Apple Butter Old Fashioned

The apple butter old fashioned recipe is a bourbon forward cocktail that looks stunning and ticks all the boxes: refreshing, pretty, and delicious. Made with apple butter and bourbon, this cocktail is a perfect fall drink that mixes apple cider and bitters with the warmth of the bourbon to keep away the autumn chill.

I love the old fashioned cocktail and when I stumbled on the apple version of the drink, I knew I had to make it.

This is what I found: the heartiness of the apple butter complements the slightly sweet taste of bourbon and apple cider. And add a few drops of bitters to further even out the flavors and balance your cocktail perfectly.

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Want to learn more about bourbon? Read my comprehensive article here.

Helpful tips

• I recommend sugar-free apple butter, but if you can’t find one without sugar, try to get one that isn’t too sweet.
• I love Woodford reserve bitters. I have 4 different flavors: aromatic, orange, chocolate and, my favorite, spiced cherry. For this cocktail, I chose to use aromatic bitters.
• Two good alternative bitters brands are Angostura and Peychaud’s.
• Buy the best bourbon whiskey you can afford. I do think even a mid-level bourbon tastes better than bargain brands. A solid budget bourbon is Evan Williams.
• Apples are in the top 12 fruits that have heavy pesticides so you need to wash an apple thoroughly. Here’s how: Squirt some natural, unscented foaming hand soap in your hand and rub the soap on the apple. Take a vegetable brush and scrub the apple skin. Run cold water over the apple and make sure you rinse off all the soap. I buy my hand soap at Whole Foods.
• I prefer large ice cubes in an old fashioned glass. Here is the tray I make them with.

How to make an apple butter old fashioned

Pre-step

Wash an apple, get a cocktail shaker and fill it halfway with ice. Also get a measuring glass and two double old fashioned glasses.

Cut an apple in half, core it, cut away 4 slices for garnish, and set aside. Cinnamon sticks are another great garnish, but optional. If you have them, set 2 aside.

After measuring out the ingredients, pour them into the cocktail shaker.

Step one

Gather the ingredients – bourbon, apple butter, apple cider and aromatic bitters.

Step two

Measure 4 ounces of bourbon. (A)

Step three

Measure 4 ounces of apple cider. (B)

Step four

Measure 2 ounces of apple butter. (C)

Step five

Add 10 drops of aromatic bitters to the cocktail shaker. (D)

Step six

Cap the cocktail shaker and shake for 15 seconds.

Step seven

Add ice cubes to the double old fashioned glasses. Divide and strain the liquid between the two glasses.

Garnish the inside of each glass with a slice of apple and a cinnamon stick, if you have them (optional). Garnish the rim of each glass with a second apple slide.

Let’s get a closer look.

And now the vertical view.

Yum. The apple butter gives it such a lovely taste, wait til you try it.

I hope you enjoyed this apple butter old fashioned cocktail recipe! Let me know what you think when you try it.

Other festive cocktails

• Apple cider margarita
• Mistletoe martini
• Cranberry cosmo
• Pumpkin spice martini
• Apple dumpling cocktail

And as always, may all your dishes/drinks be delish!

If you’ve tried this recipe, I’d love the know what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!