Need a festive Christmas cocktail? Try this Gingerbread Martini! This creamy cocktail is absolutely irresistible: just sweet enough and packed with cozy cinnamon, allspice and ginger. It tastes like a gingerbread cake or cookie, but even better: with a little intrigue on the finish. It’s only 3 ingredients and the perfect festive cocktail for holiday entertaining. Here’s how to make it!
What’s in a Gingerbread Martini?
The Gingerbread Martini is an festive spin on the flavored vodka martini. It’s infused with big flavor from one homemade ingredient: Gingerbread Syrup! It’s an ideal Christmas cocktail or holiday drink anytime in December. You’ll need just three ingredients for this Gingerbread Martini recipe:
Vodka Half and half (or heavy cream) Gingerbread syrup
These three simple ingredients make magic in the glass: mostly because of the heavily spiced syrup! But it’s easy to make at home: here’s how!
Making homemade gingerbread syrup (and a substitute)
This Gingerbread Martini has the best cozy flavor because of the homemade gingerbread syrup! It’s a brown sugar syrup infused with fresh ginger, allspice berries, and cinnamon sticks. All you do is simmer the ingredients for 20 minutes. Give it a taste, and the flavor pops with an intensely spiced kick!
Homemade gingerbread syrup has the best flavor here! It takes just 20 minutes and we highly recommend it. Go to Gingerbread Syrup. Purchased gingerbread syrup also works, but every brand has a different flavor and sweetness. Here’s a link to buy gingerbread syrup online.
Rimming the glass: a few options!
The most fun part of a signature martini? The glass rim! Aside from a festive look, they also add a hint of flavor and texture to the beginning of each sip. For this Gingerbread Martini we decided to rim the glass in festive sprinkles, which almost make it look like a wreath! Here are a few options for the glass rim:
Festive sprinkles: we used a mix of red and green Christmas sprinkles Brown sugar: looks beautiful with a lovely golden brown color Crushed graham crackers or gingerbread cookies: For these you’ll need a heavier bonder than water to get them to stick to the glass. Pour a bit of gingerbread syrup on a plate and dip the glass rim in that, then into a plate of finely crushed cookies.
Gingerbread martinis for a crowd
Are you making this Gingerbread Martini for a party? You’re in luck! You can make up to 4 martinis at once in a cocktail shaker. Simply prep all the glasses first, then shake up 4 drinks at a time. It works like a charm (no need to shake them each individually).
Make it dairy free or vegan
Want to make this Gingerbread Martini dairy free? Substitute full-fat coconut milk for the heavy cream! The coconut fat stands in beautifully for the dairy fat. It does lend a coconut flavor, but it’s not overwhelming. And that’s it! Let us know what you think of this Gingerbread Martini in the comments below.
More festive Christmas cocktails
This Gingerbread Martini is one of our favorite Christmas cocktails for the holiday season! Here are a few more that work well as signature holiday drinks:
Go for a Christmas Margarita or Christmas Mule Try a Christmas Martini (or other Vodka Christmas Cocktails) Opt for a Peppermint Martini Try a delicious Peppermint Patty Drink
5 from 4 reviews **Or, use crushed graham crackers or gingerbread cookies for the rim (dip the rim in a plate of gingerbread syrup to adhere them).
