant to drain the rum away? I made the recipe and the mix was far to wet to roll balls out of it.

      Reply
      • Louise-Claire Cayzer says

        November 15, 2020 at 4:04 pm

        Hi Sarah,
        Yes! Whoops I'll amend the recipe. Thanks for pointing out the error. You can also add extra coconut to the mixture if it is too wet.

        Reply

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