Paleo Bourbon Balls

Bourbon balls are hands down my favorite Christmas cookie. Bourbon balls are a southern delicacy and an old family favorite. No holiday season is complete without at least one batch of these boozy little balls of deliciousness. You need these in your life. 🎅🏼🍪🎄

I’ve been making bourbon balls since I was a kid. Our old family recipe calls for crushed vanilla wafers, corn syrup, and refined powdered sugar. While those things are super delicious, they’re not exactly what I would call healthy. I’ve replaced all of the not-so-nice ingredients with healthier choices and made these cookies completely paleo! Yay! Well, except for the bourbon. That’s not technically paleo. But that is a paleo gray area and we will leave it at that. Christmas cookie season is no time for that kind of debate.

As I was saying, these cookies are completely paleo. No dairy, no gluten, no refined sugar, and no corn syrup. BUT just because I took out all of the bad stuff doesn’t mean I took out any of the delicious flavor. Oh no. That’s not how I roll. My paleo bourbon balls are every bit as delicious as the originals. As they should be.

This recipe is easy as can be to make too. Really! Chop some pecans, melt some chocolate, mix together the ingredients, roll into balls, and then roll in your choice of toppings! No fancy equipment or complicated steps here.

Now let’s talk toppings. Or rolling substances. Whatever you want to call it. My family’s bourbon balls are traditionally rolled in powdered sugar. While you can certainly do that with these, keep in mind that powdered sugar is not paleo. To keep it paleo, try rolling in powdered coconut sugar, cocoa powder, grated coconut, or try dipping in melted chocolate. All of those options are super delicious.

One last note, if you’d like to make this recipe vegan, just replace the honey with maple syrup and you’re good to go! 🤗

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Paleo Bourbon Balls

• Gluten-Free
• Dairy-Free
• Paleo
• Low Carb
• Keto
• Vegetarian or Vegan
• Pescatarian

5 from 2 votes

Print

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Total Time: 50 minutes mins

Ingredients 

• 6 oz 170g dairy free dark chocolate, chopped
• 3 Tbsp 63g honey* (see notes for keto)
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 2 1/2 cups packed 375g blanched almond flour
• 3/4 cup packed 126g coconut sugar* (see notes for keto)
• 1 cup 116g finely chopped pecans
• Cocoa powder powdered coconut sugar, grated coconut, and/or extra chocolate for dipping

Instructions

• In a medium-sized mixing bowl, melt chocolate over a double boiler, stirring occasionally.
• Once chocolate is melted, remove from the heat and stir in honey and bourbon. Stir until well combined.
• In a large bowl, mix together almond flour, coconut sugar, and pecans.
• Pour chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well.
• Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes.
• Using your hands, shape into 1" balls.
• Roll in your choice of cocoa powder, powdered coconut sugar, or grated coconut. Alternately, you can dip and roll in melted chocolate. If dipping in chocolate, place the bourbon balls onto parchment or wax paper after dipping and allow the chocolate to harden at room temperature.
• Store bourbon balls at room temperature in an air-tight container.

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Notes

*For keto, replace honey with sugar free honey like this one. Or a sugar free maple syrup like this one. You will also want to replace the coconut sugar with something like this. 

Category:

• 45 minutes
• American
• Christmas
• Dairy-Free
• Dessert
• Fall
• Game Day
• Gluten-Free
• Halloween
• Keto
• Low Carb
• New Year's
• Paleo
• Party Food
• Pescatarian
• Vegetarian or Vegan
• Winter

Author: Kit

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What’s your favorite Christmas cookie? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section!

xx Kit

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