The Story Behind The Snickerdoodle

Baking cookies is a time-honored holiday tradition — so why not extend that festive spirit to making cocktails that taste like cookies? In this drink, Stuart Weaver, bartender at Denver’s Lady Jane, channels the flavors of a freshly baked snickerdoodle cookie, but with a boozy twist.

The gin-based drink calls for a specialty, wintertime version of your typical orgeat, adding an extra toasty, nutty flavor by incorporating roasted chestnuts. Weaver also employs a cinnamon syrup to add the snickerdoodle’s signature notes of sweet holiday spices. While this cocktail requires a few extra steps to prepare these homemade ingredients, the added effort replicates the rewarding feeling of eating cookies right out of the oven.

Ingredients

  • ¾ ounces gin
  • ¾ ounces roasted chestnut orgeat*
  • ¾ ounces lemon juice
  • ⅜ ounces Hamilton Pimento Dram
  • ⅜ ounces cinnamon syrup**
  • Garnish: grated cinnamon

Directions

  1. Add ingredients to a shaker and whip shake.
  2. Pour into a medium tumbler.
  3. Top with pebble ice.
  4. Garnish with grated cinnamon.

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Updated: 2025-12-25

*Roasted Chestnut Orgeat Ingredients

  • ½ cup whole roasted chestnuts
  • 18 ounces of a bottled orgeat

*Roasted Chestnut Orgeat Directions

  1. Blend together until fully incorporated.
  2. Strain and store chilled in an airtight container.
  3. The mixture is shelf stable for one month.
The Snickerdoodle

**Cinnamon Syrup

Ingredients

  • 4 fresh cinnamon sticks
  • 2 ⅓ cups water
  • 2 ¾ cups sugar

Directions

  1. Break up four fresh cinnamon sticks with a wooden mallet into manageable pieces.
  2. Toast cinnamon in a pot over medium heat until aromatic.
  3. Add water and sugar to the pot and stir until dissolved.
  4. Continue to heat until it reaches a light simmer, then simmer for 30 seconds.
  5. Allow to cool to room temperature, strain, and store chilled in an airtight container.
  6. Syrup is shelf stable for one month.