Festive Cranberry Cocktail Recipes

 The holiday season is near, and if you are gathering with friends to exchange gifts, or hosting a party, you are going to want to pin this list of festive cranberry cocktails for later. This list has some of the best options to help you ring in the holidays in style.

If you have been visiting me for a while, you know I love a good cocktail. This year I would love to include more cranberries into my happy hour, so I started visiting with some of my favorite bloggers to find the best recipes. I know you will find a few items you love on this list.

Cranberry Sage Cocktail by Salted Plains

Perfect Cranberry Cosmo by xoxo Bella

Cranberry Sangria by Flavor the Moments

Blushin Russian by The Good Hearted Woman

Frozen Cranberry Mimosa by Stephanie’s Way

Winter White Cosmos by Aleka’s Get Together

Cranberry Pear Mimosas by Entirely Elizabeth

Sorcerer's Stone Cocktail by Cooking with Curls

Cranberry Orange Margarita by Emily Fabulous

Cranberry Orange Daiquiris by Small Town Woman

Cranberry Moscow Mules by Our Crafty Cocktails

Mezcal Cranberry Cocktails by Gastronom Blog

Sparkling Cranberry Champagne Cocktails by Homebody Eats

Blackberry Cranberry Moscow Mules by The Forked Spoon

Cranberry Margaritas by A Splash of Taste

Don't these drinks sound perfect for the holiday season? Which would you like to make first? Don't forget to click over to view the full recipes and save them to your cocktail board.

While you are here you can find some of my favorite drink recipes here:

Wild Blueberry Gin Fizzers

Boozy Freezer Pops

Cherry Orange Soda Syrup

Homemade Boozy Butter Cream Candy

Last year, I made several tasty vintage candy recipes for the holidays, to the delight of my family. It was fun, but this year, I decided I wanted to do something different.  That is where these decadent butter cream cake vodka candies came into play. 

I made homemade butter creams last year, and they were so good that I didn't even offer the kids the chance to lick the bowl after I scooped them out. I hid in the pantry and enjoyed it myself. HA! So, this year, I started on the butter creams but decided to do something wickedly decadent. I added cake vodka to the mix. And Holy Cow, they were amazing!

Ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

4 ounces of softened cream cheese

5 to 6 cups of powdered sugar

½ cup of cake vodka

For coating

½ teaspoon of crisco

4 ounces of almond bark or milk chocolate

Directions:

Combine butter and cream cheese until well blended.

Add cake vodka and blend for 30 seconds.

Add 3 cups of the powdered sugar and begin stirring.

Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and stir until you have a thick cream.

If needed, add the remaining powdered sugar.

You want to have a consistency that is very thick!

Begin scooping out the buttercream and dropping it on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Freeze the butter creams for 1 hour.

When the butter creams are completely frozen, melt the chocolate or almond bark with a ½ teaspoon of crisco over a double boiler.

When you can stir the chocolate smooth, remove from heat.

Working quickly, dip the butter creams into the melted chocolate, place them back on the baking sheet and put them back into the freezer for 15-25 minutes to harden the chocolate.

These are best stored in the fridge or the freezer until they are ready to be served.

 

These are an awesome and unique gift from the heart to share. They are sweet, have a little kick from the vodka, and will certainly offer a boozy treat that will set off the holidays just right for grown up friends.

As these are boozy, it would be a good idea to put a little warning on them before sharing. 

I am going to be serving these at my Christmas party; I think I will also make a batch in white chocolate.

If you like cocktails, check out some of my favorite recipes:
Night King Cocktails
15 Amazing Wine Cocktails
Bomb Pop Cocktails
Blueberry Vodka Lime Sorbet

Haunting Halloween Cocktails

 

If you are planning for a party, or maybe just want to treat yourself to something extra this Halloween, then you are in the perfect place to be inspired! I have gathered 10 of my favorite festive cocktails for the Halloween season to share with you. You can find a bonus of a few of my favorite cocktail recipes below too.

Hocus Pocus Cocktail by Easy Party Cocktails

Black Widow Martini by Burrata and Bubbles

Monkey Brain Shots by Aleka’s Get Together

Devil Margaritas by Sula and Spice

Witches Brew by Sugar and Charm

Wicked Things Cocktail by Like MK Library

Halloween Sangria by The Forked Spoon

Bloody Cosmos by By Andrea Jansen 

Lychee Gin Cocktail by Emily Fabulous

Green Appletini by The Art of Natural Living

Which of these sounds best to you? Those witches brew drinks look fun!

