All Recipes

Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake with Irish Cream Glaze

March 12, 2019 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

This Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake (complete with Irish Cream Glaze) would be a delicious St. Patrick’s Day treat! The cake is dense and very chocolatey, while the glaze is sweet and a little boozy. I added some green and white sprinkles for fun.

Here’s a bit of a fun fact for you all: I’m writing this post while in Ireland! How perfect for a St. Patrick’s Day post.

My husband and I are on a much needed vacation. We flew into Dublin and rented a car to drive out to Doolin (on the west coast of Ireland). We’re staying there for a few days before heading back into Dublin for a bit. Then we’re off to Liverpool for a couple of nights before taking a train up to Edinburgh. After that we’ll fly back to Dublin for a night and then come home.

We only just got in yesterday, but it has been incredible thus far. The country is beautiful and green, and the food and drink have been 10/10. In very surprising beer-related news, it turns out that I actually like Guinness! Who knew? I’ll be sharing photos of our travels with you soon.

This recipe comes from the blog Handle the Heat, though it has been modified slightly to increase the overall amount of chocolate and Irish cream. Because who doesn’t want more of both of those things??

Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake with Irish Cream Glaze

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 5 mins

Total Time

1 hr 35 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 people

Ingredients

For the chocolate bundt cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup stout beer, such as Guinness
12 oz dark chocolate, chopped
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sour cream

For the chocolate Irish cream glaze

8 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy hream
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tbs vanilla extract
2 tbs Irish Cream liquer

Instructions

To make the bundt cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan and set aside (see notes).
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a small saucepan heat butter and beer over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted. Remove from heat and add the 12 ounces of chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs and sugars on medium-high speed, until fluffy. Beat in the melted chocolate mixture and the sour cream. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in flour. Do not over mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center, comes mostly clean. Let the cake cool for about 20 minutes in the pan and then invert it onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

To make the glaze

Add the chopped chocolate and heavy cream to a medium -sized saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir continuously. Once melted add the vanilla extract and kosher salt. Remove from the heat, add the Irish Cream, and stir.
Put the sauce in the fridge for 15 minutes or so to allow it to cool a bit. Pour the glaze onto the cake and let the cake stand until the glaze firms up.

Recipe Notes

Notes: pan release goop from I Am BakerThis is legit.

Need more St. Patrick’s Day treats? I gotcha.

Try these Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars if you’re short on time but still need a fun, sweet treat.
Double Chocolate Irish Cream Cookies are sure to please.
A Chocolate Guinness Cheesecake with Chocolate Whiskey Ganache requires a little planning, but is well worth it.
Guinness Brownies with Caramel Fudge Frosting are 10/10.

Buffalo Deviled Eggs

February 20, 2019 by laurenpacek 2 Comments

These Buffalo Deviled Eggs are a really delicious twist on the classic deviled egg recipe. They’re very flavorful, a little spicy, and the perfect party food.

I make deviled eggs pretty much every chance that I get. Having a party? Deviled eggs are on the menu. Need some appetizers before a holiday meal? Better make some deviled eggs. Heading to brunch at your friends’ house? You see where I’m going here.

We went to brunch at our friends’ house this past weekend and agreed that we’d divide the work up along sweet/savory lines. They handled the sweet, while I handled the savory. For my part, I brought some cheesy baked grits and these deviled eggs. 10/10 would make and eat again.

Like this cute deviled egg plate? It’s Fiestaware. This is not sponsored (though hit me up, Fiestaware!). I just really like their stuff.

If Classic Deviled Eggs are more your thing, look no further. You can find that recipe right here.

Make sure to also check out these other recipes that feature hot sauce!

5 from 1 vote

Buffalo Deviled Eggs

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 halves

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

6 eggs
2 tbs mayonnaise
1 tbs ranch dressing
1.5 tbs hot sauce
1/4 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Garnish

blue cheese crumbles
chives, minced

Instructions

To cook the eggs in an electric pressure cooker

Fill the pressure cooker insert with ½ to 1 inch of water (check your manual regarding the minimum recommended amount of water). Place the steamer basket in the insert. The water level should be below the steamer basket.
Place the eggs on the steamer basket in an even layer. Seal the lid and cook for 5 minutes on high pressure.
Allow the pressure cooker to release naturally for 5 minutes. After that, do a quick pressure release.
Carefully transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water. Change the water out with cold water as needed until the eggs have cooled. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

To cook the eggs on the stovetop

Place the eggs in a saucepan in a single layer and cover them with enough water that there is 1 inch of water above the eggs.
Heat on high until water begins to boil then remove the saucepan from heat, cover, and leave the pan sit for 14 minutes.
Carefully transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water. Change the water out with cold water as needed until the eggs have cooled. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

To assemble the deviled eggs

Peel the eggs. Slice the eggs in half, remove the yolks to a fine mesh strainer, and set the whites on a platter.
Push the yolks through the strainer with a spatula into a medium-sized bowl. Add the mayonnaise, ranch dressing, hot sauce, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Stir to combine completely.
Spoon or pipe the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites.
Sprinkle each deviled egg with a bit of blue cheese crumbles and minced chives.

