Peanut Butter & Jelly Old-Fashioned Cocktail

5 from 1 vote

If you’ve got a bottle of peanut butter whiskey sitting around, use it to make the childhood favorite sandwich into a drink — the Peanut Butter & Jelly Old-Fashioned Cocktail won’t disappoint!

a pb&j old-fashioned with a sandwich garnish

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Peanut Butter & Jelly Old-Fashioned Cocktail recipe

It’s back-to-school time again (how?) and I’m already seeing some back-to-school pictures on my Facebook feed.

This had me reminiscing about school lunches the other day and I enjoyed many a PB&J in my lunchbox all throughout school.

I hadn’t had one in years, until I met my husband. To him, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is the ultimate comfort food.

He dreamed up this PB&J cocktail with nostalgia in mind. Flavored with raspberry liqueur, berry bitters and nut bitters, it’s a grown-up and fun way to enjoy these classic flavors.

Why you’ll love this recipe

Peanut butter lovers will enjoy finding a new way to use their bottle of peanut butter whiskey.

  • Peanut butter whiskey is relatively new to the scene and it’s fun to try new cocktails with it!
  • It’s full of nostalgia. If you like PB&J sandwiches, you’ll love this cocktail!
  • You can make it with jam, simple syrup or a berry liqueur.

This peanut butter and jelly drink is a fun twist on the classic old-fashioned recipe with the flavor profile mashup of childhood nostalgia.

a peanut butter jelly sandwich on a cocktail

What is an old-fashioned?

A classic old-fashioned cocktail is a strong, spirit-forward cocktail made with whiskey (usually bourbon and flavored with cocktail bitters.

Traditionally, it gets a cocktail cherry (hopefully not a maraschino cherry!) and a piece of orange peel.

However, the old-fashioned is really great to play around with. Mix and match with different types of whiskey, fruit, simple syrups and bitters to get some fun flavor combinations.

Lately I have been all about the coffee old-fashioned and the chai old-fashioned, but this maple old-fashioned is my husband’s favorite.

Flavored whiskey, such as peanut butter whiskey, is also fun to experiment with.

Peanut butter whiskey

Peanut butter whiskey is really game-changing for peanut butter lovers. The serious whiskey drinker might not love all the sweetness, but this is not a serious cocktail.

My husband brought home a bottle from a liquor store run a while back, and now we’ve tried several brands of peanut butter whiskey:

  • Ole Smoky Peanut Butter Whiskey is a close second for us. It has notes of buttered popcorn and honey as well as creamy PB.
  • PB&W Peanut Butter Whiskey is my least favorite of the bunch we tried. It is very sweet and doesn’t taste like whiskey to me. I’d probably enjoy it much better in a milkshake or other drink where it can take a backseat to other flavors.
  • Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey is my #1 favorite. It has a taste similar to a Butterfinger candy, but it still tastes like a sweet whiskey. It has the most natural peanut butter flavor, to me.

Some other notable brands are Scatterbrain, SQRRL, Sheep Dog and Hard Truth, which I hope to get around to trying one day soon!

chambord and peanut butter whiskey with a pb&j old-fashioned

Ingredients

You only need a few ingredients to make a PB&J cocktail, but they are a bit more on the specialty side.

Ice

Before you start, make sure you have a really big ice cube that you can use, if possible.

Large ice cubes dilute slower, so they are less likely to change the flavor of your whiskey cocktail.

If you wanted to be really showy, you could make up some berry ice cubes to further drive home the berry flavor while it melts.

bottle of skrewball peanut butter whiskey and metal cocktail jigger

Peanut butter whiskey

My preference is to use Skrewball for a peanut butter cocktail. It’s got the most whiskey flavor, while still brings in the sweet flavors of PB.

My husband brought home a bottle a while back, and we fell in love. Now we’ve tried several brands of peanut butter whiskey, but Skrewball is still my favorite. Here are our thoughts:

  • Ole Smoky Peanut Butter Whiskey is a close second for us. It has notes of buttered popcorn and honey as well as creamy PB.
  • PB&W Peanut Butter Whiskey is my least favorite of the bunch we tried. It is very sweet and doesn’t taste like whiskey to me. I’d probably enjoy it much better in a milkshake or other drink where it can take a backseat to other flavors.
  • Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey is my #1 favorite. It has a taste similar to a Butterfinger candy, but it still tastes like a sweet whiskey.

