Holiday cocktails

If there's one thing that's better than the holidays, it's the lead-up to the season. There's nothing quite like the anticipation of holiday festivities: the planning, shopping, gift searching, and decorating. And one of our all-time favorites is whipping up delicious and easy holiday cocktails.

Unlike the cocktails we make and order year-round, there's only a small window of time to enjoy holiday libations, so it's worth making the most of it. Ahead, we've highlighted seven of our favorites: Think rosemary-infused herbal drinks, smoky cider margaritas, and festive sangria. Ready the bar cart. These easy holiday cocktails taste as good as they look.

Aged Eggnog Cocktail

If aged eggnog sounds off-putting, set your fears aside and just take a leap of faith on this one. Putting a gallon of this goodness in the refrigerator for a week or two lets the flavors mellow out, making the eggnog less sweet than the beverages you've tried before.

Healthy pizza

Make a healthy, low-calorie pizza that adds up to three of your 5-a-day and give the takeaway a miss. The barbecue chicken lends a moreish smoky flavour

Nutrition and extra info

Nutrition: Per serving

Ingredients

For the base

• 250g wholemeal flour, plus a little for kneading if necessary


• 1 tsp instant article" data-tooltip-w >yeast

Yeast

Yeast is a living, single-cell organism. As the yeast grows, it converts its food (in the form…

Rapeseed oil

If you want a light alternative to other cooking oils, rapeseed is a great choice and has…

For the topping

• pack of 3 peppers


• 1 large article" data-tooltip-w >onion

Onion

Onions are endlessly versatile and an essential ingredient in countless recipes. Native to Asia…

Rapeseed oil

If you want a light alternative to other cooking oils, rapeseed is a great choice and has…

Fennel seeds

A dried seed that comes from the fennel herb, fennel seeds look like cumin seeds, only greener,…

2 tbsp barbecue sauce

2 tbsp tomato purée

1 large skinless chicken breast fillet (about 225g), diced

175g baby plum tomatoes, quartered

50g Applewood smoked cheese, grated

Method

Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Tip the flour into a mixer with a dough hook, or a bowl. Add the yeast, salt, oil and 200ml warm water then mix well to a very soft dough. Knead in the food mixer for about 5 mins, but if making this by hand, tip onto a work surface and knead for about 10 mins. The dough is sticky, but try not to add too much extra flour. Leave in the bowl and cover with a tea towel while you halve and slice the peppers and onions. There is no need to prove the dough for a specific time, just let it sit while you make the topping.

For the topping: toss the peppers and onions with the oil and fennel seeds then roast for 15 mins. Meanwhile mix the barbecue sauce and tomato purée with 5 tbsp water.

Take the dough from the bowl and press into the base and up the sides of an oiled 25x35cm Swiss roll tin. Don’t knead the dough first otherwise it will be too elastic and will keep shrinking back. Spread with two thirds of the barbecue sauce mix then add the remainder to the chicken and toss well to coat it.

Take the roasted pepper mixture from the oven and spread on top of the pizza. Scatter over the tomatoes then evenly spoon on the barbecue chicken. Scatter with the cheese and bake for 15 mins. Serve with a salad or healthy coleslaw.