Peanut Butter Manhattan: a Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey Recipe : Ugly Duckling Bakery

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This Dry Peanut Butter Manhattan recipe is made with peanut butter whiskey, dry vermouth, and a dash of bitters. It’s a unique variation of a classic cocktail that’s bursting with peanut butter flavor.

A Peanut Butter Manhattan may not be the first peanut butter whiskey cocktail you try. But it’s the one you’ll make again and again.

peanut butter manhattan in a coupe garnished with peanut butter cookie next to a bottle of skrewball peanut butter whiskey.

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Ingredients
Recipe tips and tricks
Recipe FAQs
Related cocktail recipes
Recipe
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Ingredients

Skrewball was the first peanut butter whiskey. It supposedly came about after the Skrewball founder, Steven Yeng, created a peanut butter and whiskey cocktail at his bar.

With a bottle of Skrewball peanut butter whiskey in hand, I was inspired by my peanut butter chocolate ganache drip cake to make a peanut butter cup cocktail. But no matter how I combined the peanut butter whiskey and chocolate liqueur, I couldn’t re-create the rich and creamy chocolate and peanut butter combination I love.

Update: April 2022: I did make a peanut butter cup cocktail for the 52 weeks of cocktails challenge. But this peanut butter Manhattan is a better peanut butter whiskey cocktail.

If you’re a peanut butter lover like I am and always looking for new peanut butter recipes, try:

Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.

Recipe tips and tricks

The classic Manhattan cocktail recipe is made with two ounces of rye or bourbon whiskey, one ounce of sweet vermouth, and a dash or two of bitters. Stir with ice, and then serve over ice in a lowball glass or neat in a coupe.

You can vary a Manhattan by changing the base spirit or the vermouth, or both. You can see an example in this perfect brandy Manhattan.

Tip from the wise quacker: The general rule of thumb is that cocktails with citrus juices should be shaken. And cocktails with only liquor should be stirred, because shaking makes for a cloudy cocktail.

How to Make Peanut Butter Manhattans

A Peanut Butter Manhattan with Skrewball whiskey in the classic Manhattan ratio was too sweet. So next I tried a dry peanut butter Manhattan using the same ratio of peanut butter whiskey to dry vermouth. To be complete, I made a “perfect Manhattan” using one half ounce each of dry and sweet vermouth.

If this were the story of Goldilocks, the perfect peanut butter Manhattan would have been just right. But it’s the dry Manhattan recipe that brings out the brightest, nutty flavor from the peanut butter whiskey.

Whether it’s figuring out your favorite dry martini or this peanut butter cocktail, these type of taste tests are a great thing to do at home. Make one classic, one dry, and one perfect, and see which one you prefer.

Garnish ideas

You can use the standard cocktail cherry garnish for this peanut butter Manhattan, or make everyone’s favorite peanut butter cookies.

For dessert cocktails and more decadent drinks, mini peanut butter cups will work. Or rim your glass with a rim of finely chopped peanuts mixed with sugar like the almond sugar in this Cherry Bakewell cocktail.

Recipe FAQs

What vermouth do you use in this peanut butter Manhattan?

We like Dolin Vermouth de Chambery.

Why is this two servings?

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says that one serving for distilled spirits is 1.5 ounces.

What else can I make with a bottle of Skrewball peanut butter whiskey?

Combine equal parts peanut butter whiskey and liqueur like Chambord for a peanut butter and jelly cocktail. Make a peanut butter old-fashioned with two ounces of peanut butter whiskey, one ounce of simple syrup, and a dash or two of Angostura bitters. Or make a creamy peanut butter whiskey espresso martini with an ounce each of whiskey, espresso, coffee liqueur, and Baileys.

Check out other cocktail recipes from the Ugly Duckling Bakery archives like:

Love cocktails and want to explore more? Read all about classic cocktails and bartender basics, check out my list of essential bar tools for cocktails at home, and join this year’s 52 weeks of cocktails challenge!

Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.

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