Some other notable brands are Scatterbrain, SQRRL, Sheep Dog and Hard Truth, which I hope to get around to trying one day soon!

a bottle of chambord liqueur rests on a white background with a grey and white kitchen towel

Chambord

Black raspberry liqueur called Chambord is my go-to for this cocktail, because I love raspberry preserves in my sandwiches!

Feel free to use a similar fruity liqueur, such as:

  • crème de cassis (blackberry liqueur)
  • Framboise (raspberry liqueur)
  • crème de fraise (strawberry liqueur)
  • crème de banane (banana liqueur)
  • blueberry schnapps
  • peach whiskey
  • grape schnapps (for that grape jelly flavor)

You can also use a berry simple syrup such as:

Or even honey syrup if you like honey on your PB&Js!

And, you can also use jam! Warm it up in the microwave with a splash of hot water to make it a consistency that’s easy to mix with. Depending on your jam or jelly, there might be some seeds.

Bitters

A few dashes of bitters is an easy way to add flavor to a drink without adding sweetness.

For this PB&J drink, I like to use both a fruity bitters and a nut-based bitters.

Fruity bitters:

Nutty bitters:

For a little Nutella flavor, you could use a little chocolate bitters too!

Cocktail cherry

Some bars use maraschino cherries, but a proper cocktail cherry soaked in bourbon or brandy is a much more sophisticated fit.

You can make your own cocktail cherries or buy them at specialty shops and online.

two sandwiches with a pb&j drink

How to make a PB&J Old-Fashioned drink

It takes just a few steps to make a PB&J old-fashioned. Old-fashioneds in general are easy cocktails, and this one fits the bill.

It’s such an easy dessert cocktail — and it tastes just like the sandwich. It’s perfect for anyone with a sweet tooth!

First, take your rocks glass fill it with a big cube of ice.

Add your Chambord and peanut butter whiskey. Top with a few dashes of bitters — one berry-flavored and one that’s nutty. (If you don’t have these, you can just use Angostura or skip it.)

And then make yourself a mini pb&j to enjoy on the side! Or at least some peanut butter oatmeal cookies.

More peanut butter cocktails

There’s more to peanut butter whiskey than an old-fashioned. Try it in another good cocktail or two!

This Chocolate Peanut Butter Old-Fashioned brings in a dark chocolate flavor to mix with the peanut butter.

Love ice cream treats? This boozy Chocolate Peanut Butter Whiskey Milkshake one uses chocolate and peanut butter together for a decadent treat.

An apple cider peanut butter cocktail sounds like my favorite healthy snack in a cocktail!

Lastly this Reese’s Cup dessert cocktail takes it up a whole other level with crème de cacao and heavy cream.

More old-fashioned cocktails

a peanut butter jelly sandwich on a cocktail

Peanut Butter and Jelly Old-Fashioned

Yield: 1 cocktail
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
This peanut butter and jelly old-fashioned is full of childhood nostalgia and adult ingredients.
5 from 1 vote
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ingredients

  • 2 ounces peanut butter whiskey
  • ½ ounce Chambord raspberry liqueur
  • ice
  • 4 dashes berry or cherry bitters
  • 4 dashes pecan or walnut bitters

instructions

  • First, take your rocks glass fill it with a big cube of ice.
  • Add your Chambord and peanut butter whiskey. Top with a few dashes of bitters — one berry-flavored and one that’s nutty. (If you don’t have these, you can just use Angostura or skip it.)
  • Garnish with a cocktail cherry. (And maybe make yourself a PB&J to enjoy on the side!)

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nutrition information

Yield: 1 cocktail

amount per serving:

Serving: 2.5ounces Calories: 223kcal Carbohydrates: 8g Protein: 0.01g Fat: 0.04g Saturated Fat: 0.02g Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g Sodium: 1mg Potassium: 5mg Sugar: 6g Calcium: 0.1mg Iron: 0.02mg
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