This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our privacy policy for additional information.
Why You’ll Love My Recipe
These aren’t your typical dry, nutty rum balls! Soft, fudgy, and made with rich chocolate cake, these nut-free Chocolate Rum Balls are melt-in-your-mouth delicious, like a chocolate truffle in bite-sized form.
We take our rum and bourbon balls seriously in this household – they’re Mr. Magpie’s favorite treat! Use my Crazy Cake or Wacky Cake Recipe to get the perfect chocolate base for your bites, and pair them with a batch of Spice Cookies or Shortbread Bites for a cozy dessert spread.
Reader Review
These are so very yummy! Definitely a Christmas favourite. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Karlynn’s Recipe Notes
- Skill Level: This recipe is super easy and quick to make. Perfect for beginners or last-minute holiday treats!
- Total Time: You’ll have these ready in about 30 minutes from start to finish.
- Variations: Mix things up by rolling your Chocolate Rum Balls in crushed Cookies, coconut, or mini chocolate chips! You can also try swapping in coconut rum or coffee liqueur for a fun flavor twist.
- Tools For This Recipe: You’ll need a whisk, a large mixing bowl, a medium mixing bowl, a 9×13 pan for the cake base, and a baking sheet for setting your rum balls.
What You’ll Need for Ingredients
Dark Rum: A good-quality dark rum adds warmth, depth, and that signature full-bodied taste to your rum balls. Karlynn’s Tip: You can also try spiced rum for a cozy, festive twist, or even swap in bourbon if that’s what you like!
Cocoa Powder: Use unsweetened cocoa powder for a rich, chocolatey flavor. It’s the perfect balance to the sweetness of the condensed milk, making every bite melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
All-Purpose Flour: Flour helps your cake base hold together while keeping the rum balls soft and fudgy. Karlynn’s Tip: Measure your flour carefully. Spoon it into the cup, then level it off so your mixture doesn’t turn out too dense.
Chocolate Sprinkles: The finishing touch! Rolling your rum balls in sprinkles gives them a fun, classic look and a little crunch with every bite. Experiment with other toppings and let me know your favorites in the comments below!
How To Make The Best Chocolate Rum Balls
This is a quick overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients & complete step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients and stir until smooth.
- Pour batter into an ungreased 9×13 pan and bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
- Cool the cake completely in the pan.
- Crumble the cooled cake into a bowl.
- Stir in rum and sweetened condensed milk until a soft dough forms.
- Roll into 1-inch balls, then coat with chocolate sprinkles.
- Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until firm.
- Transfer to a sealed container and store in the fridge or freezer until ready to enjoy.
Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Chocolate Rum Balls
- Use a Cake Mix Shortcut: You can absolutely use a boxed chocolate cake mix instead of baking one from scratch. It saves time and still provides that rich, chocolatey base.
- Customize Your Mix-Ins: Feel free to get creative! Stir in chopped walnuts, pecans, or your favorite nuts for extra crunch and flavor. You can even mix in crushed cookies or coconut for a fun twist.
- Roll Like a Pro: Refrigerate the dough before shaping to make it easier to handle, and lightly dampen your hands when rolling. This keeps the mixture from sticking and helps you get perfectly smooth rum balls every time!
Storage Instructions
These Chocolate Rum Balls get even better with time, so they’re the perfect treat to make ahead for parties or gifting!
Refrigerator: Store your rum balls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. For the best taste and texture, let them sit for a day or two before serving. This helps the rum flavor deepen, and the texture becomes extra fudgy!
Freezer: Keep the rum balls in a freezer-safe container or zip-top bag, where they’ll stay delicious for 3–4 months according to USDA food safety guidelines. I make these a few weeks before Christmas and freeze them until the big day!
More Delicious Dessert Recipes
If you love these Chocolate Rum Balls, try these sweet Dessert Recipes out next:
- Hot Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies are gooey, chocolatey, and perfect for cozy nights!
- Peppermint Cheesecake Bites bring a refreshing minty twist to any dessert table.
- For the ultimate chocolate fix, try Death By Chocolate Dessert Dip. It’s rich, decadent, and great for sharing!
