This Cup’s Got More than Good Cheer

When you ask a chef for his favorite family holiday recipe, you expect a nice juicy roast, or perhaps a pie. Matt Jennings of Providence's Farmstead gave us a cocktail. Because nothing says family togetherness at the holidays like alcohol. Seriously though, Jennings says these drinks have become synonymous with Christmas for his cocktail-loving crowd because “at the end of Christmas Eve night, we usually sit around the fire, tell stories, stay up late, sip these cocktails, nibble molasses cookies and laugh. A lot.” 

A play on a classic New England indulgence, the Brown Bread Boilermaker combines bourbon, brown ale, maple syrup and even nutritional yeast (a deactivated strain of yeast popular among vegans and available at most health food stores – it gives the drink a little extra flavor reminiscent of its namesake bread). Be careful though, Jennings warns that these cocktails are meant to be evening-enders since they go with absolutely nothing besides the molasses ginger cookies his family serves alongside the strong drink (that recipe’s also below – because we like to take care of you). Shake up a batch for your next cozy evening in; and then straight to bed to await the click, click, click of little hooves on the roof.

The Brown Bread Boilermaker
We’ve left Jennings’ notes in, included parenthetically, so that you can see how he himself makes it:

Makes 4 servings (or two if you're in my family)

• 1 cup chilled bourbon (the best you can find)
• 1/4 cup chilled brown ale (I prefer Brooklyn Brown)
• 1/4 cup chilled pure maple syrup (the real stuff- don't skimp with Aunt Jemima)
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 1 whole piece of nutmeg
• Ice cubes

Combine the bourbon, 1/4 cup beer, yeast and maple syrup in a martini shaker. Fill the shaker with ice cubes. Cover and shake about 8 times, vigorously. Strain the drink equally into 4 glasses. Using a nutmeg grater, grate about 1/8 of a teaspoon nutmeg over each cocktail. Garnish with a molasses cookie on top. Serve ice cold.

Molasses Ginger Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups butter, unsalted
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, slowly incorporating them and then add the molasses in a steady stream. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger into a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture.

3. Scoop the dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets with a large ice cream scoop. Roll the cookies in granulated sugar and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes; then rotate the cookie sheets and bake for another 5 minutes.

Still need some quality drink ideas? Peruse dozens of musings on all things beverage-related from some of the city's top bartenders, sommeliers and GMs on the Drink Like a Pro pages.