Dec 8, 2021 | Drinks & Cocktails
Have you ever eaten or drank something that every time you have it again, you’re reminded of a specific time and place? For lack of better description, we will call this cocktail the peanut butter whiskey dream.
Two winters ago, my sister and I had an adult snow day where the city was shut down. We made these drinks and decorated the apartment we shared, and walked over to Forest Park, and sledded with half of St. Louis. A core memory kind of day, if you know what I mean.
Ever since I’ve been hooked on making these drinks around the holidays. I know I know, the eggnog sounds weird. And I promise I love this and I don’t even LIKE eggnog. The key secret here though is to buy dairy-free eggnog. I don’t know why, it’s just so much better. Unless you like regular eggnog, then you are welcome to buy that. It just adds a creamy element that you can’t get from anything else.
This is a SIMPLE drink. Mix Skrewball peanut butter whiskey with the eggnog and serve it chilled. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and plop a cinnamon stick in to finish it off. Don’t judge it, just try it and experience the peanut butter whiskey dream all for yourself.
Its a perfect drink to make while you decorate for the holidays, bake, or wrap presents. Or just to enjoy while sitting on the couch.
If you’re interested in more holiday drinks (boozy or not), take a look at my easy homemade hot chocolate bombs. Optional to add liquor in once you have said hot chocolate 🙂
Peanut Butter Whiskey Holiday Dream
Short, sweet and to the point, peanut butter whiskey and egg nog is a match made in Heaven
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cocktail, holiday cocktail, peanut butter whiskey, whiskey
Servings: 1
- 1 oz Skrewball peanut butter whiskey
- 4 oz egg nog I always use dairy free egg nog
- pinch cinnamon
- 1 cinnamon stick for garnish
Dec 1, 2021 | Drinks & Cocktails
We love a classic mule, but there’s nothing better than adding a little festive flair. This holiday cranberry mule is the perfect cocktail to serve for all your gatherings this season.
Moscow mules are simple and straightforward and pair well with most snack or dinner spreads. The ingredients are basic and easily found at any grocery store, so they aren’t a fuss to pull together. And while we love a good copper mug to serve it in, that’s optional as well.
What’s really great about a mule though, is that there is so much variety depending on the season or occasion. I made a killer apple cider mule last year that is hands down my favorite fall drink. So obviously we needed a Christmas version of our classic mule.
This holiday cranberry mule is just as easy as the classic. Starting with your basics- ginger beer, lime juice, and vodka- you just need to ad cranberry juice. It is important to buy plain cranberry juice and not cranberry cocktail. The cocktail is just a sugar mix that will throw off the whole drink.
I prefer drinks that are not heavily sweetened, so I leave my cranberry mule without additional sweetener. The cranberry juice itself doesn’t make it sweet, so if that is something you desire, you can also add simple syrup.
For the extra festive touch, I make ice cubes ahead of time with cranberries and fresh rosemary sprigs. They give the drink a perfect pop of color and a hint of a Christmas tree scent while you’re enjoying it.
Holiday Cranberry Mule
Prep Time5 minutes mins
Total Time5 minutes mins
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cocktail, cranberry mule, holiday drinks, mocktail
- 4.5 oz ginger beer
- 3 oz cranberry juice not cranberry cocktail- I found cranberry juice at Aldi
- 1.5 oz vodka
- 0.5 oz simple syrup optional- flavorful without but this makes it sweeter
- .5 oz lime juice
- ice
Mix together your cranberry juice, lime, vodka, and ginger beer. Serve over ice
If you want to go a step further, you can make festive ice by freezing cranberries and rosemary sprigs in an ice tray a couple hours ahead of time
Nov 30, 2021 | Baking, Drinks & Cocktails
Hot chocolate bombs have been *blowing up* in popularity this year. It’s like regular hot chocolate, but cooler, and filled with more marshmallows and toppings.
Turns out, you can make these yourself at home with relatively few ingredients and materials, and it’s a fun project to do as a family or in a group. These easy homemade hot chocolate bombs are perfectly customizable and possible to do in relatively little time. You can make them with kids that are home on break, give them as gifts, or make them for guests that might be visiting. Or make them for yourself to enjoy! Hot chocolate and a Christmas movie? Yes, please.
To start, you just need some kind of sphere to create your mold. Personally, I used a lemon. You’re going to take two sheets of tin foil and tightly mold it around your object to create two even (ish) halves of a mold. Fold the edges of the foil flat so that there is a clear edge for you to form with the chocolate.