You might also want to try this sour apple margarita recipe

The Night King Cocktail is always a favorite!

Hillbilly Cider Cocktails

This recipe for hillbilly apple cider is the best easy cocktail for fall. This easy 2 ingredient recipe adds the perfect amount of apple pie moonshine to fresh apple cider for a smooth sipping drink that will really give you a kick in the pants! I love this cocktail for evenings when I don’t want to make a lot of effort for a cocktail because it is ready in about a minute.

Ingredients:

Apple Pie Moonshine

Fresh Pressed Apple Cider

Ice

Optional:

Cinnamon 

Directions:

Fill a glass with ice.

Add 1 ½ ounces of apple pie moonshine to your glass

Top off with 5 ounces of apple cider.

Give everything a good stir.

If you like you can garnish with cinnamon.

Find other favorite cocktail recipes here:

Blueberry Gin Fizzers

Sour Apple Margarita

Popsicles for Adults (Boozy Freezer Pops)

I know summer doesn't officially begin for a few weeks, but, it is HOT already, the kids are out of school, and the mosquitoes are biting at every opportunity. In my eyes, that means it is summer. I have been spending a ton of time in the pool, or poolside with the kids. Sometimes my mind wanders to thoughts of boozy popsicles but the ones at the grocery store are like  $20 for just a small package. Seems kind of excessive for what you are actually getting. So instead of shelling out my  cash I turned to the internet and found a few promising recipes for boozy popsicles to share with you. 

Please click through the link to get the full recipe.

4 Ingredient Raspberry Sangria Popsicles are the perfect afternoon indulgence. They are easy to make and they taste perfect after a sweltering day in the summer heat.

Blood Orange Negroni Pops are elegant and easy enough to make on a whim and wow guests this summer.

Pina Colada Popsicles

Give your day a tropical vibe with these totally indulgent popsicles. I love these almost as much as a pina colada itself!

Easy Mango Pina Colada Pops feel like the perfect substitute for a vacation mid week, tropical vibe included!

Blue Lagoon Cocktail Popsicles are so much fun to make and share with a of legal drinking age friend. 

Blueberry Vodka Lime Sorbet is the perfect way to beat the heat and get a little buzz too.

Which of these boozy popsicle recipes sounds the best to you? I would really appreciate it if you would pin this recipe to your cocktail board or share it on social media.

Reader favorite cocktails include:

Sour Apple Margarita

Night Kings

Sour Apple Margarita

Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner and this Sour Apple Margarita recipe is the best cocktail for the occasion!  This recipe is easy to make and has just the right mix of booze with the perfect pucker from the sour apple schnapps. Chances are you will make this one many times as summer rolls around.

When the pandemic began, I started collecting alcohol. I have never been a big drinker, but as I age, I can certainly appreciate a good cocktail recipe. These days, an afternoon cocktail is the pick me up I need.  This sour apple margarita is a favorite for the warmer months. It is so easy to mix and hits just right.  Pair it with taco night or make it and take it outside to savor the warm weather.

I look forward to the days when we can gather with friends and serve these by the pitcher. I know they will go down fast and smooth with friends laughing in the background, telling the stories of their lives.

The vibrant green color of this cocktail makes it so appealing, especially as the world begins to come in bloom. Bring on the green after such a long and gray winter!

Ingredients

Serving size is 1 8oz glass

1. 1oz Tequila
2. 2oz Sour Apple Schnapps
3. 1/2 oz Tripel Sec
4. 1/2 oz Cointreau
5. 2oz Sweet and Sour Mix
6. 1 splash of fresh Lime juice
7. 1 lime cut for garnishing

DIRECTIONS 

1. Pour Margarita salt onto one plate and simple syrup on the other plate
2. Take your glassware and dip the rims in the simple syrup and then the margarita salt and set to the side
3. Fill your glasses with ice 3/4 of the way full
4. Add ingredients to a bartender shaker along with 3-4 pieces of ice
5. Shake to combine and strain into your glass
6. Garnish with a lime wedge

See, I told you this was an easy cocktail recipe! So easy, you almost have to try mixing it yourself! I never knew margaritas could be so easy to make without using a mix.

You can find all of my cocktail recipes here.

Reader favorites include:

Night King Cocktails

Bomb Pop Cocktails

Wild Blueberry Gin Fizzers

Night King Cocktail Inspired by Game of Thrones

This eye catching cocktail is perfect for sipping while you binge watch reruns of Game of Thrones. Made with heavy cream, vodka and blue curacao, it has a delicious bite that leaves you wanting more.