There you have it, folks! These soft, fudgy, nut-free Chocolate Rum Balls are perfect for gifting, parties, or just a little treat for yourself. Give them a try and share in the comments how you customized them, what mix-ins you added, or any creative twists you tried.
Happy Baking!
Karlynn
Chocolate Rum Balls Recipe
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups water
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons white vinegar
Rum Ball Additions
- ½ cup dark spiced rum , or bourbon
- ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk
- ¾ cup chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
Bake the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F.
- Whisk together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add in the wet ingredients, then stir until smooth.
- Pour into an ungreased 9×13 pan.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan completely.
Assemble the Rum Balls
- Crumble up the baked cake into a medium mixing bowl.
- Add in the rum and the condensed milk. Mix together until all of the ingredients are combined and the cake is now a dough that can be rolled into balls.
- Roll the mixture into one inch balls, then roll the balls into the chocolate sprinkles, covering them completely.
- Place the rum balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze them individually first, then transfer to a sealed container to keep frozen.
- These are best if left to sit a few days in the refrigerator if you are eating them soon, or keep them in the freezer until you are ready to eat.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Lucia says
The best Rum ball recipe I’ve ever had. It depends on the cake you use to make it. I made mine from scratch with more of a fudge cake than making them from cake mix. Also added 1 tbsp of rum extract along with the spiced rum. Gave it more of a kick. I leave mine in the freezer until I’m ready to eat them. Believe me, this was amazing. Thank you for the recipe.
Gwen says
I’m sorry, but these were horrible !!
I am an experienced baker and made the cake, as per the attached link, and it turned out so spongy and springy with very little taste.
I added ALOT more rum and condensed milk to try to make them more fudgy and put them in the freezer to see if that would help … it didn’t.
Again, I’m sorry, but these were a total fail for me. I’m glad they worked for everyone else.
Angela says
I used my own 9 x 13 chocolate cake recipe. I had to double the rum (used a spiced rum) and triple the sweetened condensed milk to get that fudgy texture and allow the sprinkles to stick. I ran out of chocolate sprinkles so coated the rest in a combination of powdered sugar and cocoa powder. My partner loves them. A good starting point recipe, but I feel like you need to have some experience as a baker to successfully get the result you are looking for.
Dlynn Inga says
This is my first attempt making rum balls of any kind. I used my normal depression cake recipe which uses 3 cups of flour. Doubled the amount of rum and still may need to increase it (maybe I need stronger rum?), left the sweetened condensed milk the same. Next time, I’ll use my KitchenAide stand mixer instead of mixing by hand!
Hardly any mess shaping the balls after chilling the dough. I moistened my hands to help the sprinkles stick rather than to aid in shaping. I put them into individual “candy” paper cups since they do become sticky when left out of the fridge. Taking them to a holiday party this afternoon and the balance to another party tomorrow evening.
Claire says
Made a gluten free and dairy version that was great. Also subbed coconut cream instead of sweetened condensed and used Malibu. Uh huh.
Debbie says
Can you use white rum?
Karlynn Johnston says
You can but there won’t be a depth of flavor like there is with dark or spiced rum, just a basic rum flavor!
Gigi Dionne says
With a little more condensed milk they turns out great! I bet they’d be good made with cherry moonshine instead of spiced rum
Nicole says
Such an easy recipe! Definitely add a LOT more condensed milk and rum. I just kept adding more of both until I liked the taste and the consistency was right for rolling into balls and dipping into sprinkles.
Susan says
I made these today, my home made chocolate cake – I definitely had to add more sweetened condensed milk and more rum, and like many others have commented, had troubles with the sprinkles sticking!! I made half the way the recipe states and the other half I added walnuts and rolled them in coconut!
Martin D. says
I make these every year and they are delicious! My wife is gluten free (Celiac) so I use Pamela’s chocolate cake mix.
Dolly. says
Should the cake to cool before mixing it with the rum and condensed sweetened milk?
Dolly says
So you wait for the cake to cool before mixing it with the rum and condensed sweetened milk?