Melt chocolate chips and using a brush, a spoon, or your finger, evenly cover the inside of both halves of your mold. Pop them into the freezer for just a few minutes, and then do a second coat of chocolate. It’s very important to coat the edges well so that when you pull the tin foil away, you don’t crack the molds. If this happens, patch it with more melted chocolate.
Once the second coat of chocolate has set, gently peel the foil away from your molds. With two halves of a mold, the hard part is done! Fill one half with hot chocolate, marshmallows, and any other treats you’d like. Using a small ziplock bag, fill a corner with the remaining melted chocolate and cut a small hole in the end. Use this to pipe chocolate between the two halves of the mold to seal them up.
Decorate the top of your easy hot chocolate bomb with more melted chocolate, sprinkles, candy canes, or any other sweets. When ready to enjoy it, just heat milk up for 2 minutes in the microwave and drop the bomb in and watch it melt!
Optional to add liquor of choice into the hot chocolate once its made 🙂
For an extra festive evening, make a boozy holiday drink to make while you work on these! I love mixing Skrewball peanut butter whiskey with dairy-free eggnog, and sipping on that while baking, decorating, or wrapping. Check out my recipe for it here!
Easy Homemade Hot Chocolate Bombs
Prep Time3 minutes mins
Total Time30 minutes mins
Course: Dessert, Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: holiday treats, hot chocolate, hot chocolate bombs
Servings: 5
- 2 C chocolate chips I used semi-sweet but milk chocolate will work too
- 1/2 C hot chocolate mix
- mini marshmallows
- toppings- sprinkles, caramel, candy canes, white chocolate, Oreos, etc
Start by obtaining a sphere that you can mold your hot chocolate bombs to. Ideally, it should be as large as a lime, but small enough that it fits in a standard mug. I used a Christmas ornament for my mold. If your object is not clean, or can't be washed, wrap it tightly in saran wrap first
To make your mold, take two sheets of tin foil and fold them in half. Use both sheets to form around the object tightly, creating two half spheres. Fold back the extra foil so that you have a clean line to form the edges.
In a microwave-safe mixing bowl, add 1 C of chocolate and microwave in 20-second intervals, mixing each time, until the chocolate is melted but not too hot
Paint the chocolate into both halves of the mold, ensuring that it covers the foil evenly. Place the molds into the freezer for 5-10 minutes and then paint a second coat of chocolate onto the edges and anywhere that seems thin. Freeze for another 5-10 minutes
Gently peel the foil off of the chocolate to remove the mold. If the chocolate starts cracking, paint more on to the affected areas and re-freeze
Once you have two chocolate halves, fill one half with 1-2 tbsp of hot chocolate mix, mini marshmallows, and any other toppings you desire
If needed, heat up the second cup of chocolate the same as before. Scoop the melted chocolate into the corner of a small ziplock bag and snip a very small hole in the corner of it
Set your empty half shell on top of your filled shell, and use the "piping bag" of chocolate to attach the two halves. Use your paintbrush as needed to smooth out or fill any gaps. Place back into the freezer for another 5-10 minutes
Once your chocolate bomb is formed, use the remaining bag of chocolate to drizzle on top, and decorate with any sprinkles, crushed candy canes, caramel, or toppings desired.
Keep these hot chocolate bombs separate from each other and safe from the heat of your hands by storing them each in their own cupcake liner
When ready to use, heat a mug of milk in the microwave for 2 minutes and drop your hot chocolate bomb in. Stir as necessary
Mar 23, 2021 | Drinks & Cocktails
The thought of warm summer evenings, sitting with family and friends on back porches, and bare feet in the grass gives me palpable nostalgia. There’s no time of year I love more, and there’s no better way to enjoy those experiences than with a cold drink in your hand. And what says summertime happiness more than a cold homemade summer shandy?
A traditional shandy is equal parts beer and lemonade. I did try this, and I felt like I acid washed the inside of my mouth. Not the success I was hoping for. Moving on, I tried equal parts lemonade and beer, but that felt too sweet. Turns out mixing beer and lemonade 2:1 was the key ratio, and I’m stickin’ to it.
To make homemade lemonade, you use A LOT of sugar and cook it down in boiling water and then mix it with lemonade. I don’t feel the need to drink 3 cups of sugar along with my beer, and the time to cook it down on the stove seems like a nuisance to me. I opted to try making a much smaller batch with a plant-based sweetener like Stevia, that would dissolve on its own without the heat and not give quite the sugar rush. And bingo, it worked.
