You've waited patiently and the moment has come.  It's time for bourbon cocktails and dessert, which is serious business.  Yesterday you read all about the bourbon butter paninis and the salad that has the yummiest bourbon Dijon vinaigrette from the bourbon dinner that I did with Lindsey from Maker's Workshop, but I know what you really want.  It's time for the good stuff.

I don't blame you honestly.  The drink is the whole reason this night was decided upon in the first place.  Lindsey threw out the idea for me to make a cider cocktail using bourbon and we ran with it evolving it from just a drink into an everything must have bourbon in it extravaganza!

Best. Idea. Ever.

The cocktail is an apple and spice infused bourbon mixed with cider and a squeeze of fresh lemon and it's going to be your fall drink of choice, hands down.  We finished of our night with a few smoked oak chocolate bourbon balls (the smoked oak geniusness was Lindsey's idea) and I sprinkled them with sea salt and holy cow...they were life changing. 

If you like that kind of thing....which I am sure that you don't.

Go ahead and make a big batch of the cider and double the bourbon ball recipe.  Trust me on this one...

SPICED APPLE INFUSED BOURBON and CIDER COCKTAIL

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup of Bulleit Bourbon
• 1 Honeycrisp Apple, diced small
• 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
• 1 Tsp. Cinnamon
• 1/8 Tsp. Nutmeg
• 1/8 Tsp. Cloves
• Apple Cider
• Fresh Lemons

Directions:

• At least 24 hours before combine your bourbon, apples, and spices and let marinate over night or up to a week. 
• When ready to mix cocktails, mix the infused bourbon with apple cider and the juice of one fresh lemon in a large pitcher.  Stir well.
• Pour over crushed iced and garnish with apples and a cinnamon stick.

SMOKED OAK CHOCOLATE BOURBON BALLS

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 Cups of Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 Cup of Softened, Room Temperature Butter
• 3 Tbsp. of Infused Smoked Oak Bourbon (Get smoked oak chips from a restaurant supply company and let 1/4-1/2 cup of bourbon soak with 1/4 Cup of Smoked Oak Chips.  Let sit overnight and strain when ready to make bourbon balls.)
• 1 Lb. of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips (good quality or they won't melt great)
• 2 Tbsp. Butter
• Sea Salt for sprinkling

Directions:

• Cream your butter in a bowl, add in your powdered sugar and continue to mix with a stand or hand mixer until creamed together.
• Add in smoked oak infused bourbon and mix again until combined. 
• Refrigerate the bourbon and sugar mixture for one hour.
• Remove the bourbon mixture from the fridge and make into 1 tbsp. sized balls and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
• Freeze the balls for two hours.
• When the balls are frozen, melt your chocolate over a double boiler with the butter.  As soon as the chocolate is melted and smooth, turn off heat but leave over hot water and  you can take a toothpick and pick up each ball and coat with the chocolate. 
• You will have a little opening at the top where the toothpick was and you will want to take a little bit of the leftover chocolate with a spoon or knife and cover the tops well. 
• Sprinkle a little sea salt on each bourbon ball while the chocolate is semi soft still.
• Refrigerate for another hour until chocolate is set.
• Try not to eat the whole batch

*Tip:  If you chocolate gets too thick, you can thin it out with a little vegetable oil.

We had such an amazing dinner and time together celebrating bourbon month and I hope that you will make some of these recipes for yourself and invite some friends over (cough cough...me) to drink bourbon, eat good stuff, and hang out enjoying the simple life.

For a little bourbon history, head over to Lindsey's blog and read all about it!