Tinybaker says
I haven’t made these yet, but I’ve been looking for a nut free rum ball because of allergies. Could I still add some vanilla wafer crumbs add to the crumbled cake?
Kate says
Divinely decadent and fudgy! BIG hit with all with whom I gifted them too, including my own fam who the what was leftover. Thanks for sharing! (I used the cake recipe included in the directions.)
Joey says
I had to use cream cheese also to make them into ball’s.
Danielle DiSessa says
I had to use about 1/3 cup more condensed milk then listed. Also, the chocolate sprinkles didn’t stick the these so I used colored sugar instead.
Erika says
Question, do these hold up at room temp or do they get all soggy once taken out? Trying to decide if I can make these for treat boxes for Hubby’s work
Jeanette Hoy says
I didn’t like the taste of these, not sweet enough. I used the depression cake and ended up putting the whole can of condensed milk in and added roasted nuts and cranberries too. They were OK but I have had nicer Rum balls. Sorry.
mainostoimisto says
Love your page <3
Amy says
So good, exactly what I was looking for! I’ve had these from the bakery before and loved them, so I am happy I found this easy recipe. I didn’t have sprinkles so I used skor bits! I almost added more rum, cause a couple comments said they couldn’t really taste it but I am very very happy I didn’t cause they are perfect…..If anyone is looking for a recommendation: I used captain Morgan’s spiced rum. Thank you kitchen magpie!! 🙂
Aly says
Made these last year for Christmas and they were a huge hit. Fudgy rum balls are the best!!
So much so that my husband asked them to be his “birthday cake”!
Janice Warden Bergeron says
Do I use the cake when it’s fresh or should I let it get a little dry first? Never made rum balls before. ? hmmm
Alys says
Can I make these with chocolate brownies instead of cake?
Joanna says
I had to try one before letting them sit in the fridge – I could smell the bourbon but couldn’t taste it. Maybe it was my own cake mix recipe that I used? Or will letting them sit in the fridge/freezer bring out the taste more over time? The mixture was already quite sticky and wet so I didn’t add more bourbon.. should I have added more?
Diane says
Excellent yummy will be making these every Xmas!
Karlynn says
Glad you loved them! We make them every year!
Janine says
I made these and put them in the freezer. Today I looked and they are super wet, and leaking?!
Megan Hardcastle says
I used captain Morgan and doubled the sweetened condensed milk they came out amazing
Barbara J Merritt says
My new addiction! Made with the wacky cake recipe lightened up with Stevia and applesauce. I make mine smaller and roll them in cocoa/stevia instead of sprinkles. Soooo good and less guilt!
Christine says
What can i substitute for the rum to make it non alcoholic?
Bob says
Use a Rum Extract, it should give you the flavor without the alcohol.
Kimberly says
Coul a yellow cake be substituted for the chocolate cake??
amy says
I have no idea if these are good but I warn anyone who tries to print this recipe you get 15 pages of full color crap just to get a printout of the recipe!!!!
Renee says
Hi Amy,
If you choose “print recipe” at the top of the article, it should just print the recipe as opposed to printing the entire webpage.
Dunia Gosa says
I made these with the wacky cake mix and Bourbon. It is a funny cake mix to whip up, once everything is mixed together it turned in to a blob in the bowl. It was fun playing with it for a moment. So, anyway! I did have a lot of trouble getting the sprinkles to stick to the balls. This recipe was easy to make , but I did not care for the taste of it; on the other hand, my husband loves these Bourbon balls and he ate 6 at one time and would of eaten the whole batch if I wasn’t standing there supervising.. LOL
Joe says
Glad I found this recipe. Was looking for one that didn’t use wafers. Used Wild Turkey in mine. What I want to use I can’t get in the States anymore, Canadian Club Sherry Cask. If anybody can get it, try it and let me know how it was.
TJ says
Great recipe except for the 1/4 cup of condensed milk. Not near enough. I should have used the whole can. I had some dough left over and added some more condensed milk and the turned great.
susan gortva says
I will try these. looks and sounds great