Anyone who lives in Western PA knows that growing up, we always sold Sarris Candies for school fundraisers. So, this time of year always leaves us nostalgic for those big, creamy peanut butter meltaway eggs, which were always present in our Easter baskets.
Since we don’t get our own Easter baskets anymore, we wanted to create a (boozier! grown-up!) treat inspired by those yummy peanut butter eggs. Fair warning, this is a DESSERT cocktail in every sense, and it definitely evokes the flavors of the meltaways. You’ll want to sip this in the quiet times this weekend when everyone else in the house has been felled by their sugar comas.
Peanut Butter Cottontail
1 1/2 oz. brandy
1 oz. Cocoa Puff infused milk*
1/2 oz. brown sugar vanilla syrup**
1/2 oz. Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey
Garnish: chocolate shavings
Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. Double strain (with a fine mesh strainer) into a coupe glass to prevent ice shards from sneaking into your cocktail. Garnish with chocolate shavings. Sip & enjoy!
*For the milk:
2 oz. whole milk
6 tablespoons of Cocoa Puffs cereal
Soak cereal in milk for 15 minutes. Strain liquid through a fine mesh strainer, pressing down lightly on the cereal to squeeze the last drops of milk out.
**For the brown sugar vanilla syrup:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla paste
Heat water to almost boiling and stir in brown sugar until dissolved. Stir in vanilla paste. You can use vanilla extract instead - we just like the vanilla bean flecks that the paste brings to the cocktail. Let cool fully before using. Store any leftovers in the fridge for about a week.
Enjoy the weekend, and happy Easter to all who celebrate!