Beet Red Velvet Cupcakes

February 13, 2019 by laurenpacek 5 Comments

These Beet Red Velvet Cupcakes are moist and a little chocolatey, just like any good red velvet cupcake should be. AND they’re 100% food coloring-free! Their gorgeous red hue comes from the addition of cooked beets. But don’t worry – you can’t taste the beets!

I have to get this out of the way: I am generally not a big fan of red velvet. I know, I know.

Sure it’s really pretty, and is super moist. But it’s this like, vaguely chocolatey cake that’s usually made with a TON of food coloring. What gives?

There’s even a scene about it on an old season of Orange is the New Black. Remember?

Red velvet IS bullshit. EXCEPT when it’s made without a ton of food coloring. Like these cupcakes right here.

Plus beets are the best. I love them in a way that if they weren’t a vegetable would maybe be considered unhealthy.

Check out these easy roasted beets. Or how about either of these salads?

Though it may seem a little daunting, these cupcakes are actually very easy to make. Microwave some beets, chop ’em up, and toss ’em in a blender/food processor. Blitz them with wet ingredients, add them to the dry, and mix. Bake. Frost. Voila!

The red/white color combo makes these cupcakes an easy choice for Valentine’s Day or Christmas. But make them whenever you’re in the mood for a pretty, sweet treat!

The cupcake recipe comes from the good folks over at Southern Living. The cream cheese frosting recipe comes from Sugar Spun Run.

5 from 5 votes

Beet Red Velvet Cupcakes

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

18 mins

Total Time

48 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

10 oz fresh red beets, peeled
1 lemon, juiced
3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder, see notes
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

For the cream cheese frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

To make the cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners. Set aside.
Wrap the beets in parchment paper. Microwave on high until they are tender (about 8 to 10 minutes). Allow the beets to cool, still wrapped in the paper, until they are just warm to the touch.
Coarsely chop the beets. Add them, along with the lemon juice, to a food processor. Process until they are finely chopped. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add the oil and buttermilk and process until smooth. Add the eggs and process until completely combined.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add the beet mixture, and whisk until just combined.
Using an ice-cream scoop, fill the prepared cupcake liners two-thirds full with batter.
Bake 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pans on wire racks for about 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pans to the racks, and allow them to cool completely.

To make the frosting

Combine the softened cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until creamy and well-combined.
Add the vanilla extract and kosher salt. Beat again until combined.
Gradually add the powdered sugar on low speed until it is completely combined. Beat on medium-high speed for a few minutes to really whip things up.
Frost the cooled cupcakes.

Recipe Notes

Notes: Do not use dark cocoa powder. It will really mask the red color that the beets impart.

If you’re looking for more baked goods for Valentine’s Day, I got you. Try these Double Chocolate M&M Cookies and Triple Chocolate Raspberry Brownies?

If cocktails are more your thing, see these Blood Orange Bourbon Sours and the Kinkytini Cocktail (kind of like a Cosmopolitan)!

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie with Pretzel Crust

February 5, 2019 by laurenpacek 3 Comments

This Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie is a lot of things. It is sweet, cold, creamy, and yet also a bit salty and crunchy.

One of the best things about this pie, in my opinion, is that it is nearly no-bake! Just pop the crust into the oven for 10 minutes and then let the freezer do the rest of the work.

This pie was inspired by a candy bar that I impulsively picked up while in World Market a few weeks ago. It was a milk chocolate bar that had peanuts, pretzel pieces, and marshmallow in it. I mean, sure, I was walking around the store while borderline hangry, but that thing was good.

I went home and started to wonder how I could incorporate all of those flavors into a dessert creation of my own. Pie seemed like a good candidate. I thought back to the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie that I shared with you before and wondered what would happen if you folded marshmallow fluff/creme into the peanut butter filling. As it turns out, delicious things would happen if you did that.

