Last updated on December 4th, 2020
This Low Carb Keto Spiced Cranberry Old Fashioned is one of the most festive versions of the old fashioned that you’ve ever tried, without all the sugar! Made with homemade sugar free spiced simple syrup, cranberry sauce, and apple cinnamon infused whiskey, it’s warm and inviting flavors will have you coming back for seconds! Enjoy the flavors of the holiday season, transformed into a keto friendly cocktail.
Do you love holiday flavors as much as we do? We hope so, because this keto spiced cranberry old fashioned is truly delicious! It was the brainchild of lots of leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving, and we thought to ourselves… this would go GREAT in a cocktail! So, from there, it was born! Seriously though, doesn’t everyone end up with extra cranberry sauce around the holidays?
We hate wasting things, and why on earth would you waste extra cranberry sauce when there’s so many amazing things you can do with it?! This is just one example. We plan to show you just how versatile cranberry sauce can be. Keep reading to find out how this super yummy (and boozy!) drink comes together.
Here’s What You Need For This Low Carb Keto Spiced Cranberry Old Fashioned:
- Apple of choice, cut into chunks (we used McIntosh)
- Cinnamon sticks
- Whiskey of choice (Basil Hayden’s or Maker’s Mark)
- Water
- Warming spices of choice (cinnamon sticks, star anise, cardamom pods, whole cloves, whatever you like!)
- Allulose sweetener (Whole Earth Sweetener)
- Our homemade keto cranberry sauce
- Angostura bitters
- Garnish with orange peel, cranberries, rosemary sprig, your choice!
How To Infuse Whiskey:
Infusing your own whiskey is incredibly simple. You just need a couple of days, a minimum of 2 days, but 4-5 days is optimal. This is an optional step however, and if you want, you can skip it. Infusions are really fun though and we think you’ll really enjoy the lovely flavor this adds to the drink.
To infuse your whiskey, truly all you do is cut up your apple, and add it to a clean jar with cinnamon sticks. Cover the apple and cinnamon with your whiskey, then cover it and give it a good shake, then let it sit in a cool, dark place until it develops the flavor you’re looking for. Once it’s ready, strain it into another jar and discard the apples and cinnamon. Use as needed!
What Cranberry Sauce Do I Use?
We recommend preparing your own cranberry sauce, like our low carb keto cranberry sauce for this recipe. You can limit your add-ins if you want, but personally we think the orange extract, vanilla extract and cinnamon would go perfectly in this. Making your own cranberry sauce is the best way to limit the carbs that go into this spiced cranberry old fashioned. You can of course use store-bought if you want, but just be aware that this will increase the carb and sugar count.
What’s The Best Way To Sweeten This Keto Spiced Cranberry Old Fashioned?
For this recipe, we make a spiced simple syrup. This is the main element of the drink that sweetens, as well as adds flavor, that should be added to taste. Please note that the cranberry sauce will also sweeten and add flavor to the drink.
Simple syrup is incredibly easy to make, but if making it sugar free (like we do) than we highly suggest using allulose. You could use whatever sweetener you like, but we find that allulose doesn’t crystalize like other (non sugar) sweeteners do. Just be aware that if you use sweeteners aside from allulose, it may crystalize after a few hours, so you may have to warm it up before using it in a cocktail. A good general rule of thumb for making this simple syrup is equal parts water and sweetener, although allulose is slightly less sweet than regular sugar, so you may want to add a pinch more to achieve the sweetness level you’re looking for.
We advise sweetening this to taste! If you add a whole ounce of simple syrup to this, then your drink will be quite sweet. Start out with a tablespoon, and then add more as desired. To find out how we make our simple syrup spiced, keep reading for the full instructions!
What Are Some Other Drinks That Use This Infused Apple Cinnamon Whiskey?
- Apple Cinnamon Whiskey Sour
- Low Carb Fall Harvest Bourbon Whiskey Sangria
- Low Carb Apple Cider Bourbon Cocktail
- Spiked Chai Tea (we used just regular bourbon for this, but the apple cinnamon infused would be wonderful!)
Tools:
- Measuring spoons
- Jigger (for measuring alcohol)
- Bar Spoon
- Low Ball/Rocks Glasses
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Here’s What You Need A Low Carb Spiced Cranberry Old Fashioned:
If you are going to infuse your whiskey, you will need to do so a few days ahead of time. Simply add your apple chunks and cinnamon sticks to some whiskey, cover and shake for about 30 seconds, then let it sit for about 3-4 days (or longer). Let the infusing whiskey sit in a cool and dark place.
When you’re ready to use it, strain the whiskey and discard the apple chunks and cinnamon sticks. Your whiskey will keep for a long while in the fridge.
