new! Christmas 2009
We’re on a roll after our Halloween Jell-O shot extravaganza. Do we have Christmas Jell-O shot recipes, you ask? Of course we do! Capturing the flavors of the holiday season requires thinking outside of the Jell-O box, so most of these recipes start with unflavored gelatin. Leave some Jell-O shots out for Santa, and we guarantee you won’t get a lump of coal in your stocking.
Egg-cellent Eggnog
Whether you like it or not, eggnog is a holiday standby. We’ve got a couple of options for you, both of which are pretty tasty. The eggnog gelatin shots have a stronger eggnog flavor and a custard or flan-like texture. The eggnog pudding shots are creamier, and much simpler to make. While bourbon is the traditional liquor to put in eggnog, you can also use rum or brandy, or some mixture of those spirits.
Eggnog Gelatin Shots
1 packet Knox unflavored gelatin
1 cup water
¼ cup sugar
1 cup premade eggnog from the dairy case
1/2 cup Bourbon, Brandy, Rum, or a mixture of them
Additional nutmeg (ground or freshly grated) if desired
In a saucepan, sprinkle the gelatin over 1 cup cold water and let sit for a few minutes. Carefully warm over low heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar and keep stirring until everything is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Stir in eggnog and liquor. Add more nutmeg (about ½ tsp) if desired. Pour into shot cups and chill.
Eggnog Pudding Shots
3 oz. pkg Jell-O Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
1 cup cold milk
1/2 cup Bourbon, Brandy, Rum, or a mixture of them
8 oz. container Cool Whip, thawed
½ tsp Nutmeg, ground or fresh grated
Whipped cream (optional)
Combine milk and liquor. Add to pudding mix in a bowl. Add nutmeg. Mix with a whisk until it thickens. Fold in Cool Whip, pour into shot cups, and chill. Top with whipped cream if desired.
Jell-O Shots Just Like Grandma Used to Make
These are based on an actual liquor shot called the Gingerbread Man, but we’ve added our own special touches. The secret ingredient that really makes them taste like grandma’s cookies is molasses. The ginger syrup is a nice addition if you can make it, and you’ll have extra left over for mixing other cocktails.
You may see a little bit of curdling caused by the Irish cream. Don’t worry – it won’t ruin the final product. During our experimental phase, we noticed that this combo of liqueurs seemed make the shots gel a little looser, so this recipe has more gelatin in it than usual.
Gingerbread Gelatin Shots
2 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin
1 cup water
1/2 cup Irish Cream liqueur
1/4 cup Butterscotch schnapps
¼ cup Hot Damn cinnamon liqueur
2 Tbs. Blackstrap molasses
½ tsp Pumpkin pie spices (or ¼ tsp cinnamon and ¼ tsp nutmeg)
2 Tbs Ginger syrup*, or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
Frosting and cinnamon candies for decoration (optional)
Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a saucepan and let sit for a few minutes. Heat over low heat until gelatin starts to melt. Add molasses and ginger syrup (or powder) and spices. Heat and stir until combined. Remove from heat and let cool 10-15 minutes. Stir in liquors. Pour into cups and chill. When firm, decorate with frosting and candies to make faces.
*Ginger Syrup: Combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a saucepan. Peel a 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, cut into six pieces, and add to sugar and water. Heat mixture while stirring, until sugar dissolves and it comes to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer a few minutes longer after it boils, until the syrup begins to thicken. Remove from heat and let cool. Remove ginger and strain into a jar. Keep refrigerated. This syrup can be used to make other cocktails.
Like an Arctic Blast in Your Mouth
Rumple Minze is strong stuff in more ways than one. It’s 100 proof (50% alcohol – much more than most liqueurs) and the peppermint flavor is on a par with Altoids. A little goes a long way. Two miniature bottles will give you enough minty freshness for this recipe. Throw in a little vodka to smooth it out and you’re set. We did these up in traditional red and white, but you can stick with a single color for simplicity if you prefer.