The crust is a little sweet, but mostly salty, and made out of pulverized pretzels, brown sugar, and melted butter. The combination of cold and creamy filling, salty crust, and crunchy toppings (okay there are soft marshmallows, too) is 10/10.

After you whip up this Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie, don’t forget to check out this Almost No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, too!

5 from 3 votes

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pretzel Pie | A Nerd Cooks

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie with Pretzel Crust

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Freeze time

3 hrs

Total Time

3 hrs 25 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8 people

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

For the crust

8 oz small pretzels
2 tbs brown sugar
8 tbs unsalted butter, melted

For the pie

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
7 oz marshmallow creme
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

For the topping

mini chocolate chips
salted peanuts
mini marshmallows

Instructions

To make the crust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Blitz the pretzels in a blender or food processor until fine crumbs form.
Add the brown sugar and melted butter. Blitz again until everything is well combined.
Press the pretzel crust into the bottom, and up the sides, of a 9-inch pie pan.
Bake for 10 minutes. Allow the crust to cool.

To make the pie

Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, marshmallow creme, and peanut butter together. Add the heavy cream and beat again until a smooth filling forms.
Add the mini chocolate chips to the pie filling and mix until they are well distributed throughout the filling.
Pour the filling into the prepared pretzel crust. Smooth the top with a spatula.
Top with mini chocolate chips, peanuts, and mini marshmallows.
Freeze for 3 hours. This pie can be served frozen or refrigerated.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

January 30, 2019 by laurenpacek 7 Comments

This Gluten Free Banana Bread is dense, moist, and studded and topped with crunchy pecans. Know what’s even better? I subbed real maple syrup for brown sugar to make this banana bread refined sugar-free, too!

Part of me likes the idea of baking with less refined sugar. I’m thinking about giving dates a try as a sweetener. For, you know, nutritional reasons and whatnot.

Then again, part of me just really likes maple syrup. The real stuff. No Mrs. Butterworth’s here. I used this bourbon barrel aged variety (found at Costco), but use whatever kind that you like!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that this banana bread is made with brown butter. Who doesn’t like brown butter? It is 10/10.

I’ve been slowly tiptoeing into the gluten free baking world, and definitely want to increase my GF repertoire. So far I’ve shown you Gluten Free Muesli Muffins and Coconut Macaroons. And now this gluten free banana bread!

5 from 5 votes

Gluten Free Banana Bread

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

50 mins

Butter cooling time

15 mins

Total Time

1 hr 15 mins

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 slices

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

For the brown butter

8 tbs unsalted butter

For the banana bread

2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour, see notes
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup real maple syrup
2 eggs
2 large bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup pecans, chopped

For the topping

1/4 cup pecans, chopped
2 tbs real maple syrup

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with a strip of parchment paper sling. Allowing an inch or so of parchment paper to hang over the long edges. Spray the pan and parchment paper with cooking spray and set aside.

To make the brown butter

Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and cook for about 3 minutes (stirring pretty much constantly) until the butter has browned.
Pour the brown butter into a bowl. Make sure to scrape all of the toasty, brown bits into the bowl as well.
Let the brown butter cool slightly for 10-15 minutes.

To make the banana bread

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the maple syrup, eggs, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract.
Once the brown butter has cooled slightly, whisk that into the wet ingredients, too.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Fold the wet and the dry ingredients together, but don't over mix. Add the chopped pecans and stir until distributed throughout the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.

To make the topping

Sprinkle the remaining chopped pecans evenly over the top of the batter.
Pour 2 tbs over the pecans.
Bake the banana bread for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center, comes out clean.

Recipe Notes

Notes:

I use King Arthur's Gluten-Free Measure for Measure flour

Looking for more banana bread recipes? (Of course you are) How about Hummingbird Banana Bread or Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread? How about some banana bread with chocolate chips and oatmeal? AND. Let’s not forget Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Cookies!

Cara Cara Orange Margaritas

January 24, 2019 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

These Cara Cara Orange Margaritas are sweet, just a little tart, and pleasantly boozy. You will not regret shaking up one (or two!) of these drinks.

I am obsessed with Cara Cara oranges. There, I said it. It’s always really exciting when they start showing up in grocery stores. Fortunately, Costco often carries them during the Winter months. I picked up a big bag during our last shopping trip.

Cara Caras are sweet, not very tart, and have really pretty pink-orange flesh. I like to peel and slice them up to have for breakfast with some avocado and a little kosher salt. They’re also good in a salad. And now, I know that they’re great in a cocktail.