When it comes time to making your drink, you want to start with making your spiced simple syrup and cranberry sauce first. Both things are very easy to make, but they should cool down a bit before being handled. Here’s the full instructions to make the cranberry sauce.
For the simple syrup, in a sauce pan, add your spices and toast until fragrant. Then, add your water and let the spices and the water come to a rolling boil. Allow the spices and the water to boil together for 15 minutes. The reason we do this is to get a very strong spice flavor infused into the water.
After the water turns a nice golden brown, it’s ready. Simply remove and discard the spices, and then add your sweetener until it dissolves. You can stir with a spoon to help it along. You do want the water to be quite hot while adding the sweetener. Set aside for it to cool down. That’s it!
Fill two rocks glasses with ice. Spoon in the low carb cranberry sauce to taste, we used about a tablespoon.
Add in some spiced simple syrup to taste. Add a small amount first, then adjust once you put the cocktail together to make sure that the sweetness level is to your liking.
Now, simply add in your apple cinnamon infused whiskey, a dash of angostura bitters and then stir! Taste, then adjust sweeteners if you want.
Now, simply garnish with cranberries, and orange peel and a rosemary sprig if you want!
If you get a chance to try this keto spiced cranberry old fashioned, let us know what you think, would ya?! Leave us a comment, or catch up with us on Facebook or Instagram, or pin to your favorite Pinterest board for later. We love sharing your versions of our creations over on Instagram @afullliving! Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to subscribe to our email newsletter so you’re the first to know about new recipes we post on our blog
Until next time & Happy Holidays!
Briana & Chamere
This Low Carb Keto Spiced Cranberry Old Fashioned is one of the most festive versions of the old fashioned that you’ve ever tried, without all the sugar! Made with homemade sugar free spiced simple syrup, cranberry sauce, and apple cinnamon infused whiskey, it’s warm and inviting flavors will have you coming back for seconds! Enjoy the flavors of the holiday season, transformed into a keto friendly cocktail.
- 1 whole apple of choice, cut into chunks (we used McIntosh)
- 5 whole cinnamon sticks
- 16 ounces whiskey of choice (we used Maker’s Mark)
- 24 ounces water
- 8 ounces allulose
- warm spices of choice – we used 4 cinnamon sticks, 3 star anise, 5 cardamom pods and 6 whole cloves
- 1 tbsp prepared sugar free cranberry sauce (we omitted the cinnamon and vanilla extract for this application)
- 2 ounces apple cinnamon infused whiskey (could sub for regular whiskey)
- 1 tbsp* Spiced simple syrup, to taste (we recommend using about 1 tablespoon to start and then adjust from there, see notes)
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
- Garnish with orange peel, cranberries, rosemary sprig (your choice)
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If you are going to infuse your whiskey, you will need to do so a few days ahead of time. Simply add your apple chunks and cinnamon sticks to some whiskey, cover and shake for about 30 seconds, then let it sit for about 3-4 days (or longer). Let the infusing whiskey sit in a cool and dark place. When you’re ready to use it, strain the whiskey and discard the apple chunks and cinnamon sticks. Your whiskey will keep for a long while in the fridge.
-
When it comes time to making your drink, you want to start with making your spiced simple syrup and cranberry sauce first. Both are extremely simple to make but they should cool down a bit before being handled. Here's the full instructions on how to make the low carb cranberry sauce.
-
To make the simple syrup, in a sauce pan, add your spices and toast until fragrant. Then, add your water and let the spices and the water come to a rolling boil. Allow the spices and the water to boil together for 15 minutes. The reason we do this is to get a very strong spice flavor infused into the water.
-
After the water turns a nice golden brown, it’s ready. Simply remove and discard the spices, and then add your sweetener until it dissolves. You can stir with a spoon to help it along. You do want the water to be quite hot while adding the sweetener. Set aside for it to cool down. That’s it!
-
Fill two rocks glasses with ice. Spoon in the low carb cranberry sauce to taste, we used about a tablespoon.
-
Add in some spiced simple syrup to taste. Add a small amount first, then adjust once you put the cocktail together to make sure that the sweetness level is to your liking.
-
Now, simply add in your apple cinnamon infused whiskey, a dash of angostura bitters and then stir! Taste, then adjust sweeteners if you want.
-
Now, simply garnish with cranberries, and orange peel and a rosemary sprig if you want.
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Enjoy!
This recipe makes 1 cocktail.
Macros: Per 1 cocktail, 164 calories, 1g sugar, 4g total carbs, 2g fiber, making 2 net carbs. We’d like to mention that we can’t guarantee macros, they are just an estimate and we provide them as a courtesy. We don’t include carbs from the infused whiskey, as we aren’t food scientists and we aren’t sure how we would do that. We do feel that the carbs are negligible anyway.
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