Sugar Cookie Martini
by Sommer Collier — on Dec 23, 2025 If you want a festive cocktail that is strong, sweet, and a bit whimsical, my irresistible sugar cookie martini recipe is perfect for your next holiday party and any casual celebration. This 4-ingredient sensation can be shaken and served as-is, or you can get creative with your garnishes. Add vanilla frosting and colorful sprinkles around the martini glass rim, and garnish with a sugar cookie!
Cookies and booze…Has any combination ever sounded so enticing?! Dan and I are known for our house parties, and love to come up with all kinds of unique drinks and whimsical snacks to impress guests. If you’re looking for a fun holiday cocktail that’s a little off the beaten path and is sure to start some conversations, this sugar cookie martini is just the thing! It’s sweet and sassy, with a lovely, simple combination of ingredients that gives it a rich yet delicate sugar cookie flavor. And not only have I perfected the recipe to taste amazing, I even include homemade sugar cookies to garnish, plus frosting and sprinkles on the rim of each martini glass for an extra festive and delicious treat!
Sommer’s Recipe Highlights
Sweet and Stout – You won’t believe I manage to create a true sugar cookie flavor with just 4 ingredients, including 3 sweet spirits and heavy cream. Whether or not you choose to add garnishes to the martini glasses, these classic alcohols blended in perfect proportion will make a show-stopping cocktail with a kick at your next gathering.
Customize for Celebrations – Making these martinis for a Christmas holiday party? Choose red and green sprinkles! New Year’s Eve? Try gold and silver sprinkles, maybe the ones with little stars. Having the ladies over for a girls’ night? Bring the cuteness and use pastel or bright colors, as I’ve done here. Whatever gathering you’re hosting, there’s no limit to how you can change up your holiday martini garnishes to match tastes and colors!
Quick to Prepare – I usually make the sugar cookies a day or two in advance (then lovingly threaten my family to not eat them all). But the cocktails themselves are easy to shake up in mere minutes, and this recipe is simple to double or triple, to make however many drinks you need.
Key Ingredients and Tips
- Bailey’s Irish Cream – This is probably the most iconic brand of Irish liqueurs, but any brand will do. I use just the classic flavor, however, there are lots of different variations to play with, like salted caramel and strawberries and cream, if you want to change things up.
- Vanilla vodka – That’s right, a sugar cookie martini really needs to be made with vodka and not gin. This particular vodka gives the drink its signature sweet cookie taste.
- Disaronno amaretto – Disaronno is a premier Italian amaretto brand, but like the Irish cream, you can use any brand you prefer. But I do suggest going with something that’s still high quality so you get the best warm, sweet, and slightly nutty flavor to complement the vodka.
- Heavy cream – You can go a bit lighter and use half and half if you want. But I don’t suggest swapping with whole milk as the drinks just won’t have the same creamy richness.
- Garnishes – Use vanilla frosting, plus sprinkles and sugar cookies on the rim. I love to add a bit of food coloring to the frosting first to make the drinks even more colorful and fun!
How to Make
Find the full ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, storage tips, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
(Optional) Garnish – While this is totally optional, I kinda wonder what the point is if you’re not going to dress up your sugar cookie martini? A sprinkle-coated rim is where it’s at! I take a small spatula and smear a dollop of vanilla frosting just around the outside of the rim of each of my 4 sweet martini glasses. You don’t want a thick coating, only enough to get sprinkles to stick.
Next, I place the sprinkles in a wide and shallow dish. Then I carefully roll the rim in the sprinkles so they stick to the frosting. For comparison, this is similar to how you coat a margarita glass in salt.
I also use a sharp pairing knife to remove a thin, pie-shaped wedge from each sugar cookie. It needs to be just wide enough to sit on the rim of the glass, like a lime slice.
Prepare the Cocktail – Once I’ve got the glasses all pretty, I fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice cubes. Then into the shaker goes the Irish cream, vodka, amaretto, and heavy cream. (And maybe a ‘lil bit of each goes into me too, you know, to make sure they’re all good still.)
Shake and Strain – I add the cover, and it’s time to shake away! This is when you get to pretend you’re a fancy bartender and really put some flair into the shaking. Whatever your style, be sure to shake for a good 30 seconds to get the ingredients fully combined.
Once I’ve shown off my moves, I pour the martini evenly into the 4 glasses. Then I finish each holiday martini off with a sugar cookie garnish, and ta-da, they are ready for celebrating!
Recipe Variations
Change the booze – Not a fan of straight-up vanilla vodka? You can use your favorite unflavored plain vodka plus a splash of vanilla extract, or vanilla syrup, instead to make a sweet martini to your liking.
Sprinkles – As I mentioned, it’s easy to coordinate your jimmies or sprinkle shapes (like stars, hearts, etc.) to match holiday colors. Or really change things up and use sugar sprinkles, colorful nonpareils, crushed candy canes, or any other candies that will stick to the rim. You can even crush a non-frosted sugar cookie and dip the martini glass rim in the cookie crumbs.
Cookie garnish – Speaking of cookies, you can swap sugar cookies with other cookies to garnish. The drink itself will still technically be a sugar cookie martini recipe if you use the same alcohol. Try making my chocolate sugar recipe for a richer chocolatey twist, or peppermint sugar cookies with crushed candy cane pieces around the rim.
Frequently Asked Questions
I mean, it takes like 2 minutes to whip these up, but yes, you can make the sugar cookie martini recipe ahead of time if needed. Combine all 4 liquids in a closed container without ice and refrigerate for a few hours. Then garnish the glasses and add the alcohol mix to the shaker with ice, and continue on your merry way!
Not to worry if you don’t have a “fancy” cocktail shaker. You can use a mason jar, a metal thermos, or any large sturdy glass with a lid. Once you’ve given it a good shake, pour the martini through a sieve or other strainer to strain out the ice.
More Drink Recipes
Sugar Cookie Martini
Video
Ingredients
- 5 ounces Bailey’s Irish Cream
- 4 ounces vanilla vodka
- 3 ounces amaretto we used Disaronno
- 2 ounces heavy cream or half & half
Instructions
- Optional Prep: To garnish the glasses with sprinkles, smear a small amount of frosting around the outer edge of four martini glasses. Pour sprinkles in a shallow dish. Then gently roll the edge of each glass around in the sprinkles until all the frosting is coated. If you have small sturdy sugar cookies, you can gently slice a small half-inch slit into each cookie so that they fit on the martini glasses.
- Set out a large cocktail shaker. Fill it halfway full of ice.
- Add the Bailey Irish cream, vanilla vodka, amaretto, and heavy cream to the shaker.
- Cover and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Then strain the martinis into the prepared martini glasses. Serve immediately.