If you can’t get your hands on Cara Cara oranges, you can sub navel or even blood oranges. But please use freshly juiced fruit. It makes all the difference.

It can be as simple as cutting an orange in half and squeezing it over a strainer. I put my Le Creuset citrus juicer to work when making these drinks (not sponsored–boy do I wish–I just really like it).

Cara Cara Orange Margaritas

Prep Time

5 mins

Course: Beverage, Cocktail

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: 1 cocktail

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

lime wedge, for rimming glass
kosher salt, for rimming glass
2 oz Cara Cara orange juice, freshly squeezed
1 1/2 oz blanco or silver tequila
3/4 oz triple sec
1/2 lime, juiced
lime and Cara Cara orange wedges, for garnish

Instructions

Rim a rocks or margarita glass with lime juice and kosher salt. See the notes for detailed instructions on how to do this. Add ice to the glass and set aside.
Over ice, add the orange juice, tequila, triple sec, and lime juice to a cocktail shaker. Shake until very cold.
Strain the drink into the prepared glass.
Garnish with lime and Cara Cara orange wedges.

Recipe Notes

Notes:

How to rim a glass with salt (or sugar)

If you want to check out a couple other delicious margarita recipes, look no further than myPomegranate Margaritas and Apple Cider Margaritas.

Or if you want other cocktails that use orange juice, take a look at my Orange Creamsicle Crush recipe or these Blood Orange Bourbon Sours.

Gingerbread Banana Muffins

January 15, 2019 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

These Gingerbread Banana Muffins are spicy like gingerbread, but super moist thanks to the addition of bananas. These delicious muffins will convince you to not limit your consumption of gingerbread goodies to Christmastime!

Even though the Christmas season has come and gone, I don’t think that that’s any reason to not enjoy the warm spicy flavors of gingerbread. It’s still the middle of winter, after all.

These muffins are moist (bananas), spicy like any good gingerbread should be, and have slightly sticky tops (thanks, molasses!). The crumb topping is sweet and keeps things interesting, texturally.

In creating the recipe for these muffins, I tinkered with the number of bananas, as well as various amounts of molasses and spices. I was looking for a muffin that had all of the moistness of a banana muffin without tasting too banana-y. If that makes sense. I also wanted the gingerbread flavor to be pretty prominent without being overbearing.

After three tries, I think I’ve ended up with a winner of a recipe. I hope that you agree.

Banana Gingerbread Muffins

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

40 mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Servings: 18 muffins

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

For the muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
5 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extact
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup molasses

For the crumb topping

8 tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

To make the muffins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two muffin tins with cooking spray; set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda together. Set aside.
In another medium-sized bowl, combine the bananas, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and molasses.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling them approximately 3/4 of the way full.

To make the crumb topping

Toss all ingredients together with a fork until crumbly.
Top the muffin batter with the crumb topping, dividing it evenly between each of the muffins.
Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center of a muffin, comes out clean.

Need more gingerbread goodness in your life? Check out my Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies!

Or maybe you need more muffins? Of course you do. Try these Apple Oat Streusel Muffins and Gluten Free Muesli Muffins. You could also check out these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and Double Chocolate Banana Walnut Muffins!

Spiced Cherry Spritz

January 9, 2019 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

This Spiced Cherry Spritz is a surprisingly complex little cocktail given that it’s made with only 3 ingredients. Okay, four, if you include the maraschino cherry.

The Cheerwine and Lambrusco make it a little sweet, while the Fernet Branca lends some bitterness and keeps it interesting.

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been sharing a lot of cocktails lately. I’m not sorry about it.

It’s just a pretty good indication of where my head (and heart) has been lately. Between the stress of the holidays and associated travel, a grant deadline, and other life stress, booze just seemed like the right choice.

Let’s break these ingredients down a bit:

Fernet Branca is a variety of amaro (means “bitter” in Italian), which are Italian herbal liqueurs. If you can’t get your hands on Fernet Branca, you can substitute a variety of other amari.

Lambrusco is an Italian red wine. You may be familiar with the cheap, sweet, sorta fizzy Lambrusco. That is one option, but rest assured that there are plenty of other options, as well.

As for the cherry soda, I went with Cheerwine. We’ve talked about Cheerwine before (check out these ice cream floats!). It’s a really sweet black cherry-flavored soda made by a company that’s headquartered in North Carolina.

Now, onto the recipe: The recipe for this cocktail is modified slightly from Bon Appétit.

