Classy Low-Carb Chocolate Rum Balls (Vegan)

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These treats are close to perfection! No wait, they are perfection! Covered with healthy, mouth-watering dark chocolate and filled with soft, delicate rum-flavored heart.

I bet nobody could believe that these sophisticated delicacies are gluten-free, sugar-free, low-carb and vegan. Or that they contain a mere 5 healthy and natural ingredients!

 

Tips for making these low-carb chocolate rum balls

One thing which needs some attention is the amount of rum flavoring. Different brands have different strengths. Usually those in bigger bottles are milder than those in tiny bottles. The best idea might be to add the flavoring little by little and knead the mixture properly in between so that the flavor spreads evenly. Remember to taste the mixture after each addition of rum flavoring.

But, let’s start:

Combine almond butter and rum flavoring in a medium or large bowl.

 

Sift in the cocoa powder…

 

…and the sweetener.

 

For the best results, press the lumps with a back of a spoon to make them break easily.

 

Mix and knead the mixture with clean hands until well mixed…

 

…like this:

 

Roll the mixture into small balls. Place the balls on a freezer-safe plate lined with parchment paper. Freeze the balls for a couple of hours.

 

When it’s almost about the time to remove the rum balls from the freezer, prepare the chocolate coating. You can simply melt the chocolate in a microwave oven or use some other method. Since I don’t use microwave oven, I prefer to melt the chocolate in a water bath. This is how I do it:

First I chop the chocolate into tiny pieces. Then I boil some water and pour the boiling water in a large saucepan.

 

I place 6 oz (170 g) of the chopped chocolate in a bowl. After that I place the bowl carefully inside the saucepan with hot water. I check carefully that there won’t get a single drop of water in the chocolate. The hot water should come halfway up the sides of the bowl filled with chocolate.

 

I let the chocolate melt completely, stirring every few minutes.

 

After the chocolate is melted, I remove the bowl from the hot water and add the rest (2 oz = 60 g)  of the chopped chocolate to the melted chocolate.

 

I let the rest of the chocolate melt and again stir after every few minutes.

 

When all the chocolate is melted, the coating is ready. If you wonder why I added the chopped chocolate in two parts, the reason was that I tempered the chocolate. Heating the chocolate first and then cooling it down to the right temperature makes the color of the ready chocolate coating even and the consistency just right. When you take a bite, the coating snaps in a most delicious way. The sound and the mouthfeel are perfect when you use tempered chocolate for coating.

 

So, after you have melted the chocolate, it’s time to take the frozen balls from the freezer and start dipping them into the melted chocolate.

 

Dipping the balls in chocolate is done easiest by holding a ball gently with two forks while dipping it in the melted chocolate. The excess chocolate will run between the tines. Actually, one fork is enough.

 

Place the chocolate covered balls on parchment paper. Because the balls are cold and frozen, the chocolate coating will solidify in no time.

In the photo below you can see the covered chocolate rum balls but also some freeze-dried sour cherries which I also dipped in the melted chocolate. They also taste great, but contain some carbs, though. (Well, I didn’t calculate how much…)

 

 


 

Nutrition information	Protein	Fat	Net carbs	kcal
In total:	80.1 g	239.9 g	60.6 g	2732 kcal
Per ball if 24 balls in total:	3.3 g	10.0 g	2.5 g	114 kcal
Per ball if 32 balls in total:	2.5 g	7.5 g	1.9 g	85 kcal
Per ball if 40 balls in total:	2.0 g	6.0 g	1.5 g	68 kcal
Per ball if 48 balls in total:	1.7 g	5.0 g	1.3 g	57 kcal
Per ball if 56 balls in total:	1.4 g	4.3 g	1.1 g	49 kcal

 

My chocolate rum ball experiments

I developed a 4-ingredient chocolate rum ball recipe based on home-made almond butter last spring and published it on my Finnish blog. Well, I also published a recipe how to make almond butter. Here in Finland you just cannot get proper almond butter, and if you find some, it’s ridiculously expensive.

So, I was planning to translate the same chocolate rum ball recipe in English and publish it now — close to the holidays — but just use commercial almond butter instead of home-made. I thought chocolate rum balls are perfect holiday treats.

However, I ended up developing and improving the recipe more. Now I’m really satisfied with this version. These treats are highly addictive! You are warned!

Naturally, I had to experiment how my original recipe will turn out with commercial almond butter. I usually always use Justin’s almond butter, because it’s really good quality and affordable.

The chocolate rum balls in the original recipe were rolled in dark cocoa powder and not dipped in chocolate.

 

 

I was a bit disappointed how my first experiment turned out. First of all, the consistency was really soft and when I rolled the balls in the cocoa powder, they lost their shape completely.

I tried to get the consistency of my creations firmer by putting the balls in the fridge for a few hours, but they remained soft. Moreover, the taste was quite bland, so I thought I have to add more cocoa powder, more rum flavoring and definitely more sweetener.

I was also thinking of adding coconut oil to the mixture but gave up the idea after I got a better idea to dip the balls in melted chocolate. Before covering them with chocolate, I simply would place the balls in the freezer to make them really firm, and after a few hours freezing I would dip them in melted chocolate. The idea sounded perfect. I just had to try out how it would work in reality.

It worked even better than I had expected. The chocolate coating set immediately and formed a nice, even-colored layer. The treats also tasted good after I had added more sweetener and more rum flavoring. Perfect!

 

 

Tips for variation

You can easily make an adults-only version by replacing the rum flavoring with 1 1/2 tablespoons rum.

I didn’t manage to try out yet, but next I’m going to try how these treats will taste if I replace the rum flavoring with 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring. Well, they won’t be chocolate RUM balls anymore, but sure delicious!

Why not try other flavors as well? I’m sure banana flavoring is a safe bet for all banana lovers — without the carb load of banana! Peppermint might also be an interesting option for those who adore that brisk flavor of peppermint.