My husband is a serious Game of Thrones fan. He loved the books, was enthralled by the series and has managed to develop quite the collection of merchandise from the show. He loves it so much that I have felt guilty for some time about not watching with him. It would have been nice to have someone to talk to about the show I suppose. 

So that was a wife fail. To make up for my lack of enthusiasm, the last time he was tuned in, wishing for different outcomes and additional episodes, I made my way into the kitchen and made him a cocktail. I wanted it to feel fitting for a serious fan, and I had limited info to go off of. 

I had seen the Night King a time or two, and I was inspired by the blue curacao in my home bar. A quick survey of the fridge told me I had ample heavy cream and with that, this cocktail was born.

• Ingredients:
• 4 ounces of heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 ounce of vodka
• Blue curacao

• Directions:
• Whip sugar, and heavy cream until you have a nice thick whipped cream .
• Fold in the vodka.
• Transfer to a glass, carefully drizzling as much blue curacao on as you like. I kept it light for the swirling effect.
• Serve ice cold. 
• A spoon or straw is helpful for consumption.

Find more recipes here
Reader favorites include:
Sour Apple Margaritas
Haunting Halloween Cocktails

Blueberry Vodka Lime Sorbet

Blueberry Vodka Lime Sorbet cools you off while lighting you up at the same time!

You guys, I celebrated my 40th birthday yesterday. I am pretty excited about it too. 40 is the Holy Grail or so I have heard. And I am eager to find out! It is August and it is blazing hot here. So humid that I am not even ashamed to admit, I daydreamed about winter for a few moments.

I can't do much about the weather, but I can find ways to keep my mind busy and cool off a little.
I whipped up a batch of blueberry vodka lime sorbet and enjoyed a dish poolside. That has to be the next best thing to a winter wonderland on a hot day.

Sorbet seems fancy to me. When I was in highschool, I had a part time job at a really lovely place, Glenlaurel Inn in the Hocking Hills. It was pretty sweet for a teenager. I did dishes, earned enough money to go to dozens of concerts, and sometimes the chef would feed me a gourmet meal that included sorbet and an andes mint at the end. As a kid, living in a very rural area in the 1990s, sorbet, andes mints and a coke machine really wowed me. For over 20 years I have fondly recalled that experience of working there and being exposed to culture every time I have had sorbet.

Sorbet seems fancy, but it is actually so deliciously simple to make. Homemade sorbet is a million times better than anything that comes in a container an adding a great vodka to the mix results in a grown up treat that does double duty. It cools you off and fires you up at the same time!

Ingredients:

2 cups of blueberries

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of water

One Lime

1/2 cup of vodka

Directions:

Combine water, sugar and blueberries in a saucepan.

Over medium heat bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and simmer or 30 minutes.

Allow the mixture to cool for 20 minutes.

Pour into a blender and blend for 1 minute.

Add vodka and the juice of one lime.

Blend for 30 seconds.

You can pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer if the seeds from berries bother you. I opted not to do this, as I like a little texture.

Freeze for 4 o 6 hours.

Serve or store in an airtight container in the freezer.

Find more cocktail recipes here

Everyone loves the Bomb Pop Cocktail

Wild Blueberry Gin Fizzers

Blueberry Gin Fizzers are perfect for summer entertaining.  They are so easy to make, and they have the ideal blend of sweet and tart flavors. 

 I was gifted 8 pounds of beautiful blueberries. My husband will eat them sometimes, the kids don't like them in any capacity. That left me with about 7.5 pounds of berries to use and enjoy. Naturally I had them on my cereal. I added them to oatmeal. I ate them on cake. I baked a small pie.  I froze half of them... I still had blueberries left! What is a girl to do? Why not drink them!?

This cocktail recipe is so easy to make. It is refreshing and tasty, making it perfect for summer entertaining. The flavor of gin is wonderful mixed with blueberries!

Ingredients:

2 ounces of fresh blueberries

Lime wedges

Sprite

Gin; I like Beefeater

Ice

Directions:

With a spoon,  or a muddler, smash the blueberries.

Add ice to the glass.

Add Sprite.

Top with 1 ounce of Beefeater Gin.

Squeeze the juice of a lime wedge into the glass.

Garnish with a lime if desired.

You can find more of my favorite blueberry recipes here.
Find more cocktail recipes here.