Spiced Cherry Spritz

Prep Time

2 mins

Course: Beverage, Cocktail

Cuisine: American

Servings: 1 cocktail

Ingredients

1.5 oz Fernet Branca, or other amaro
3 oz Lambrusco
Cheerwine or other cherry soda, for serving
1 maraschino cherry, for garnish

Instructions

Pour Fernet Branca and Lambrusco into a rocks glass over ice.
Top with Cheerwine. Stir to combine.
Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

In case you’ve missed them, check out the cocktails I’ve shared recently:Cranberry Gin and Tonic, Cranberry Rosemary French 75, and Holiday Gin Moscow Mule.

Cranberry Rosemary French 75

December 27, 2018 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

The Cranberry Rosemary French 75 is a riff on the classic French 75. Cranberry juice and rosemary infused vodka (plus fresh rosemary and cranberries for garnish!) make this drink especially festive.

A classic French 75 is made with gin (though vodka can be used, too), lemon juice, simple syrup, and champagne. It’s a very pretty, classy looking cocktail. With New Year’s Eve being right around the corner, I thought that a variation on that classic drink would be really good.

A while back, I made a batch of Rosemary Infused Vodka (mostly so that I could whip up the really delicious Palace Cafe Cocktail) and I’ve been looking to use it again ever since. Since vodka is often used in a French 75, and rosemary and cranberry are great together, I decided to combine all of these flavors in one drink.

These cocktails look pretty impressive (and very festive). Only you have to know how easy it was to put them together.

Cranberry Rosemary French 75

Prep Time

2 mins

Course: Beverage, Cocktail

Cuisine: American, French

Servings: 1 cocktail

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz rosemary infused vodka, see notes for recipe
2 oz cranberry juice
3/4 oz lemon juice, fresh
2 oz champagne/prosecco
fresh rosemary and cranberries, for garnish

Instructions

Add the rosemary infused vodka, cranberry juice, and lemon juice to a champagne flute.
Top with champagne/prosecco/your bubbly of choice.
Garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary and a few fresh cranberries.

Recipe Notes

Notes: The recipe for Rosemary Infused Vodka can be found here

If you’re looking for more bubbly cocktails to help ring in the New Year, lemme make a few suggestions. Blackberry Champagne Floats couldn’t be easier (and you can use whatever flavor of sorbet you’d like). A Chambord Kir Royale looks and sounds very fancy, but is actually super easy to throw together. And let’s not forget about Pomegranate Champagne Moscow Mules, which are as pretty as they are tasty.

Holiday Gin Moscow Mule

December 18, 2018 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

This Holiday Gin Moscow Mule is festive AF and is a really delicious variation on the Moscow Mule. While the flavors themselves are plenty festive enough, dressing this cocktail up with fresh rosemary and cranberries really takes it over the top!

These cocktails, while delicious any time of the year, are particularly good for the holiday season. I mean, look at them! Red, green, full of booze…

Speaking of which… The holiday season can be pretty stressful, amirite? Mix up some Holiday Gin Moscow Mules, sit back, and relax. You deserve it. Might I suggest doing so in front of a roaring fire? That’s certainly my plan for this holiday season.

Love gin and want more? Check out this equally festive Cranberry Gin and Tonic!

Holiday Gin Moscow Mule

Prep Time

2 mins

Course: Beverage, Cocktail

Cuisine: American

Servings: 1 cocktail

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz gin, see notes
3 oz cranberry juice
3/4 oz rosemary simple syrup, see notes
1/2 lime, juiced
3 oz ginger beer
fresh cranberries, sprig of rosemary, and lime wedge, for garnish

Instructions

In a copper mug over ice, combine the gin, cranberry juice, rosemary simple syrup, and lime juice.
Top with ginger beer.
Garnish with fresh cranberries, a sprig of rosemary, and a lime wedge.

Recipe Notes

Notes: I used Conniption American Dry Gin.

You all know I have a serious thing for Moscow Mules. Is my love for this cocktail over the top? Maybe. But if you’re looking for other Mules, I’ve got you covered. What kind of spirits do you fancy?

Bourbon? There’s always the classic Bourbon Moscow Mule OR Maple Bourbon Moscow Mule. And let us not forget the Old Kentucky Mule.

Is vodka more your thing? Take a gander at the Caramel Apple Moscow Mule or very festive Cranberry Vanilla Moscow Mule. The Pomegranate Champagne Moscow Mule has vodka AND champagne!

Last, but certainly not least, if you’re a fan of tequila, the Mexican Moscow Mule may be for you.