For my summer shandy, I used a light lager as my beer of choice. Being from St. Louis, I found one I liked from Urban Chestnut and the light flavors were well complimented by the lemonade.
I recommend serving this homemade summer shandy in a chilled glass and adding a lemon slice. I also highly recommend serving it with a platter of some homemade pretzel bites, courtesy of Sally’s Baking Addiction, and my beer cheese dip, for a perfect snack spread.
Homemade Summer Shandy
Two favorites, beer and lemonade, come together to create a crisp yet subtly sweet refreshing drink
Prep Time5 minutes mins
Total Time5 minutes mins
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: beer drink, summer drink, summer shandy
- 1/2 c fresh-squeezed lemon juice 6-8 lemons
- 1/2 c water
- 2 tsp stevia or sweetener of choice
- beer of choice a lager is preferable
- lemon slices for garnish
Squeeze your lemons and strain out any seeds and pulp. Mix with water and sweetener until dissolved
Add lemonade to your cold beer of choice, 2:1 beer to lemonade.
Serve in a chilled glass with a lemon slice
Oct 26, 2020 | Drinks & Cocktails
The perfect fall spin on a Moscow mule? An apple cider Moscow mule of course!
I don’t like my drinks to be super sweet, so I always fall back on a Moscow mule if I’m unsure of what to drink while out. Or, an Irish mule for those of you who love a little Jameson like I do.
I was asked at work to host a virtual cooking class and so I decided everyone could use a cocktail during this covid season and therefore we absolutely needed to make a seasonal drink during our cooking class. I paired this with my salted caramel apple crisp – I think we can call both of them a win.
For anyone in the St. Louis area, if you know Eckert’s Farm then you’ve probably had their fresh apple cider. Honestly, that’s probably the secret ingredient to this- fresh cider. That and Costco vodka because that’s yet another one of their great finds.
The best part of making cocktails is that they can be modified for your personal taste. If you’re interested in the sweet and crisp taste of the apple cider Moscow mule without the alcohol, simply omit adding in the vodka into this recipe.
Apple Cider Moscow Mule
This seasonal cocktail is sweet with the right amount of tart. Leave out the vodka for a alcohol free mocktail.
Keyword: alcohol free, cocktails, drinks, mocktails
- 0.5 oz fresh lime juice
- 2 oz ginger beer
- 1.5 oz vodka plain, vanilla, or caramel flavored works best
- 3 oz apple cider
- apple slices for garnish
- cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon for garnish
Combine lime juice, apple cider, ginger beer, and vodka
Pour over ice and serve cold. Garnish with cinnamon and apple slices
For non alcoholic versions, combine everything without the vodka
Aug 4, 2020 | Drinks & Cocktails
This blueberry mojito is a crisp and subtly sweet summer cocktail that can be loved by all! For anyone not partaking in drinking alcohol, simply omit the vodka and it easily becomes and alcohol free beverage.
Where my ideas usually flow easily in the kitchen, I often have a difficult time when it comes to creating cocktails. I like simple and not very sweet, so I usually sidestep fancy drinks and stick to the basics. I am, however, VERY pleased with how this mojito turned out.
This is a drink that anyone can enjoy, and that makes it better for a crowd. If there are non alcohol drinkers, add the vodka in after they’ve already had theirs poured. Be careful though, even the ones with vodka don’t taste like they have any in there 🙂
As far as vodka goes, I am a HUGE fan of Costco. It’s honestly a dreamland in there, and their Kirkland vodka continues to keep the bar raised high.
Blueberry Mojito
This simple cocktail for beginners is a blueberry mojito that boasts a hint of sweet and a lot of flavor. This can be made for alcohol and non alcohol drinkers alike.
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: adult beverage, alcohol free, mocktail, mojito
Servings: 8 drinks
- 12 oz strawberry daquiri frozen concentrate
- 16 oz club soda
- 16 oz coconut water
- 1/2 c lime juice
- 1/2 c frozen blueberries
- 10-15 mint leaves muddled, plus extra for topping
- 1 c vodka
Muddle the basil and half of the blueberries
In a pitcher, combine frozen daquiri concentrate, club soda, coconut water, lime juice, blueberries, and vodka if desired
Mix in ice and mint leaves
Serve chilled with a mint leaf or extra blueberries for garnish
For an alcohol free version, simply omit the vodka
This blueberry mojito recipe creates enough for multiple drinks. Keep it in the refrigerator to stay chilled and serve it over ice.
For a seasonal fall drink, try out my apple cider Moscow Mule for another drink that is crisp and slightly sweet!
