Jane Wyman was an actress with a career that spanned seven decades beginning in 1933. You may know her from the Larceny, Inc, Three Guys Named Mike, The Sailor Takes a Lady or Stage Fright. She also won an Academy Award for Best Actress for Johnny Belinda as well as being a three time Golden Globe winner. Some may remember her in the 1980s soap opera Falcon’s Crest. She was also Ronald Reagan’s first wife.
This is her recipe for rum balls. These rum balls are ridiculously easy to make and require just a few ingredients. The only switch I made was rolling them in powdered sugar instead of chopped walnuts as I could not get the nuts to stick. I instead mixed 1/2 cup of the walnuts into the mixture, If alcohol is just not your thing, I added a substitution if you do not want to use the rum.
Jane Wyman's Rum Balls
An easy rum ball from the actress Jane Wyman.
Ingredients
- 1 11 oz box of vanilla wafters
- 1 cup confectioners sugar plus more for roll the rum ball in
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
- 1/2 chopped walnuts
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup light rum or 1/4 tablespoon of heavy cream with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Directions
- Crush the vanilla wafers either by putting them in a plastic ziploc bag and crushing them with a rolling pin or placing them in a food processor and pulse a couple of times till until they are broken into small pieces.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the crushed wafers, confectioners sugar, cocoa powder and walnuts till combined.
- Add the corn syrup and rum ( or heavy cream/vanilla extract combo) and stir until it all together like a dough. You may need to use your hands to really get it combined.
- Take tablespoons of the mixture and form into balls.
- Place some confectioners sugar on a plate and roll the balls into the sugar. Then enjoy!
Quaint Cooking 
I should try these! Rum is the only liquor I like and these don’t require baking! Great post 🙂
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Thank you! I was amazed how easy and quick these were to make.
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I had a similar recipe I would make, and what I remember the most was the heavenly aroma when I opened the cookie tin!
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Oh now I have something to look forward to!
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I love rum balls. My stepmother uses Chambord liqueur instead of rum.
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They are great and Chambord is a great idea to use as a substitute.
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Yummy, my mother would love these, going to show her later this month. Thanks for this share. I have made them, but not with Wafers, probably why they were not as tasty as I expected.
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Thank you for the kind words! I hope your mother does enjoy them.
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