You might be scraping up the last of your cranberry sauce as you finish up Thanksgiving leftovers. But before you put it on your plate, I have another suggestion: put it in a cocktail shaker.
When you think about it, cranberry sauce — with softened cranberries, sugar, spices, and orange juice and zest — is a perfect base for the sweet-and-savory Old Fashioned.
Cranberry Sauce Old Fashioned
2 jiggers bourbon (I used Maker’s Mark)
1/2 Tbls cranberry sauce (I use this recipe)
1/4 jigger ginger simple syrup*
2 dashes orange-flavored bitters
Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker. Add ice. Shake hard, 15-20 seconds (shake hard so the ice can break up the sauce). Add ice and drink to rocks glass. Twist orange peel swath over top then add to glass. Enjoy!
*A recipe for ginger simple syrup is pretty easy to find online. I also provide a recipe on the free stuff page for my newsletter subscribers.
