One Apple Butter Syrup, Six Perfect Fall Cocktails
- Kate Carr
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
We love experimenting in the kitchen, and this fall we got curious about what apple butter could do in a cocktail. So we started playing. We tried straining the syrup and leaving it unstrained, we tested how much water to add, and we adjusted the sweetness batch by batch until it felt right. Nothing fancy went into it either. We've just been grabbing the apple butter from the jelly aisle at Kroger, whatever jar is on the shelf that week, and it's worked every time. If your grocery store carries apple butter, you already have what you need.
We linked every full recipe so you can go straight to the one that calls to you.
Apple Butter Syrup Recipe
Syrup Ingredients:
1/2 cup apple butter
1/2 cup hot water
How to Make It:
Add the apple butter and hot water to a small bowl or jar.
Whisk until completely smooth.
Use right away, or transfer to a bottle and refrigerate for later.
This makes enough syrup for one of each of the six cocktails below, with a little left over. We keep ours in a swing top bottle, it's easy to shake before pouring and looks good enough to leave out on the counter.
Apple Butter Margarita
The One That Started It All
Reposado tequila, apple butter syrup, fresh lime, and agave, shaken hard and poured into a glass rimmed with a sweet and salty apple pie spice mix. This is where the syrup began, and it's still the drink we reach for first. The rim makes it. Don't skip it.
Reposado tequila · Apple butter syrup · Fresh lime · Agave · Apple pie spiced rim
Apple Butter Old Fashioned
The Spirit-Forward One
Bourbon, apple butter syrup, and a duo of aromatic and orange bitters, stirred and poured over a single large cube. Deep, warm, and quietly cozy. A bourbon with some caramel or vanilla character makes this one sing.
Bourbon · Apple butter syrup · Aromatic bitters · Orange bitters
Cinnamon Apple Whiskey Sour
The Showstopper
Bourbon, apple butter syrup, fresh lemon, and an egg white, dry shaken first to build a thick, stable foam. Finished with a dusting of cinnamon and a sprig of fresh thyme. It looks like the most complicated drink on this list. It isn't, the dry shake does all the work.
Bourbon · Apple butter syrup · Fresh lemon · Egg white · Fresh thyme
Apple Pie Spritz
The Delightful One
Apple butter syrup, prosecco, and a splash of club soda over ice. Bubbly, low effort, and the one to make when you want something easy at the start of the night. A dry prosecco keeps it from tasting like straight apple juice.
Apple butter syrup · Prosecco · Club soda
Apple Butter Bourbon Mule
The Easy, Refreshing One
Bourbon and apple butter syrup with fresh lime, topped with ginger beer and served in a copper mug. This one comes together in under a minute and drinks like fall in a glass. A bourbon with a little rye spice keeps it from turning too soft against the ginger beer.
Bourbon · Apple butter syrup · Fresh lime · Ginger beer
Autumn Spice Espresso Martini
The One to Close Out the Night
Vodka, fresh espresso, apple butter syrup, and coffee liqueur, shaken until frothy and finished with a dusting of apple pie spice right over the foam. Bold, warm, and the one we make when dinner's done and we're not ready for the night to end.
Vodka · Fresh espresso · Apple butter syrup · Coffee liqueur
A Note on This One Syrup
Six very different drinks came out of the same jar in our fridge this fall. Tequila, bourbon, prosecco, vodka, all of it works, because the syrup adds richness without pushing the flavor in one direction. Most of these get finished with a few thin apple slices on top, we buy ours dried and ready to go, no dehydrator required.
If you make one of these, we'd love to know. Leave a comment and tell us which one you tried first, or which one earned a permanent spot in your fall rotation. We read every one.
ABOUT KEVIN & KATE
We're Kevin and Kate, a husband and wife duo who turned a weekly cooking ritual into something we share with the world. Date Nite is our subscription experience for couples, a complete evening every week with a curated dinner menu, a cocktail pairing, grocery list, playlist, and all the small details that make a night at home feel like something you actually looked forward to.
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