Candy Cane Jell-O Shots
1 packet Knox unflavored gelatin
1 ½ cups cold water
¼ cup sugar
1/2 cup Marshmallow fluff
1/4 cup Rumpel Minze
¼ cup Vodka
Red food coloring
In a saucepan, sprinkle the gelatin over cold water and let sit for a few minutes. Carefully warm over low heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar and keep stirring until dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Add liquors. Divide gelatin mixture in half, pouring one cup into a measuring cup or bowl, and leaving the other half in the pan. Add red food coloring to the mixture in the measuring cup or bowl, until you get a nice shade of red. Return the pan containing the uncolored gelatin mixture to low heat, and add ½ cup marshmallow fluff. Stir until the marshmallow has melted into the gelatin. The mixture should be foamy. Fill cups half full of marshmallow mixture. There should be a foamy layer on each, so spoon some foam onto the top of each cup if necessary. Fill the cups the rest of the way with the red mixture, drizzling it through the foam so it leaves streaks on the top. Chill until firm. The layers may separate slightly.
You can also make a red and white layered shot by chilling the cups after the marshmallow mixture is added. When that layer is firm, pour the red layer on top. The red mixture will probably have gelled slightly but can be reliquefied by warming briefly, either in the microwave or in a pan on the stove. Chill again until firm.
For a monochrome peppermint shot, you can either omit the marshmallow fluff for red only, or double the marshmallow stuff and omit the food coloring if you want one that is only white.
Who Spiked the Cider?
It’s a drink that’s usually served hot, but try a cup of cold mulled cider. It’ll still warm you up.
Mulled Apple Cider Gelatin Shots
1 packet Knox unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup water
1 cup hard apple cider, divided in half
1/4 cup Apple Pucker or other sour apple schnapps
2 oz. Hot Damn cinnamon liqueur
4 whole cloves
Cinnamon sticks (optional)
Combine the water with ½ cup cider in a saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over it and let sit for a few minutes. Add cloves and heat over low heat, stirring, until the gelatin is dissolved. (If you’re using dry cider, add a couple of Tbs. sugar at this point and heat till the sugar is dissolved.) Remove from heat and let cool 10-15 minutes. Take out the cloves. Stir in the remaining cider and liqueurs. Pour into cups, prop a cinnamon stick in each cup if desired, and chill.
Christmas in Club Med
When you think Christmas, you think red and green. And when you think red and green Jell-O, you think cherry and lime. But that didn’t seem like the best flavor combination to us, which a taste test confirmed. So what else could we use to make a red and green Jell-O shot? While there are other green Jell-O flavors (margarita, green apple), lime is the only one that’s consistently and widely available, so we considered that non-negotiable. After considering various red and reddish Jell-O flavors as companions, we decided to go with the Tropical Fusion flavor. Add some coconut rum, and these flavors blend nicely. Yes, tropical Christmas Jell-O shots seem kind of counterintuitive, but think of it as a Caribbean winter getaway.
Green and Red Tropical Holiday Jell-O Shots
3 oz. pkg Tropical Fusion Jell-O
3 oz. pkg Lime Jell-O
2 ½ cups water (divided)
1 1/2 cups Malibu (divided)
Make this recipe one layer at a time. Bring one and a quarter cups of water to a boil. Add to one flavor of Jell-O and stir till dissolved. Let cool till lukewarm, then add 3/4 cup of Malibu and stir. Fill shot cups halfway and chill. When the first layer is firm, repeat with the second flavor of Jell-O, fill cups to the top, and chill again.
If you want something a little more “traditional”, may we suggest this combo of cranberry and lime – a sort of layered Cosmopolitan. If you can find cranberry flavored Jell-O, go for it and save yourself some trouble, otherwise cook up this fruit-juice based gelatin.
Christmas Cosmo Jell-O Shots
Red Layer
1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatin
1 cup Cranberry juice cocktail (divided)
1/2 cup vodka
1-2 Tbs sugar (if needed)
Sprinkle the gelatin over ½ cup cranberry juice in a saucepan and let sit for a few minutes. Heat over low heat, stirring, until the gelatin starts to dissolve. Add the rest of the cranberry juice. If the mixture doesn’t taste sweet enough, add a spoonful of sugar and heat again until dissolved. Cool till just warm. Stir in the vodka. Fill shot cups halfway and chill.
Green Layer
3 oz. pkg Lime Jell-O
1 ¼ cup water
3/4 cup Vodka
Bring the water to a boil. Add to Jell-O and stir till dissolved. Cool till just warm. Add vodka and stir. Fill shot cups the rest of the way and chill.
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How to Light a Jell-O Shot on Fire
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