Rum Balls (Dairy-Free)

An Australian Christmas treat, these traditional rum balls are made using dairy-free alternatives making them the perfect for everyone! Made with just 5 ingredients, these chocolate and coconut balls are the easiest dessert or snack to have on hand in December.

There is one food that you can count on being on the table at every Australian Christmas party and that’s the classic rum ball. Made with crushed sweet biscuits, cocoa powder, desiccated coconut mixed with condensed milk and flavoured with rum, these treats are one of the easiest things to make and are a total crowd pleaser.

Since I became dairy-free I have spent many Christmas events unable to enjoy these delicious chocolate and coconut treats. I had completely given up on being able to enjoy treats that were made with sweetened condensed milk as nothing else really comes close to the flavour and texture. That was until I stumbled across a coconut milk version in the supermarket.

The sweetened coconut condensed milk can be found with the cans of coconut milk in the Asian foods aisle at Woolworths and is exactly what we need to be able to make a dairy-free version of the classic rum balls. You can also use sweetened condensed oat milk which I prefer, however it can be more difficult to find.

Honestly, it doesn’t feel like Christmas until I’ve made a batch of these rum balls. They really are one of the easiest treats, making this the perfect recipe for any skill level in the kitchen.

Key Ingredients

Rum balls use just 5 ingredients but all are essential to creating these delicious treats.

Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Dairy-free plain sweet biscuits – traditionally Arnotts brand milk arrowroot or marie biscuits are used, but to keep this recipe dairy free I like to use digestives which work perfectly. These biscuits crumble easily and are not too sweet.
• Desiccated coconut – some coconut is added to the balls themselves and then they are rolled in more coconut to finish. Make sure you are using desiccated coconut rather than shredded as it has additional moisture which will impact your end result.
• Cocoa powder – to give the rum balls a rich, chocolatey flavour.
• Dairy free sweetened condensed milk – when I first created this recipe the only dairy free condensed milk available at the supermarket was the coconut version, however I have also recently been able to find the oat milk version which you can see in the photos. If you can’t find any, then you can use this recipe to make your own vegan condensed milk.
• Rum – use any rum you like. I usually prefer to use Kraken or a spiced rum for extra flavour but any will work.

How to make rum balls

To make the rum balls, start by crushing your biscuits into a fine crumb. The quickest and easiest way to do this is with a food processor, however a zip lock bag and a rolling pin will also do the job just fine.

Transfer your biscuit crumbs into a large bowl with the desiccated coconut and cocoa powder and mix together. Add in the condensed coconut milk and the rum and mix together until thick and sticky.

If you are making these for Christmas and live in Australia, chances are it’s going to be warm the day you’re making these, so to ensure the mixture isn’t too sticky to work with and doesn’t melt, refrigerate your mixture for about 30 minutes before rolling the balls.

Roll tablespoons of mixture between your hands to form balls and then coat them with more desiccated coconut.

The heat from your hands will warm the mixture, so I do recommend placing them on a plate in a single layer and refrigerating for another 30 minutes so that they keep their shape before storing.

FAQs

More Christmas sweets:

Chocolate Coated Honeycomb
Vegan Chocolate Truffles
Vegan Ferrero Rocher
Vegan Biscoff Fudge
Easy Rocky Road

If you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with #eightforestlane as I would love to see.

Rum Balls (Dairy-Free)

An Australian Christmas treat, these traditional rum balls are made using dairy-free alternatives making them the perfect for everyone! Made with just 5 ingredients, these chocolate and coconut balls are the easiest dessert or snack to have on hand in December.

4.70 from 13 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Australian

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Chilling Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 25 balls

Author: Sally

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 250 grams dairy-free plain sweet biscuits such as digestives
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 320 gram can sweetened condensed coconut milk
• ¼ cup rum
• ½ cup desiccated coconut extra for rolling

Instructions

• Using a food processor, crush the biscuits into a fine crumb.
• Add the biscuits to a large mixing bowl with the coconut and cocoa powder and mix together. Add in the sweetened condensed coconut milk and rum and mix together. Place mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes to make the balls easier to roll.
• Scoop tablespoons of mixture and roll into balls between your hands before rolling them in the extra coconut to coat the outside. Place the rum balls on a plate in a layer in the fridge to firm up, before placing them in an airtight container. Rum balls will last 2 weeks in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer.

Notes

Traditionally, rum balls use milk arrowroot or arnott’s marie biscuits, however as these contain milk products I used digestives instead. Any plain sweet biscuit (or cookie if you’re in the US) will work here.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can crush the biscuits by placing them in a large ziplock bag and carefully banging the biscuits with a rolling pin, moving them around inside the bag, until they resemble a fine crumb.

I used a dark, spiced rum for these which gives a delicious and rich flavour but any dark rum will work.

Nutrition

Calories: 125kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 70mg | Potassium: 105mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 34IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.

Have you made this recipe?Leave a comment and a rating below and tag your creations with #eightforestlane on Instagram!

Not fom Australia? Check out my US Conversion Guide

This post was originally published on the 3rd December 2020. It has been updated to include better instructions, more helpful information and new photos.