Hawaiian Rumballs

Tis the season to be jolly... and indulge in delicious treats. What could be more tempting than a Hawaiian rumball cookie? I grew up with my grandmother making bourbon ball cookies every winter. I decided to tweak the recipe a bit to take advantage of the wonderful items produced here in Hawaii. I used Diamond bakery’s Original Creem Crackers instead of vanilla wafers, included Macadamia nuts, used our Macadamia blossom honey in lieu of nasty corn syrup and spiked the cookies with Koloa Kaua’i Dark Rum.  

Ingredients: 

• 2 1⁄2 cups crushed Diamond Original Creem Crackers
• 1 cup ground nuts (I used half lightly roasted Macadamias, half raw pecans)
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 5 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 1⁄4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Koloa Dark Rum
• 3 tablespoons Big Island Bees Macadamia Blossom honey 
• Additional powdered sugar, cocoa powder and/or shredded coconut 

Directions: 

1. Mix together wafer crumbs, nuts, confectioners' sugar and cocoa.
2. Combine rum and honey and stir into crumb mixture.
3. Shape into 1 inch balls.
4. Roll in confectioners' sugar, cocoa and/or coconut.
5. Store in an airtight container.