Dark Chocolate Coconut Rum Truffles

For a taste of the tropics in every bite, try these boozy Dark Chocolate Coconut Rum Truffles. With a fudgy coconut center and rum aplenty, these no-bake confections are a favorite of partygoers and pirates.

“What about the rum?”

Four questioning words made famous by Captain Jack Sparrow and, I’m guessing, the inventor of rum truffles. I say this because no sober person would ever hand-make truffles, and the epic mess that goes along with them, if an alcoholic payoff didn’t exist.

In this case, the hard liquor light at the end of the tunnel is Malibu Rum, the Caribbean-inspired coconut-flavored spirit that gives these two-bite, chocolaty coconut confections a boozy kick in the truffle balls. My test batch had so much Malibu that the DOT classified them as flammable. And spontaneously combustible. That means I couldn’t legally transport rum truffles without first slapping a Class 4 hazmat sticker on my Jeep.

Besides the hassle of having to stop at all railroad crossings like a gas tanker, the other drawback of over-rumming my recipe was making the mixture too wet to hold its shape. Truffle balls can easily be dipped in dark chocolate, rum-drenched coconut blobs cannot. So, as indulgent as my Malibu-saturated truffle batter tasted, I needed to dial back the booze on the next batch.

Besides, it’s not like I had much of a choice. Between the heavy-handed pour in my initial coconut rum truffle recipe and a hankering for coconut rum punch, the bottle of Malibu was well on its way to empty. That’s how I came up with the 1/4 cup of rum measurement for the second attempt at this recipe.

It wasn’t scientific, it was all I had left.

The new and improved recipe strikes a nice balance of sweet and creamy without tasting like liquored suntan lotion. Also, popping a coconut rum truffle in my mouth no longer comes with a promise of alcohol poisoning. By subtracting a liter of rum (and a little bit of fun), you get a dark chocolate dipped coconut rum truffle that won’t boost you blood alcohol level over the limit.

Disclaimer: It should go without saying, but I’m saying it anyway. If you eat several pounds of coconut rum truffles in one sitting then you will be shitfaced drunk. And in a hyperglycemic coma. If you’re not going to show restraint around these spirited treats then make sure you have money for a hospital stay and/or a bail bondsmen.

With a boozy taste of the tropics in every bite, these no-bake coconut rum truffles will mentally transport you to the Caribbean (or, as we just established, if you eat too many they may transport you to the emergency room). Make a batch to de-stress a work situation, give as a gift or to display on a dessert table. No matter the occasion, you can’t go wrong with this coconut dark chocolate combo.