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These easy No Bake Gingersnap Brandy Balls marry two of my favorite flavors: brandy and gingersnaps. With a heady dose of brandy in every bite, these tasty morsels double as a sweet dessert and an after-dinner drink!
12 Days of Christmas Cookies
I have been known to add brandy to unexpected foods: sweet potato pie, buttermilk waffles, cranberry chutney, and chocolate peppermint kiss cookies! You can imagine how excited I was to combine gingersnaps and brandy into one easy, no-bake cookie!!
They come together effortlessly with the help of a food processor and a microwave! The hardest part is waiting for them to set in the refrigerator.
Tart cherries are soaked in brandy and then combined with gingersnap crumbs, nutty, toasted walnuts, and powdered sugar! The effect is sensational!
Brandy is the star flavor, so choose a high-quality brandy or if you don’t like brandy, skip these and head straight to my Gingerbread cookies, Gingersnaps, or Molasses Sugar Cookies!
Much to my delight and to the disappointment of my husband, these No-Bake Gingersnap Brandy Balls taste like brandied gingerbread cookie dough with a hint of cherry and toasted walnuts! Headspinningly delicious…or that could be the brandy. Hmm… Doesn’t matter. They are awesome.
My husband would have preferred a coarser chopped walnut coating, which could easily be done to accommodate those who want a little crunch with their ginger brandy balls!
I loved the intermingling of brandy, gingersnap, cherry, and toasted walnut flavors. You can use homemade gingersnaps or a quality store-bought!
It should be noted, because I try to do all I can to avoid disappointment around here, that brandy is the primary flavor. If you would like to tone down the brandy flavor and make it a nice subtle background note, then substitute half the brandy for filtered water. I also cannot emphasize enough: quality brandy is a must!
No Bake Gingersnap Brandy Balls
Ingredients
- â…“ cup tart dried cherries chopped
- ¼ cup brandy
- 1 ¼ cups crushed gingersnap cookies
- 1 ¼ cups confectioners sugar divided
- ¾ cup walnuts divided, toasted, chopped
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, soften chopped cherries in brandy. Let sit for about 10 minutes.
- Stir in gingersnap crumbs, 1 cup sugar, ¼ cup walnuts, butter, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
- Let the gingersnap mixture sit, so that it is firm enough to roll. While it sits pulse the remaining walnuts, sugar and salt in a food processor until finely ground.
- Roll the dough into balls approximately 1 inch wide and roll in ground walnut sugar. Place on a rimmed baking sheet or plate; cover with plastic wrap; and refrigerate at least 12 hours.
What else can you use besides cherries or apricots?
Any dried fruit!
Oh my these look sublime – wonderful idea! I’m going to give them a go with lotus biscuits as that’s all I have at home atm. Hopefully they will turn out as beautifully as yours!
I’m not sure what a lotus biscuit is but if it has ginger and cinnamon and all that good stuff, then they’ll probably be awesome!
Oh my gosh, I am LATE to your 12 days of Cookies thing, and I am going to have to go back and drool over all the other cookie recipes! You know, after I can tear my eyes away from these gorgeous bites—holy yum what a fab combo of flavors! These are too adorbs. 🙂
I love shortbread style cookies shaped as balls. There is just something so special, so festive about them. Please, send me a dozen! 🙂
Oh, my gosh, do your brandy balls look outstanding!!! I never drink brandy, but I keep a big bottle and love to use it in cooking and baking. Now there will be another 1/4 cup missing 🙂
Thanks, Liz!! I don’t drink brandy either but I LOVE the taste in baked goods!!!