How’s your Thanksgiving hangover? Mine mostly consists of wishing eat-all-you-want holidays and Christmas decorating lasted MUCH longer.
But, the time is upon us..Christmas shopping! You may groan or rejoice, but my belief is that if you gift someone with food or booze, they will silently thank you for secretly helping them through the holidays in the form of icing or a new cocktail recipe to go with that homemade liquor.
When said gift is easy as pie (that’s coming later this week) to make and absolutely non-hard liquor tasting, I think it’s a win for everyone involved. This can seriously be thrown together 15 minutes before you have to be at that Christmas or housewarming party, throw it in a pretty bottle with some ribbon and voila! My favorite bottles to gift in come from Sur La Table or antique decanters.
I have always loved amaretto, but this takes it to another level. Not having to go out and buy a very expensive bottle of amaretto liquor and being able to make a delicious cocktail anytime is a almond-y score!
Homemade Amaretto
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups vodka
- 2 tablespoons almond extract
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Combine water and sugars in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the mixture is boiling, and all of the sugar is dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool for 30 minutes (hard part!).
Stir vodka, almond extract and vanilla extract into the mixture. Store in sealed bottle and give as gift or drink up!
adapted from Shutterbean
Amaretto Cocktail
- 2 ounces amaretto
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- dash of bitters (these are local and my favorite!)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 maraschino cherry
- 3 ice cubes
Combine all ingredients in cocktail shaker, shake for 10 seconds. Pour into glass and serve.
Combine
Tracy says
Liquors are the best for cocktails but they get so expensive to buy all the different and fancy ones, what a great way to use the vodka I always have in a more productive manner!
ohshineon says
I like this… Maybe too much. Quick question… How many cups does the homemade amaretto make?
Abby @ totesdelishblog says
Hi there! It makes about 4 cups of amaretto, just enough for a lot of cocktails to go around : ) I just took a quick peek at your site and I love your approach to food and relationships with food!
Charlene Nicholl says
My sister and I made this when she was visiting in August. I noticed some sediment in the bottom of the bottle. Is the liquor still good? Has anyone else had this problem?
The Frosted Vegan says
Hi Charlene, The liquor should still be good, I’m guessing the sediment is from over time. I usually use mine up pretty quickly, so I haven’t had this problem, but I’m guessing it will still be ok!